Niamey, March 24, 2022: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) a new health project which will work with the Niger Ministry of Public Health, Population, and Social Affairs (MSP/P/AS) held a special launch ceremony on March 1 in Dosso.
USAID’s MOMENTUM Integrated Health Resilience will work with national and regional partners on clinical and outreach programming involving maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), voluntary family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH), immunization, and nutrition. The project will work to strengthen health resilience in fragile settings, with a focus on reducing preventable maternal, newborn, and child illness and death, and improving access to and use of FP/RH in Dosso and Tahoua.
Scheduled speakers for the event included the Minister of Public Health, Population and Social Affairs Dr. Idi Illiassou Mainassara; the USAID Mission Director for Niger Jo Lesser-Oltheten; the Governor of Dosso Region; and the Mayor of Dosso City. MOMENTUM Integrated Health Resilience Niger Chief of Party Boucar Amsagana gave an overview of planned health activities, which have a global budget for the four years of US $24 million (13,200,000,000 FCFA).
The launch ceremony introduced key project activities to the various stakeholders who may be involved, advocated for the commitment of partners at national, regional, and community levels, and discussed next steps to ensure effective coordination and implementation of activities.
Planned program actions included addressing the nutritional needs of mothers and babies; promoting adolescent engagement and leadership in MNCH and FP/RH programming; strengthening child health case management outside of health facilities; and adapting the “Reach Every District/Reach Every Child” approach to immunization programming in Niger. Activities will be facilitated by national and local partnerships and awards.
“We are pleased to be working with our Niger partners on this new flagship project to strengthen health resilience for mothers, their children, families, and communities,” said Jo Lesser-Oltheten, Mission Director for USAID/Niger. “This is an excellent opportunity to continue advancing health outcomes in Niger.”
