Programme material

This summary provides a concise analysis of progress made toward enhancing maternal and newborn health (MNH) outcomes in Nigeria, in line with the goals and milestones set by ENAP and EPMM. It offers a snapshot of the current multi-stakeholder landscape for MNH advocacy and accountability, highlighting the vital contributions of civil society, parents, and communities in developing plans, policies, and budgets, monitoring progress, and spurring action.

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Evidence for action (E4A) - MamaYe Project is aimed at catalysing change by bringing together groups of advocates (including government, civil society, media, and health practitioners) to use existing information and resources.

The Vital Signs Profiles tool developed by the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (PHCPI) is used to measure Primary Health Care (PHC) performance. Evidence for Action (E4A)-MamaYe team supported the County Government of Bungoma in Kenya to readapt this new measurement tool and fit their context. The VSP handbook will be useful for policymakers, advocates and citizens of Bungoma County to better understand the state of PHC in their county and identify issues of priority.

The Steps to Change model is a visual representation of how a joint goal by a coalition of advocates can be achieved through a series of steps/actions to address the root cause that led to a health problem. Steps to Change is about adaptation and flexibility with the aim to achieve the desired change.

In March 2021, the E4A-MamaYe project commissioned AISE Consulting to conduct a learning review followed by a process evaluation, which was performed in January to February 2022. This brief provides an overview of AISE’s key findings and recommendations.

Coalitions are a group working together, discussing a need or an issue, and then forming a plan to address those. It is a collaborative effort between advocates to address a common problem.

Planning health budget advocacy will help you and other advocates to ensure that your advocacy efforts happen at the right time and deliver the right information to the right audience.

Public participation can enable citizens, including advocacy groups, to access information on budget decisions so that they are able to better understand the issues and options that the Government are considering. While participating in the process, citizens can influence decisions by speaking on behalf of the people they represent.

A scorecard is a visual display of performance against a set of agreed indicators against targets. Usually, traffic lights colours – green, amber and red – are used to depict performance, with green meaning good progress, amber meaning moderate progress and red meaning poor progress.

Establishing the funding flow can give you a better understanding of how money flows through the health system and where there might be bottlenecks preventing money from reaching health facilities.

Mapping the budget cycle will help you explore when decisions are made, by whom, and how you can engage directly or via champions.

The Health Budget Advocacy Brief will help you to visualise complex health and budget information. It links financial data on budget allocation and budget performance (release and spending) to data on service delivery and utilisation.

Establishing the health financing context can help you to get a better picture of the state of funding for health in your country. It will help you to check who is paying for health, and to what extent the Government are moving towards universal health coverage.

Analysing budget performance can help you to understand how much money was committed and spent on the things you care about.

Accountability is the obligation of powerholders to account for or take responsibility for their action. Powerholders hold political, financial or other forms of power and include officials in government, private corporations, and CSOs.

Advocacy is a deliberate process that involves influencing those who make decisions and aims at developing, changing, and implementing policies.

Organizational Capacity Assessment (OCA) is a comprehensive and participatory approach to achieving organizational learning and development. it is a participatory process, self-scored, and should help identify strengths and weaknesses of an organization or coalitions.

Advocacy is all about influencing and persuading but this will not happen unless advocates are able to communicate their ideas effectively. The quality and effectiveness of advocacy is dependent on the strength of communications.

When planning your advocacy, you can design your strategy by drawing or listing each step that is needed to achieve your goal. This will ensure everyone in your coalition has a shared understanding of the vision and how to get there.

You can translate this map into an actionable plan to lists each action, including the timelines, budgets, and resources needed as well as responsibilities across coalition members.

Effective advocacy for coalitions requires preparation to discuss the matter that is on the table. To maximize these opportunities, it is important that coalitions prepare extensively by using data and other information to identify gaps and propose solutions to the issue. However, how do we make sure data is packaged and delivered in the right way?

Monitoring and evaluation are essential to track the progress of the coalitions and manage the risks that could stop advocates from achieving their goals.

Accountability is the obligation of powerholders to account for or take responsibility for their action. Powerholders hold political, financial or other forms of power and include officials in government, private corporations, and CSOs.

Depending on the objective of the coalition and how members want to operate, coalitions might decide to formally register as a legal entity.

iMPACT rEPORT

Since 2012 E4A-Mama Ye has worked to improve maternal and newborn survival in sub-Saharan Africa. The programme received funding for a further three years from July 2019. In this brief you will find information on how we work and what has changed in the new programme in order to achieve our goals sustainably.

Since 2013, E4A-MamaYe has supported selected states in Nigeria to establish State Led Accountability Mechanisms (SLAMs). These mechanisms are multi-stakeholder coalitions comprised of government, health professional associations, media, civil society and traditional institutions.

