The USAID Momentum Tikweze Umoyo Project is strategically designed to assist the Government of Malawi in tackling significant health sector challenges, particularly the concerning health outcomes in Chitipa, Karonga, Kasungu, Nkhotakota, and Salima districts. The primary project objective is to contribute to reducing maternal, newborn, and child morbidity and mortality by enhancing both the accessibility and quality of healthcare services.
The project takes a district-led approach to strengthen health systems at the district level through the provision of primary health care for essential maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH), nutrition, WASH and malaria prevention. The project is also engaging multiple stakeholders to address social determinants in health as well as empowering individuals and communities for demand creation, accountability and social behaviour change.
The project's scope specifically encompasses youths (aged 10-35), adolescents (10-19 years), under five children, women of childbearing age (WCBA), and local communities within the targeted districts.
EXPECTED RESULTS
- Increased access to and use of quality integrated health services
- Increased adaptive learning and use of evidence in health interventions learning
- Increased cross-cultural collaboration and innovative partnerships in health service delivery
- Improved capacity of institutions local organizations, and service providers to deliver integrated health services
KEY ACTIVITIES
The project encompasses a spectrum of key activities aimed at driving positive change in the targeted districts. These include: capacity building for health workers and health service providers, implementing an integrated social and behaviour change campaign to generate demand and utilization of health services, improving and strengthening WASH services in communities, training community health workers in community management of acute malnutrition and conducting awareness campaigns on quality family planning and youth-friendly services.
WASH COMPONENTS OF MOMENTUM TIKWEZE UMOYO
The Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) aspect of the project has two main components: WASH in Health Care Facilities and WASH in communities. The first component focuses on several key actions: conducting thorough needs assessments in facilities to identify WASH gaps, including evaluating infection prevention and control (IPC) status and creating improvement plans for IPC in all health facilities; training health facility staff in IPC protocols and aiding in the procurement of IPC materials and supplies; offering technical assistance to health facilities for WASH and IPC improvement plans; supporting WASH facilities' renovations; installing handwashing stations strategically; advocating for allocation of operation and maintenance budgets for WASH in health facilities at the district level; educating teachers and mother groups about menstrual health and hygiene (MHM) in schools and enhancing MHM facilities in remote schools; fostering innovative WASH approaches like sanitation marketing and human-centered design models.
In the second component, the consortium is dedicated to enhancing access to reliable and sustainable basic water supply services for over 12,000 individuals in underserved areas of Kasungu, Chitipa, and Salima districts. The project's actions include providing technical assistance to the District Water Development Office (DWDO) to assess non-functional water points; rehabilitating all non-functional water points; training community water-point committees and area mechanics to ensure long-term management of the water points, bolstering governance structures, and adopting a life-cycle costing tool to enhance resource mobilization for operation and maintenance; assisting district structures in implementing an accountability framework to ensure adherence to regulations and standards, including water quality; fostering demand for improved sanitation and hygiene behaviors through home-based care promotion; and facilitating market-based sanitation approaches to advance households' sanitation status.
IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS
- Amref Health Africa – Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH)
- D-Tree International – Digital Health
- Emmanuel International – Nutrition and Malaria
- Family Planning Association of Malawi - Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) and Family Planning (FP)
- Youth Wave – Youth Inclusion and Engagement
- Family Health Services – Social Behaviour change and Communication
- WaterAid – Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)