Reporting Organization: | Aga Khan Foundation Canada |
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Total Budget ($CAD): | $ 67,381,908 |
Timeframe: | February 21, 2020 - September 30, 2027 |
Status: | Implementation |
Contact Information: |
Nora Abouguendia [email protected] |
Pakistan - $ 16,171,657.92 (24.00%) | |
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Afghanistan - $ 15,497,838.84 (23.00%) | |
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Canada - $ 11,454,924.36 (17.00%) | |
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Countries, unspecified - $ 10,781,105.28 (16.00%) | |
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Tajikistan - $ 8,759,648.04 (13.00%) | |
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Kyrgyz Republic - $ 4,042,914.48 (6.00%) | |
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India - $ 673,819.08 (1.00%) | |
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Health Systems, Training & Infrastructure (20.00 %) | |
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Reproductive Health & Rights incl. Maternal Health (20.00 %) | |
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Newborn & Child Health (20.00 %) | |
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Adolescent Health (20.00 %) | |
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Health Promotion & Education (0 %) | |
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The Project will improve the health and well-being of women, girls, their families and their communities in select areas of Asia. Taking a lifecycle approach, from early childhood through adolescence to adulthood, the Project will strengthen the foundations for equitable development and empowerment. This Project will work at the intersection of systems for health care, early childhood development, women’s empowerment, and gender equality. Through partnership with local professionals, governments, organizations, and communities, the Project will work towards a future where everyone – women, men, girls, and boys – can access the quality care and services they need to unlock their full potential. The Project will be active in six countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. The Project is comprised of four components: Foundations for Health (F4H), Foundations for Children (F4C), Advancing
Gender Equality through Civil Society (AGECS), and Advancing Canadian Champions for Development (ACCD). Through these components, the Project will: (1) strengthen the delivery of quality, gender responsive, and inclusive maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, sexual, and reproductive health, and early childhood development services, (2) reduce gender and social barriers to utilization and uptake of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, sexual, and reproductive health, and early childhood development, and (3) engage international and Canadian stakeholders in gender-sensitive and evidence-based research, dialogue and development programming.
Gender and age: | Adolescent females Adolescent males Adult men Adult women Children, boys Children, girls Newborns Under-5 children |
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Total Direct Population: | 1,390,000 |
17 | Training on gender- and adolescent-responsive health and ECD services provided to new female and male health professionals and graduate students |
2,330 | Training provided to existing female and male health and ECD professionals |
138 | Training provided to training institutes on gender-and adolescent-responsive SRHR services and holistic ECD |
52 | Training provided to field-based institutions, including placements focused on gender equality and environmental sustainability |
239 | Training |
Intermediate outcome 1100 Strengthened delivery of quality, gender-responsive, and inclusive health, early childhood development, and other sustainable development services, in select areas of Asia will improve technical capacity at the practitioner level, as well as at the local, provincial, and national government levels, while also improving resources for effective service delivery. Pre-service and in-service doctors, nurses, midwives, technicians, health educators, and early childhood development professionals will learn how to manage and deliver gender- and adolescent-friendly health and ECD services, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health. AKFC will also deploy Canadians to the Project’s countries to build human resource capacity in targeted areas.
The Project will provide hands-on support to civil servants and influencers in shaping policies, strategies, and annual planning. The Project will also enable health and early childhood development facilities to provide gender- and adolescent-sensitive services, through the provision of privacy partitions, eHealth connections, and play comers in waiting rooms. The Project will support local institutions to develop or adapt curricula, resources, and tools, including: training packages for early childhood development professionals; life skills training materials for adolescents; and clinical guidelines and procedures on sexual, reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health, and identification and treatment of gender-based violence.
