Financial Express print this



JICA to provide Tk 300m for promoting safe motherhood

3/24/2006

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide nearly Tk 300 million (30 crore, US$ 4.0 million) for implementing its Safe Motherhood Promotion Project in Narsingdi district to improve health status of women of reproductive age and neonatal births in the area, reports BSS.
The project is designed to improve the availability and utilisation of quality services for women during their pregnancy and delivery.
Considering the health and poverty indicators, the Narsingdi district has been selected as a 'target district' to establish an effective safe motherhood service system, JICA sources said.
The project will start in July this year and end in June 2010. After successful completion of the project, health status of the women of reproductive ages and new-born infants will be improved in the district, sources added.
The project will be managed by the District Project Implementation Committee (DPIC) comprising various stakeholders, such as Civil Surgeon, Deputy Director Family Planning (DDFP), non-government organisation (NGO) representatives, local authorities and JICA project staffs.
It will strengthen the government system through capacity development in managerial and supervisory skill as well as have a private-public partnership, collaborating with NGOs for community mobilisation and awareness rising on safe motherhood issue.
To ensure quality reproductive health service provided by family planning workers, the project would strengthen the supportive supervision through developing user-friendly checklists, improve information recording system and motivate the supervisors.
To fulfil the objective of ensuring safe delivery, the project will ensure a cooperative relationship among those, who are involved in assisting child-birth in the community level, viz family welfare visitors, skilled birth attendants and traditional birth attendants, sources said.
Satellite clinics will be provided adequate supports under the projects for its quality improvement. Consequently, more pregnant women with high risk will be detected, given attention and referred properly and timely to emergency obstetric care facilities.
The JICA has also a plan to disseminate the project's experience and lessons learnt to two more districts in the future.