The Lagos State Ministry of Health Commenced the MPDSR programme in 2016. From then on, the need to document activities, achievements and lessons learned led to the production of this report.

At the 19th General Membership Meeting of the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition convened in Kathmandu, E4A Mama Ye took part in the session “Optimizing the Global Financing Facility (GFF) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) processes to align Reproductive Health supply financing needs at the country level: Global Analysis and East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) Case Study”.

CSOs play strategic role in the implementation of the RMNCAH+N investment case. E4A-MamaYe took the lead in bringing together key CSOs' members to identify roles and actions needed in domesticating the RMNCAH+N investment case in Nigeria.

Les organisations de la société civile (OSC) jouent un rôle primordial dans le Mécanisme de financement mondial. Elles ont le pouvoir de relayer et d’amplifier les voix des citoyens qu’elles représentent afin d’influencer la hiérarchisation des priorités au niveau gouvernemental, de surveiller l’avancement des engagements de leurs gouvernements respectifs et, enfin, de tenir ces mêmes gouvernements responsables pour la mobilisation des ressources nationales et l’amélioration des résultats liés à la santé et la nutrition maternelle, néonatale, infantile et adolescente (RMNCAH-N).

Civil society organisations have a crucial role to play in the Global Financing Facility: amplifying the voice of their constituencies to influence priority setting; monitoring country commitments; and holding government to account for mobilising domestic resources and improving RMNCAH-N outcomes.

Tanzania investment case summary brief was developed in close collaboration with the GFF CSOs secretariat, Health Promotion Tanzania (HDT), through a consultative process.

The Kenya investment case summary brief was developed in 2017 through the technical and financial support from the Evidence for Action (E4A) MamaYe project, in collaboration with the civil society organisations (CSOs), under the umbrella coalition organisation - HENNET.

The Federal government expenditure budget for 2018 is N8.6trillion. A total expenditure of N340.456bn is proposed for the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) in 2018. This is a nominal increase of 10 percent above the 2017 Budget and overall 4% of the 2018 proposed budget.

This report presents findings from a review of civil society's engagement with the Global Financing Facility (GFF) in Nigeria, commissioned by MamaYe-Evidence for Action in October 2017.

This Mama Ye factsheet highlights progress achieved in maternal and newborn health in Kenya and areas that need continued efforts.

To mark World Blood Donor Day on 14 June, 2017, E4A-Mama Ye produced this factsheet.

This Mama Ye factsheet highlights progress achieved in maternal and newborn health in Tanzania and areas that need continued efforts.

This MamaYe factsheet highlights progress achieved in maternal and newborn health in Sierra Leone and areas that need continued efforts.

This MamaYe factsheet highlights progress achieved in maternal and newborn health in Ghana and areas that need continued efforts.

This MamaYe factsheet highlights progress achieved in maternal and newborn health in Malawi and areas that need continued efforts.

This MamaYe factsheet highlights progress achieved in maternal and newborn health in Nigeria and areas that need continued efforts.

This is the first paper in the MamaYe - Evidence for Action (E4A) maternal and newborn health (MNH) accountability series and provides a structured review of types of MNH accountability mechanisms implemented and evaluated in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This editorial gives an overview of a series of MamaYe - Evidence for Action (E4A) papers on accountability.

This paper looks at how maternal death surveillance and response (MDSR) systems are strengthening response and accountability for better health outcomes. This is the fifth paper in the MamaYe - Evidence for Action (E4A) series on accountability.

This article documents lessons from a nationwide health budget advocacy election campaign in Sierra Leone driven by a network of civil society organisations.

This paper explores how global and regional initiatives have been used to create accountability for maternal and newborn health. Examples from five countries where MamaYe - Evidence for Action (E4A) has been implemented illustrate how these initiatives have influenced responses at the national level.

This paper presents the results of a pilot multi-stakeholder social accountability intervention that aimed to improve the provision of quality maternal and newborn care in Ghana. This is the fourth paper in the MamaYe-Evidence for Action (E4A) series on accountability.

Learn about preterm birth and take action!

This report presents the findings from the National Rapid Assessment of Laboratory Capacity and Systems conducted in June–July 2015 that was led by Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS). The findings provide a clear picture of the capacities and limitations of laboratories in all 14 districts in Sierra Leone.

For this update, we summarised Global Financing Facility (GFF) activities from November 2015 to January 2016, specifically meetings in Kenya, Montreux and Washington as well as links to related documents.

The International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics (IJGO) has published a second series of articles by the Evidence for Action (E4A) programme. The four articles in this series focus on different views and evidence on quality of care for mothers and newborns.

This is the fourth paper in the Evidence for Action quality of care series. The article presents evidence on the geographical availability of emergency obstetric and newborn care services (EmONC) in Ghana.