Intermediate outcome 1200 Reduced gender and social barriers to utilization and uptake of health, early childhood development, and other sustainable development services and practices in select areas of Asia for women and girls, adolescents, men, and boys will provide community- and school-based gender-responsive services, such as mobile clinics and nutrition screening in communities. The program will introduce innovations such as extending sexual and reproductive health services to communities through tele-consultations and mHealth; empowering community health workers to screen the nutritional status of children under five. The Project will also support Community Based Savings Groups to increase access to local financial resources for improving access to health and ECO services. It will train, mentor, and provide additional support to a wide range of civil society organizations and leaders, such as women-led and gender equality organizations, early childhood development support groups and health committees, through innovative processes such as human-centred design that foster relevant and innovative solutions to locally defined issues. It will also offer training opportunities for young women in business and leadership skills. The Project will spread messages about social and behaviour change, by working with community health promoters and other civil society actors, as well as media platforms, such as radio and television, and interactive community dialogue sessions. While all outreach will engage men and boys, particular efforts will be taken to sensitize men on their caregiving and reproductive roles, and on how to support women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights and mental health.
Intermediate outcome 1300 Enhanced engagement of international and Canadian stakeholders in gender-sensitive and evidence-based development issues and programming will focus on the establishment of robust gender-sensitive monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems. These systems will include evaluations and studies on key performance indicators, and gender-sensitive research to inform program strategies and contribute to sectoral bodies of knowledge. The Project will also create opportunities for learning and dialogue by convening regional and national learning initiatives and discussing evidence with local, national, and regional stakeholders. AKFC will reach the Canadian public by working through educators, media, volunteers, youth, and professionals from Canada’s corporate sector, with a focus on emerging female leaders. Key activities include a bilingual travelling exhibit on gender equality, digital engagement, AKFC’s flagship International Youth Fellowship program, and learning and dialogue initiatives.
F4HE implementation accelerated during Y2, with some exceptions due to changing national political and economic contexts. Y2 saw greater face-to-face engagement among project partners and stakeholders, through country-level and regional-level meetings and workshops. Those meetings helped to solidify plans, approaches and strategies for implementation during the year, and provided opportunities to reflect on lessons learned, and pivot approaches based on evidence and circumstances. Data collection and analysis were completed for the F4H and F4C regional baseline study and baseline report development was nearly completed. Through a competitive process, four research studies were selected for funding across F4HE geographies, with themes related to F4H and F4C.
Regional and country-level thematic and technical working groups with implementing partners continued to closely coordinate and determine the priority of interventions based on the local context, gender-sensitive needs assessments and reviews jointly conducted by local government and AKDN agencies, as well as global best practices in F4H and F4C thematic areas. The country-level Gender Technical Working Groups monitored gender integration implementation across all project components, encouraged exchange of experience and developed strategies for implementation, particularly in Afghanistan.
The integrated approach to health service delivery was solidified in Y2 under F4H, and continued to support implementing partners to improve health systems and reduce barriers that limit equitable outcomes for women, children and adolescents in the project’s key thematic areas. Those thematic areas include SRMNCAH and NCDs, including breast cancer, cervical cancer, mental health and nutrition. Country- and regional-technical and coordination mechanisms ensured synergies across implementation of project components, including the engagement of CSOs supporting health issues at the community level in project geographies.
F4C’s integrated programming approach, which is aligned with the Nurturing Care Framework (NCF) and AKF’s ECD strategic framework, was operationalized across the project geographies to enable parents, early childhood educators and health care providers to support and promote child development holistically. Regional and country-level technical resources were developed, including the ECD curriculum and parenting packages. Those resources supported the continued implementation of activities, including the training of Master Trainers. ECD centres and resource centres continued to be established and supported.
Under AGECS, seven out of eight selected gender equality-targeted and -transformative sub-projects began implementation with civil society and women’s organization partners, and with technical support from AKF. Baseline studies for three sub-projects were completed. The Women’s Leadership Academy saw the finalization of its course curriculum as well as enrollment of the first cohort of women. The School for the Advancement of Gender Equality conducted its first Women in Civil Society forum and awarded nine “gender advocacy” micro-grants to gender equality-focused civil society actors from its first cohort of participants.
Public engagement activities continued in Canada under the ACCD component, with substantial development in exhibitions and public engagement events as well as the delivery of trainings on women’s empowerment, rights and gender equality and other international development issues to key audiences in Canada. The International Youth Fellowship (IYF) also returned to in-country placements with seven (4F/3M) Fellows placed in Asia. In addition, five (4F/1M) CADEX consultants completed placements providing technical support to field institutions.