Child and Family work

Informed by Nigeria’s high rates of maternal, neonatal and child mortality and morbidity, the dRPC has been working in the area of Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health since its inception in the early days of the 1990s. Northern Nigeria has constituted a focal geography for the dRPC’s work in this sector given the high prevalence rates of MNC mortality and morbidity in this region. For the dRPC child and family heath captures similar components as the focus on MNCH, with the inclusion on nutrition in the family health component. The dRPC’s work on child and family health focuses on the health system at the primary health care level; the end user and her/his engagement; child and family health policy and its implementation; and the capacity of both government and civil society organizations to fulfill their role on the demand and supply side of service delivery. The Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health (PACaH) and the Partnership or Advocacy for Child and Family Health at Scale, PACFaH@Scale, (PAS) are two flagship projects for the dRPC in the child and family health space. These interventions were designed as heath accountability projects which aim to strengthen the capacity of Nigerian Civil Society Organizations, (CSOs) at national and state levels to hold decision-makers (in the executive and legislature) to account to comply with commitments in child and family health 1) policies/laws; 2) Financial obligations; and 3) to bring down regulatory and administrative barriers to effective and efficient service delivery. With regard to the current project PAS is a coalition of 23 indigenous health NGOs and professional associations. The project is supported by 2 government think tanks working to develop champions within the executive and legislature.