Safe Motherhood in Nepal

This report reviews progress against the eight outputs of the Support to the Safe Motherhood (SSMP) logical framework for the past six-month period; 1st January to 30th June 2008. The reporting period began with the DfID annual programme review and finalisation of the SSMP revised Technical Assistance (TA) plan for the remainder of the programme period, which ends in November 2009. These two events have guided SSMP’s work during the period and responded to the Government of Nepal’s request that SSMP continue with the same level of technical support in order to maintain the encouraging momentum generated.

Other important activities have included supporting the national Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health (SMNH) Annual Review held in January, led by Family Health Division (FHD), and the subsequent development of the Annual Work Plan and Budget, which incorporated encouraging increases in focused use of Financial Aid (FA) money. These activities have also highlighted the increasing effectiveness of joint planning and collaboration between key government bodies, external agencies, national non government organisations and professional associations.

With only just over a year of active programme period remaining, SSMP is increasingly focused on measures to sustain and scale up successful initiatives, particularly encouraging and supporting the government use of FA to expand and extend activities previously funded under TA, such as: capacity building of local Health Facility Management Committees (HFMC); support for local recruitment of key SMNH staff, particularly Auxiliary Nurse Midwives, but this could be extended to other cadres; specialised SMNH skills training, especially for Skilled Birth Attendance (SBA); use of targeted social mobilisation activities to promote equitable access to services; and public private partnerships to enhance public service provision. Other critical inputs during this period have been directed towards expansion of the SBA training programme, linked with efforts to address wider sector level human resource issues; refinement of the Safe Delivery Incentives Programme (SDIP), based on the encouraging findings of the independent evaluation carried out by the Institute of Child Health in London; web-based systems development to support physical assets management; and support for planning of the major maternal mortality and morbidity survey.

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