WHO, ACHEST in bid to reduce maternal and childhood mortality in Uganda

Prof. Omaswa handing over the sh23m cheque to OdweIn order to contribute to the reduction of  maternal and childhood mortality in Uganda, the partnership on maternal newborn child health (MNCH) based in the World Health Organization has made funding worth Ugsh23m available to civil society organizations through ACHEST. The money is intended to support member CSOs as they advocate more budget allocations towards reduction of maternal and newborn deaths in the country.

The ACHEST executive director, Prof. Francis Omaswa handed over the sh23m cheque to Denis Odwe the coalition representative.
 Handing over the cheque, Prof. Omaswa, cautioned against mismanagement of the funds. He said: “Africans have a high family dependency burden so we are tempted to divert such funds for personal needs. Be careful because this often leads to non-performance.”

 He further informed the coalition representative that the major challenge they will meet is mitigating corruption at district level and weak supervision mechanisms at the ministry health.
Prof. Omaswa pledged help to the coalition saying: “ACHEST leadership will offer real capacity building which is inspiration and structured monitoring of resources.”
Odwe welcomed the offer and thanked ACHEST staff for their commitment to be available at all levels of the project. 

The coalition on Reduction of Maternal Newborn and Child Health will use the funds to carry out the following activities:
•    Advocating increased government funding for reducing maternal and childhood mortality
•    Tracking budget funds and ensuring that the money reaches its intended beneficiaries
•    Measuring the impact of the budget funds.
According to the Population Secretariat 2013 statistics, maternal mortality rates in Uganda are 438 mothers per 100,000 live births. The Millennium Development Goal target is 131 deaths per 100,000 by 2015.