We bring you news of the Global Financing Facility's progress.

This article examines evidence highlighting the need to improve in quality of care through a stronger healthcare workforce.

To mark World Prematurity Day on 17 November 2015 MamaYe have produced this Factsheet on Preterm Birth in Ghana. It summarises the latest evidence on prematurity and the interventions most needed to prevent it and care for preterm babies.

Learn about preterm birth and take action!

This is the first article in the Evidence for Action quality of care series. The paper presents a quality of care framework and a case study of its application to measure emergency care for mothers and newborns in northern Nigeria.

This article from the Evidence for Action (E4A) quality of care series reviews the literature from sub-Saharan Africa on the effects of supportive supervision on quality of care and health worker motivation and performance.

Download this dictionary for simple definitions of maternal and newborn health terms, including signposts to relevant resources.

This MamaYe Factsheet and Infographic summarises the evidence on Health Financing in Ghana using the latest data in 2015.

Here is a short movie produced in Nigeria by the Evidence for Action team on emergency obstetric and newborn care.

Learn how water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is linked with maternal and newborn health (MNH).

Find out what is sepsis, how does it affect Tanzania's newborns and mothers, and what can be done.

Find out what is a stillbirth, why is it a public health crisis in Tanzania and what can be done.

Prof Richard Adanu, Country Director of Evidence for Action in Ghana, made the case for health professionals and researchers to work closely with women's health advocates to improve healthcare delivery for women in the country. 

Read this factsheet to learn what is sepsis, how it affects mothers and newborns and what can be done to prevent it.

This Evidence for Action paper reviews the use of scorecards in improving the quality of emergency obstetric and neonatal care facilities in Sierra Leone.

An overview of the origins of the Evidence for Action (E4A) approach to the strategic use of evidence-based advocacy and accountability to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes in six sub-Saharan African countries.

This research briefing presents findings from a survey of health-service clients and offers recommendations to improve quality of care.

This research briefing equips health planners and health providers with data to help them adapt and target family planning services.

This research briefing addresses an urgent need to understand young people's attitudes towards sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and their use of related services in Sierra Leone.

This advocacy leaflet calls on traditional leaders and communities in Mchinji district to learn about the issues in maternal, newborn and child health in their communities.

This advocacy leaflet calls on Mchinji's district leaders to learn about maternal, newborn and child health issues in their communities and to take action to prevent future deaths.

A handout by MamaYe drawing on the thoughts, feelings, explanations and responses among the people who experience Ebola outbreaks to support implementers in the fight against Ebola.

This paper outlines NIAM, an independent group that monitors the implementation progress of Nigeria’s national roadmap to advance women’s and children’s health. The authors recommend that engagement between government and civil society – as illustrated by NIAM – should be used more to achieve national goals.

In this article, find out what methods are used to collect data on the E4A programme, assessing how far key decision-makers make use of MNH data and the level of political will to improve MNH outcomes.

This special series focuses on the Evidence for Action (E4A) programme. The editorial outlines the context in which E4A works, describes its distinctive approach combining evidence, advocacy, and accountability, and introduces the other articles in the series.

This article investigates the implementation of maternal and perinatal death reviews (MPDRs) in Tanzania, its role and practices at district and regional hospitals, and the involvement of health system and administration staff.

MamaYe and Evidence for Action’s innovative approach in fostering accountability for maternal and newborn health.

A music video on the need for all stakeholders to work towards improving maternal and newborn health in Ghana.

This Facts and Figures highlights the latest evidence on the link between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and maternal and newborn health (MNH).

Learn about preterm birth and take action!

This background paper presents a review of data and literature of ten fast-track countries’ progress towards MDGs 4 and 5.

This booklet provides examples of key actions used by 10 countries which are on track to achieve Millennium Development Goals for maternal and child health.

Findings from an assessment on emergency obstetric and newborn care in Ghana.

As a mother, breastfeeding is one of the best ways to give your baby the healthiest start to life. By putting an infant to the breast within an hour of birth (a practise also known as ‘early initiation’), and thereafter maintaining this as the sole form of feeding for the infant’s first six months, a mother can ensure that important antibodies will be passed on, protecting the baby from life-threatening diseases such as diarrhoea and pneumonia.

Key facts and figures on health financing in Sierra Leone for 2013.

In 2001, the government of Tanzania signed the Abuja Declaration, which commits them to spending at least 15%of the total government budget on health. This factsheet reviews health financing in Tanzania in 2013, showing progress and shortcomings.

Although the proportion of maternal deaths in facilities has decreased since 2009 in Sierra Leone, a key challenge that still remains is to improve the quality of care. One way to do this is through maternal death reviews.