Year Four, Quarter One Progress Report: The Healthy Mother, Healthy Baby Activity

The activity aims to reduce maternal and child mortality and malnutrition in the 12 western districts of the Khatlon Region. The initiative is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with a budget of USD $17.3 million. The activity supports the national strategies to improve health and nutrition for women and children by providing technical and organizational support to strengthen all levels of the health system. The initiative focuses on three main objectives: supporting the MOHSPP in scaling up and institutionalizing quality health and nutrition services to mothers, newborns, and children; supporting the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement and the Republic of Tajikistan's national strategies; and promoting social and behavior change to improve nutrition and maternal and child health. In Year Four, Quarter One, the activity made significant progress in achieving its objectives. The MOHSPP accredited two Central District Hospitals (CDHs), Yovon and Khuroson, which will provide quality health and nutrition services to mothers, newborns, and children. The activity also trained a total of 1,234 health care workers (HCWs) in Y4-Q1, with 63% of them being female. The trained HCWs will be able to provide quality health and nutrition services to the community. The activity also made progress in promoting social and behavior change to improve nutrition and maternal and child health. The Nutrition Resource Centers (NRCs) conducted a total of 1,200 community-based events, including training sessions, workshops, and awareness campaigns. The NRCs also provided training to 150 facilitators on Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) approaches, which will help to promote healthy behaviors among the community. The activity also made progress in supporting the SUN movement and the Republic of Tajikistan's national strategies. The activity worked closely with the MOHSPP and other stakeholders to develop and implement the Food Fortification Action Plans (FFAPs) and the Guideline on the Partnership with Communities on Health Issues (GPCHI). The activity also supported the development of the District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2) to improve data collection and analysis at the district level. The activity also made progress in monitoring and evaluation. The Abt Monitoring and Evaluation Ecosystem (AMEE) was used to track progress against the activity's indicators. The activity also conducted a midterm evaluation, which showed a 27% increase in household income among program participants compared to the control group. The activity faced some challenges, including difficulties in working with Community Health Teams (CHTs) and community members. However, the activity was able to overcome these challenges through effective communication and collaboration with the stakeholders. Overall, the Healthy Mother, Healthy Baby Activity in Tajikistan made significant progress in Year Four, Quarter One, in achieving its objectives. The activity continues to work closely with the MOHSPP and other stakeholders to improve health and nutrition outcomes for women and children in the Khatlon Region.