Year Three, Quarter One Progress Report: RNMCH and Family Planning

The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Associate Award AID-663-LA-16-00001. The PHSP aims to improve the quality of and access to reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health (RMNCH) services in 30 private health facilities across six regions in Ethiopia. The project focuses on providing technical support, including trainings, mentorship, and joint supportive supervision, to address the gap in quality service provision and access. Additionally, PHSP improves service provision in 125 supported facilities by integrating family planning (FP) into existing antiretroviral therapy (ART), prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), and RMNCH services. The project provides basic training, onsite support, and mentorship to providers to build their clinical and counseling skills. PHSP also links private facilities to their respective Regional Health Bureaus (RHBs) and Pharmaceuticals Fund and Supply Agency (PFSA) hubs to access FP commodities and provide services at an affordable fee. The project's progress in implementing its planned activities during the first quarter of Year Three (October 2017 – December 2018) is described in this report. In the area of family planning services, PHSP conducted several activities during the first quarter of Year Three. These included preparing facilities for the USAID compliance visit and attending the compliance check with USAID/Ethiopia office staff in Addis Ababa. PHSP also represented the project and made a presentation at the FP Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) regarding the rapid assessment findings and about PHSP project. Furthermore, PHSP accompanied and attended the USAID/Ethiopia and USAID/Washington teams visit to Nain MCH center in Addis Ababa to facilitate the compliance visit. The project prepared and shared a synopsis of RMNCH/FP program activities conducted so far to be delivered to the USAID/Ethiopia team. Additionally, PHSP attended the FP, abortion, and HIV/AIDS compliance discussion with the USAID team from Ethiopia and Washington at Abt Associates' office on November 20, 2017. PHSP also developed a zero draft compliance document on the statutory and policy requirements of the United States Government (USG) on FP and abortion care, which includes activities, action plan, annexed reference materials, and checklists. The project organized and provided orientation for 35 PHSP head office team members in Addis Ababa on the statutory and policy requirements of USG. PHSP also developed a PowerPoint presentation and 20 questions to be used for the protecting life in global health assistance (PLGHA) training. In terms of performance, PHSP reported that 35 facilities were prepared for the USAID compliance visit, and 20 facilities were visited by the USAID/Ethiopia and USAID/Washington teams. The project also reported that 35 PHSP head office team members received orientation on the statutory and policy requirements of USG.