REDSO/WCA project assistance completion report for family health initiatives II project (698-0462)

The Mauritania component supported policy development, services, training, professional conferences, and research and special studies, with a focus on assistance to the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance's Center for Demographic and Social Studies. The demand for project support exceeded authorized funding. (1) The project enabled 10 MOH personnel to attend a 1-month FP training program in Tunisia focusing on services promotion, clinical skills, and management; the project also provided assistance in developing a FP curriculum for nurse training at the public health school. (2) The project supported production by World Vision of a film, produced in four languages and broadcast on national television, on the consequences of at-risk pregnancies and on birth spacing, and of two slide shows on FP and sexually transmitted diseases, shown at maternal/child health clinics throughout Mauritania. (3) The project financed attendance by an MOH staffer at a 3-week course, conducted in Baltimore by the Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics (JHPIEGO), on administration of family health programs. (4) Also, the project funded renovation of the laboratory and consulting rooms at the Family Planning Referral Center in Nouakchott. In the absence of project reviews or evaluations, lessons learned from these activities could not be ascertained.