… Wraps up after 12 years of  RMNCAH promotion in Nigeria

By Sola Ogundipe

LAST week in Abuja, Options Consultancy Services, a leading global health consultancy,  wrapped up its Evidence for Action, E4A MamaYe, Programme, after 12 years of advancing maternal and newborn health across Nigeria and Africa.

Established in 2012 by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO, formerly DFID), the E4A Programme enhances maternal and newborn health outcomes by fostering accountability among state actors in delivering quality services.

At wrap-up, the E4A MamaYe programme,  adopted by the Gates Foundation in 2015, had completed three cycles of intervention phases, leaving behind a legacy of impactful initiatives.

Managed by Options Consultancy Limited, the E4A MamaYe Programme has been at the forefront of promoting sustainable advocacy for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health, RMNCAH, across the continent.

Through grassroots advocacy coalitions and State-Led Accountability Mechanisms, SLAMs, the E4A Programme empowered communities to advocate for policy issues that prioritize the health needs of women, girls, and children.

Notably, the MamaYe Africa Collective, established under the E4A Programme, has served as a platform for regional collaboration and advocacy to improve RMNCAH services.

Through its projects MNCH2, LAFIYA, WISH, and Options E4A MamayYe established and nurtured 13 SLAMs for RMNCAH advocacy in Nigeria.

In the beneficiary states of Lagos, Niger, Bauchi, Gombe, Ondo, Kaduna, Yobe, Zamfara, Kano, Jigawa, Taraba, Katsina, and Jigawa, the SLAMs have been pivotal in holding governments accountable for improved maternal, newborn, and child health services.

Options strengthened the capacity of SLAMs on the use of accountability tools and approaches to hold the government accountable for improved maternal newborn and child health, MNCH, services.

Between 2022 and 2024, the E4A-MamaYe Programme focused on ensuring the sustainability of SLAMs in Kaduna, Lagos, and Yobe states, empowering the coalitions to take ownership of their interventions and providing them with the necessary tools and skills, Options Consultancy aims to foster continuity and resilience in RMNCAH advocacy efforts.

As part of the closeout events, Options Consultancy hosted a series of events across Nigeria, culminating in a national closeout event in Abuja.

The events featured panel discussions on the theme: “Delivering UHC through Localization: Building Resilient Grassroots Coalitions and Accountability Mechanisms for a Stronger Health System in Nigeria and Africa”.

It was laced with presentations highlighting the impact of the E4A Programme, including the establishment of the MamaYe collective and the dissemination of successful approaches and tools e.g., Global Public Goods (GPGs), cMPDSR Model, and The MamaYe Collective.

Among the highlights of the event, 12 SLAMs for RMNCAH were awarded plaques in appreciation of their relentless commitment to RMNCAH evidence-based advocacy for the past 12 years.

In the view of the Regional Director; West & Central Africa, Options Consultancy Services, Dr. Ufuoma Festus Omo-Obi, “We are proud to have played a role in nurturing grassroots coalitions and empowering stakeholders to drive positive change.

“As we move forward, let us remain steadfast in our dedication to building localized resilient health systems that prioritize equity, quality, and sustainability.

Also speaking, the Project Director, E4A MamaYe. Lucia Laboso, said, “As we close this chapter of the E4A MamaYe Programme, we reflect on the transformative impact achieved through sustained advocacy and accountability efforts. “The journey towards improving maternal and newborn health has been marked by collaboration, resilience, and a shared commitment to prioritizing the needs of women, children, and communities.”

On his part, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare,  Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate, stated: “Strategic partnerships are essential to building efficient, equitable, and quality health system and improving vulnerable populations’ access to basic healthcare services and social welfare programmes.

“To attain the UHC for Nigeria, we are bringing together communities, religious and business leaders, philanthropies, volunteers, and NGOs, through an all-of-society approach, to ensure that everyone is rowing in the same direction.”

Options E4AMamaYe notes that the overarching goal is to facilitate a space to discuss localized leadership delivering RMNCAH+N outcomes, resilient coalition-building, Public Financial Management (PFM), financing accountability, and evidence-based approaches to strengthening health systems.

“Strategic partnerships are essential to building efficient, equitable, and quality health systems and improving vulnerable populations’ access to basic healthcare services and social welfare programmes. To attain the UHC for Nigeria, we are bringing together communities, religious and business leaders, philanthropies, volunteers, and NGOs, through an all-of-society approach, to ensure that everyone is rowing in the same direction.”

With 32 years of experience in global health, Options collaborates with our partners to explore existing evidence, combine expertise, scale up ideas, and co-create solutions that accelerate change. This includes collaborating on policy design, managing initiatives, building powerful coalitions, and galvanizing social movements.

Options E4AMamaYe  has increased facility funding through advocacy efforts in Lagos, Bauchi, and Niger contributing to almost doubling the approved funds for MNCH services that were released in Lagos state from 42.5 percent in 2019 to 81 percent in 2020.

It works with sub-national governments across multiple states to prioritize FP and SRH in annual budgets, and to identify opportunities for increasing domestic financing, making an investment case to advocate for creating an FP budget line in Jigawa and Kano.  Its work contributed to an increase in FP budget allocation and release from 0 percent in 2020 to 38 percent in 2021 and 63.3 percent in 2022 in Jigawa.

In Kano, it provided technical leadership to develop a Costed Implementation Plan for Childbirth Spacing (2021-2023). This multi-year roadmap aims to achieve the state’s FP goals and helps advocate for increased budget allocation in this area.

In Kaduna state, Options E4AMamaYe  provided pivotal support to introduce and implement a community maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response (MPDSR) system, which has contributed to reducing preventable maternal and neonatal deaths. It also integrated ‘social autopsies’ into the state’s MPDSR system to engage communities in responding to findings and taking action to prevent deaths.

In Lagos State, Options E4AMamaYe pioneered a digital MPDSR system with the Ministry of Health, facilitating electronic data collection and analysis in all of the state’s secondary and tertiary health facilities.

In Bauchi and Niger, it facilitated an action-driven MPDSR approach that led to practical improvements, including the procurement of transport incubators to enable newborns to receive emergency care during transportation, health workers training birth attendants to recognize early signs of pregnancy complications for timely referral and an improvement of referral systems for emergency obstetric and neonatal care.