The H4+ Partnership: Joint support to improve women’s and children’s health, Progress report 2014

The H4+ Annual Progress Report looks at the activities of the H4+ partnership at the global level, and implementation of work by country teams around the world, during the 2014 calendar year.

This information was gathered via surveys, which were sent to 75 countries where more than 95 per cent of all maternal and child deaths occur. Sixty-two countries responded to the questionnaire. The findings show that major changes are happening with the collaboration of national governments, partner organizations and the H4+ partnership.

Some of the results include:

• Kenya convened advocacy and capacity-building forums for county governors, parliamentarians and religious leaders from all faiths to foster political commitment for ending preventable deaths and harmful sociocultural practices.
• The H4+ team in Sierra Leone contributed to the development of global guidance for maternal and newborn health (MNH) service provision in the midst of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak, and subsequently supported the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health to adapt this guidance 
• The Lao People’s Democratic Republic developed systems for web-based cold chain information and vaccine stock management, and began implementation of the DHIS 2 health management information system.
• Viet Nam measured stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV, including stigma encountered by women in sexual and reproductive health care settings. The country also used the study results to advocate for a more enabling environment to promote service access for people living with HIV.
• Mozambique trained police officers on responding to reports of gender-based violence.
• Swaziland integrated principles of gender equality and human rights into its national sexual and reproductive health policy, as well as all related strategies, training materials, guidelines and assessments.