IWEN Ghana secures GHC100,000 to promote sexual, maternal and newborn health in Ada West District

Indigenous Women Empowerment Network (IWEN Ghana), an indigenous women's right organisation has secured GHS100,000 funding support from KGL Foundation to promote sexual, maternal and newborn health (SMNH) in the Ada West District of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.

The 12 months project: Improving Sexual, Maternal and Newborn Health through Social Accountability and Community Mobilization seeks to improve sexual, maternal and newborn health for at least 2,500 women of reproductive age in the District.

In a press release, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of IWEN Ghana, Celestina Maame Esi Andoh (Mrs) said the goal is to inform, empower and mobilize women and communities so that they are better prepared to manage pregnancy and childbirth, and to be able to actively seek quality SMNH services when needed.

The Executive Director said the intervention will ensure provision of essential SMNH care to women, new-born and children at all levels of services by adopting a public-community partnership approach.

According to her, when a mother chooses to deliver her baby outside of formal health facilities, she puts her own life and that of her new-born in jeopardy, particularly if complications arise.

IWEN Ghana support programs and Services, she noted aimed at reducing such preventable deaths through a high-impact, evidence-based child survival project that helps to increase access to quality maternal, neonatal sexual reproductive health services with change in behaviour and beliefs of community, pregnant women and their family members across the district.

Ada West is one of the most deprived districts in the Greater Accra region, bedevilled with many challenges including health care delivery. The district recorded the highest teenage pregnancy cases in the region according the Ghana Education Service report in 2021. The district has also performed poorly over the years in terms of its health indicators especially around Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Services (GHS Report, 2020)

Esi Andoh (Mrs) said the intervention will improve access to quality sexual, maternal, newborn and child health care services to help reduce newborn and maternal deaths in the district, accelerating progress towards SDG 3.

The Project Manager, Edward Ayabilah noted that maternal and child health is one focal area of SDG3 target 3.1 by reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births 2030.

And while target 3.2 ending preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births by 2030.

However, he said Ghana’s MMR is four times as high as the global SDG target, currently 310 deaths per 100,000 live births.1 Improving access to skilled delivery care at the time of childbirth and in the event of a complication during childbirth is critical to avoid maternal deaths.

He said the project will ensure social accountability and mobilization approach to promote citizen’s awareness on maternal and child health rights through sensitization and advocacy, by building citizen capacity to monitor progress on addressing identified maternal health related challenges.

Mr Ayabilah noted that Community Accountability Committees (CAC) will be established in the beneficiary communities to monitor financial allocations and spending on maternal health, quality and effectiveness of service delivery.

He revealed that Annual District Health Accountability Summit (ADHAS) will also be organised to increase citizens' participation in health promotion in the District.