©Hadrien Bonnaud/UNICEF

By decision endorsed by the Steering Committee of the French Muskoka Fund in March 2020, chaired by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Burkina Faso was officially introduced into the Muskoka mechanism aimed at improving the maternal, newborn, child, adolescent and youth health in the Center, Center-Est, Hauts Bassins and Center-Nord regions.

The inclusion of Burkina Faso in the Muskoka mechanism has two main frameworks:

– a governance framework defining the coordination mechanism (role, function, accountability of each organ)

– a programmatic framework determining the activities and deliverables expected from 2021.

The national coordinating committee (bringing together all expert advisers in Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent and Nutrition Health (SRMNIA-Nut) from United Nations agencies and relevant ministries as well as the global health advisor from the French Embassy) has the mandate to define the work plan on the basis of the country’s priorities in connection with the programmatic orientations defined by the regional technical committee, to ensure its operational implementation, to carry out monitoring and monitoring of activities that will be reported annually to the regional level.

In 2020, the programmatic framework planned for Burkina Faso mainly focuses on technical support structured around the analysis of national needs and bottlenecks, and the identification of programmatic needs with the existing coordination bodies.

This analysis will allow the identification of programmatic priorities and high impact interventions to be carried out from 2021 by the French Muskoka Fund.

Equitable access to qualified health care staff

A labor market and return on investment analysis in Côte d’Ivoire has demonstrated the relevance of increasing expenditure on health care staff to the Ivorian economy. A 1% increase in expenditure on the health workforce would lead to a 2.5% rise in average household revenue, with a 1.89% growth in employment and a 3.2% increase in GDP.
The impact of this investment on job creation would be 2.14% for men and 1.63% for women. Thanks to these studies and subsequent advocacy, the Côte d’Ivoire government agreed to create 21,753 additional health jobs by 2022, in particular to meet the health service needs of mothers, children and adolescents.

Essential drugs: accessibility, quality, rationality

The French Muskoka Fund has helped national quality control laboratories in Côte d’Ivoire prepare for the WHO Prequalification Programme.
With the help of the French Muskoka Fund, the country has also reviewed its treatment protocols to improve the quality of treatment for mothers and children.

Community-based family planning

Responses to crisis situations

The Lake Chad region is experiencing a humanitarian crisis, and has seen its already worrying maternal health indicators deteriorate rapidly. Working in complementarity with other partners as part of the “All4LakeChad” campaign, the FFM has helped fund interventions to manage refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees in three Chad health districts (Bol, Baga-Sola and Liwa). The strategies put in place included deploying 160 midwives and 3 gynecologists in health centers and hospitals, providing equipment and reproductive health products and getting traditional and religious leaders involved.
During the campaign, attendance at health training courses rose by 69%.

Responses to crisis situations

The north of Mali has seen massive population displacement and is affected by very limited access to health care. Muskoka agencies were mobilized to ensure continuity of care in health districts and hospitals in the regions of Gao, Timbuktu, Kidal, Mopti and Ségou.

Multidisciplinary teams responsible for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health were deployed in the conflict zones. In total, 217 specialists were sent into the field, including 30 midwives and obstetric nurses, 8 obstetrician-gynecologists and 26 staff from the Expanded Programme on Immunization. As a result of these interventions, some health centers that were ransacked during the occupation of the north were able to reopen and ensure continuity of services. Urgent drugs (kits) and other medical and non-medical products were also supplied.

Equitable access to qualified health care staff

Improving Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care 

The number of health facilities qualified to provide BEmONC rose from close to zero in 2012 to 3 in 2013, 47 in 2014 and 72 in 2015.
In 2017, 34 BEmONC and 25 CEmONC services were fully operational.
As a result, the EmONC (Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care) available in 2015 covered a population of 5.5 million inhabitants out of the country’s population of 10.6 million, in line with international standards.
Activities are continuing to make them fully operational.

Adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health

In Guinea, the availability of adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health services has significantly increased since 2012, rising from 10 facilities providing SRH services for young people to 76 facilities in 2017. These services are provided in different types of facilities: public health facilities; health facilities managed by an NGO/CSO to create a welcoming space for adolescents and young people; and school and university clinics. Some services are also provided using advanced strategies such as family planning and HIV campaigns.
Activities that help these services become more effective include training management teams and service providers on AYSRH standards, supplying equipment and drugs and setting up welcoming spaces.