Ethiopia
Communities Achieving Reproductive Health, Child Survival and Educational Goals
Activity Dates
2004-2007
Activity Summary
HCP works with the Essential Services for Health in Ethiopia (ESHE), World Learning and Pathfinder International, to strengthen community-level approaches to child health. HCP's child survival work has three major components:
- The Family Health Card (FHC)
- Champion Communities Initiative (Kokeb Kebeles means "star community")
- The Essential Health Trunk
Implementation
The FHC was developed in collaboration with ten partners for use by community health workers in their household visits. The booklet highlights the highest impact health interventions for pregnant women and children less than two years old. Over 6 million copies of the FHC have been printed to date and are currently in use by ESHE, UNICEF, the Ministry of Health's Health Extension Workers (HEW), and other organizations.
Champion Communities is a pilot program integrating health, education, and HIV/AIDS at the community level. Communities establish Action Committees comprised of health, education and community leaders to mobilize the community to achieve pre-defined and open goals (goals that communities have selected for themselves).
Champion Communities is being implemented in collaboration with the ESHE Project, Pathfinder International, and World Learning. Each group has community-based representatives that are members of the Action Committees, and are the entry points in working with communities to link health and education.
HCP works with Pathfinder International and its local partners to build capacity and ensure high-impact behavior change communication for its Community Based Reproductive Health Agents (CBRHAs) around family planning, adolescent reproductive health, maternal health, harmful traditional practices, and gender. To date, HCP has developed and distributed the following materials to Pathfinder's 10,000 CBRHAs:
- Family Health Cue Cards
- Community Based Feedback System
- Journey of Life Listening Group Discussion Guide
- Family Planning Flip Chart
- Family Planning Choices Pocket Booklet
The Community Feedback System was developed by HCP in collaboration with Pathfinder. The Community Feedback System helps monitor the impact of materials used by community-based reproductive health agents and implementing partner organizations by providing a means for gathering community feedback on a house-to-house basis. Unlike many monitoring programs, the Community Feedback System relays information to regional and national levels at the same time as information is shared with local communities, allowing communities to understand their health status and measure changes over time.
Journey of Life (JOL) is a compelling, 26-episode radio drama. Based on the series' initial success, HCP worked with Pathfinder to develop listeners' kits including cassettes of JOL episodes and a discussion guide for use by CBRHA's. Each module of the guide contains key messages and questions for discussion.
The Family Planning Flip Chart, developed by HCP and Pathfinder, may be used by CBRHAs or clinicians to help clients understand their contraceptive options.
The Family Planning Choices Booklet is a pocket-sized brochure was adapted form the Family Planning Flip Chart. It is intended to serve as a quick resource for CBRHAs and couples considering family planning. It provides practical information about the different contraceptive methods available to couples and discusses the factors that can influence contraceptive choices. The brochure emphasizes the importance of counseling clients about their choices and providing appropriate information for those at risk of sexually transmitted infections.
Materials and Tools
Partners
Essential Services for Health in Ethiopia (ESHE); World Learning; Pathfinder
Back to Ethiopia
Note about materials: Some of the materials and resources listed on each page are available in their full form, others are represented by image or citation only. For more information and resources, go to www.jhuccp.org
|
