AID cooperative agreement no. OTR-0500-A-00-9156-00 with World Vision Relief and Development, Inc. to aid in the reduction of the morbidity and mortality of children less than five years old in the Bundibugyo District of Uganda

(WVRD), to support child survival (CS) activities in Uganda"s Bundibugyo District and Mauritania"s Assaba region. WVRD"s project in Bundibugyo, which represents an entirely new endeavor for WVRD/Uganda, will include a full range of maternal/child health (MCH) interventions, including oral rehydration therapy (ORT), nutrition, immunization, and child spacing, and targets 77,905 women, children, and infants. The project will have four approaches: direct service delivery through project-trained community health workers (CHW"s) and traditional birth attendants (TBA"s), working out of aid posts and trading centers; assistance to the government health service delivery system, which will include improving the training capabilities, in MCH-related fields, of the Ministry of Health, and the provision of essential drug, supplies, and equipment; social mobilization efforts; and activities to involve women and youth in the development of income-generating activities to support CHW"s, TBA"s, and other health care activities. Expected outputs include, inter-alia, 100 trained CHW"s and 70 TBA"s, 3 equipped aid posts, and a functioning essential drugs and supplies program. The grant also funds a 3-year extension of the Vitamin A component of WVRD"s ongoing CS project in Mauritania"s Assaba region, which aims to reduce Vitamin A deficiency among children under 6 through Vitamin A capsule distribution, promotion of nutritional gardening, and social marketing activities. Some targets are to initiate 10 village demonstration gardens each year, train 5 people in Vitamin A/vegetable improvement in each village, train 30 MOH staff and 140 village health educators and TBA"s on CS and Vitamin A themes, and develop 5 radio messages, 4 filmstrips, and 2 slide shows targeting women of childbearing age. Growth monitoring, ORT, and immunization activities will be carried out as well.