Putting Mothers and Children of Kitui County First

On Thursday, May 30 2013, the relatively small and quiet village of Enziu in Mwingi District, Kitui County came alive with song and dance as the local community welcomed a new European Union (EU) funded maternal, newborn and child health project into the district.

‘Putting African Mothers and Children First’ or ‘Uima wa Syana na Iveti Mbee’ in the local language, is a five year project co-funded by AMREF Italy that will work in close partnership with the Ministry of Health and Wikivuvwa Development Action, a local Community Based Organisation (CBO) to improve Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) through a stronger and responsive health system that is inclusive of communities and stakeholders in Mwingi East, Mwingi Central and Migwani Districts.

Speaking at the launch event, guest of honour Mr Titus Katembu, Focal Person for Health, Gender and Education at the European Union Delegation to Kenya echoed the EU’s commitment to health development saying that the Mwingi MNCH project is one of 19 projects currently funded by the EU in Kenya in partnership with communities, local and national government. The EU is currently spending about €16Million on child and maternal health in Kenya.

Also present at the launch was newly elected Member of Parliament for Mwingi Central, Honourable Joe Mutambu who pledged to use funds from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) kitty to ensure that the recently expanded Enziu Dispensary, where the launch was held, had access to water through a community borehole and electricity to allow for proper service provision.

According to Acting District Medical Officer of Health, Mr Noor Gurat, only 21% of women in Mwingi District deliver at health facilities with the help of a skilled birth attendant, a reason that continues to contribute to high maternal and infant mortality rates.

The project will work with relevant stakeholders including local communities to promote demand and access for quality maternal and child health services; promote high impact nutrition interventions for mothers, newborns and children under five years; increase demand and utilization of quality family planning and sexual and reproductive health services and t strengthen the health care delivery system.

Putting African Mothers and Children First is hot on the heels of another EU funded Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) project implemented in Kitui North district, and Makindu Districts in Kitui and Makueni Counties respectively. The project implemented in partnership with AMREF Kenya and CHAK, for a period of three years (April 2010 - March 2013) made huge gains through using the community health strategy approach and building the capacity of water management committees and community structures to implement high impact interventions in MNCH. It is on this basis that AMREF identified the three districts in Kitui County - Mwingi East, Mwingi Central and Migwani, which are most needy to replicate and scale up the recently concluded project.

The five year project is funded at €1.5 million through a co-funding agreement between the EU and AMREF Italy that will see the EU donate €1Million. The project will reach 58,795 women of reproductive age and 44,097 children under five years as direct beneficiaries.