Grand-Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire | 16 april 2018 – The workshop on the modalities of the centers of excellence for Master of Science in Nursing and Obstetrics opened this morning in Grand-Bassam, under the chairmanship of the Deputy Director General of Health of Côte d’Ivoire, in the presence of the representative of the Director General of the West Africa Health Organization (WAHO), the representative of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), representatives of the Ministries of Health of SWEDD countries, and experts on health, population and pedagogy. The workshop, organized by WAHO and UNFPA, is one of the activities under the Sahel Women Empowerment and Demographic Dividend (SWEDD) project, a regional initiative involving six member countries: Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad. The principal objective of the SWEDD project is to accelerate demographic transition and reduce gender inequalities in the Sahel. The establishment of the regional centers of excellence is a response to one of the major challenges faced by countries of the region:
- lack of quality healthcare, particularly for mother and child in tandem. Indeed, a further reduction in maternal and infant mortality as well as the provision of quality services, requires not only some infrastructure and equipment of international standards but especially qualified health workers capable of preventing unwanted pregnancies, providing care to pregnant women during pregnancy and delivery, avoiding complications and acting on a timely when necessary.
The SWEDD project supports midwifery training institutions in order to improve the quality and increase the number of midwifes and other health workers involved in reproductive, maternal, infant, neonatal and nutritional health. Three Institutions: ENSP Niamey, INFAS Côte d’Ivoire, and INFSS Mali, were selected to receive capacity building in order to host the Masters Program in Nursing and Obstetrics.
The Experts meeting today until 20th April, will be discussing additional needs for lecturers and equipment, selection criteria for future students and lecturers, as well as other arrangements relating to the actual kick-start of the training, which is expected to open next September.
Background to the SWEDD project
The “Sahel Women Empowerment and Demographic Dividend” (SWEDD) project is regional initiative involving six sahelian countries facing identical demographic challenges. It aims at consolidating the level of empowerment of women and girls, with the view to fostering the development of the countries in the region. The World Bank is funding the project, with technical assistance from the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) and the West Africa Health Organization (WAHO).
• Contacts OOAS : Tél. : +226 0 97 57 75 / 20 97 01 00 | Email : wahooas@wahooas.org • Contacts UNFPA WCARO : Tél. : + 221 33 859 82 37 | Email : adotevi@unfpa.org
