Malawi
We partner with Malawi’s government, private sector, and local organizations to help children and youth access the health care they deserve.
MOMENTUM is partnering with nearly 40 countries to accelerate progress and advance USAID’s work to save lives and improve health outcomes for women, children, families, and communities in all of their diversity. MOMENTUM brings together specialized technical and country expertise through six distinct yet integrated awards with the depth and breadth of experience to spur reductions in maternal, newborn, and child mortality and morbidity.
MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership currently works in Nkhata Bay district and at the national level to improve access to proven life-saving health interventions for children and to help young people access reproductive health information and services. MOMENTUM Private Healthcare Delivery has also worked across eight districts to provide accurate family planning and reproductive health information for young people ages 10 to 24.
MOMENTUM also supports two bilateral projects in Malawi–Tikweze Umoyo and Tiyeni. These projects are funded through agreements with USAID Malawi and operate independently but are affiliated with the global MOMENTUM suite. The projects support the Government of Malawi’s essential health services and work to scale up and integrate maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition, voluntary family planning and reproductive health, hygiene, and COVID-19 services.
Improving the Health of Women and Children
The MOMENTUM-supported Tikweze Umoyo and Tiyeni projects use a multisectoral approach to improve access to and increase the quality of health services for women and children, with a focus on youth, civic engagement, and gender and social inclusion. Tikweze Umoyo works in the Chitipa, Karonga, Kasungu, Nkhotakota, and Salima districts, while Tiyeni works in Chikwawa, Dowa, Lilongwe, Machinga, Mangochi, Mulanje, and Zomba districts. The two projects partner with the government in different geographical areas to improve the capacity and quality of health services, to support communities’ access to health information, to equip community members to participate in accountability mechanisms to ensure the health system responds to their needs, and to institutionalize the use of data for decision-making at national and district levels.
On our blog, learn how MOMENTUM Tiyeni supports the delivery of emergency response and recovery services to districts affected by Cyclone Freddy.
Partnering to Improve Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health
MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership partners with USAID’s Restoring Fisheries for Sustainable Livelihoods in Lake Malawi (REFRESH) project to reach adolescents, families, and community members in Malawi’s Nkhata Bay district. MOMENTUM aims to increase access and availability of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services through the provision of safe spaces and community dialogue sessions and engagement with lakeside village committees, youth clubs, district fisheries associations, and the Ministry of Health. These approaches emphasize the unique integration between population, development, and the environment and encourage collaboration among the two fisheries and health sectors. The project activities target female and male adolescents (ages 15-19), their families, caregivers, community members, and local civic and government actors.
From October 2021 to September 2022, MOMENTUM Private Healthcare Delivery worked with the Government of Malawi to reach young married and unmarried people in eight districts with accurate, high-quality SRH information to make informed family planning choices. MOMENTUM implemented human-centered design approaches to create demand for SRH services among youth, including video series disseminated on social media platforms, radio programs, and communication materials. The project also focused on training community volunteers and service providers at private facilities to offer adolescent-responsive family planning information and referral services to community members.
On our blog, meet Eliza, a youth mobilizer in Mangochi, Malawi, who attended a training supported by MOMENTUM Private Healthcare Delivery to help increase access to family planning and reproductive health care in her community.
Improving Access to Lifesaving Services for Children
Malawi has made significant progress in improving child wellbeing over the past few decades, but 63 percent of Malawian children still live in poverty, making it harder for them to access the health care they need.1, 2 MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership is working with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Malawi’s Ministry of Health to promote Integrated Community Case Management—a proven, equity-focused strategy for delivering key child health interventions to hard-to-reach communities—across the country to improve access to lifesaving treatments for malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea, and acute malnutrition.
MOMENTUM is also working with Malawi’s Ministry of Health to better understand barriers to effective implementation of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), an integrated facility-based strategy developed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF to improve treatment of childhood illness and promote healthy growth. Findings from this work will be combined with similar studies in Ghana and Sierra Leone to advance global and national recommendations to strengthen IMCI implementation.
Download MOMENTUM’s full report on IMCI in Malawi here.
Learn more about how MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership partners with community health workers to develop the knowledge and skills they need to counsel families with sick children.
MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership: Pact, Save the Children, Youth Net and Counseling (YONECO), Malawi Ministry of Health, USAID REFRESH project, District Fisheries Association (Nkhata Bay)
MOMENTUM Private Healthcare Delivery: Population Services International (PSI) Malawi, Malawi Ministry of Health, Health Education Services Unit
MOMENTUM Tiyeni: Palladium, Save the Children, Pakachere Institute for Health and Development Communication, Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM), Parent and Child Health Initiative (Pachi), Evangelical Association of Malawi
MOMENTUM Tikweze Umoyo: Amref, Government ministries (including Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability, and Social Welfare, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Sports and Youth, and Ministry of Water and Sanitation), D-tree, Emanuel International, Family Health Services, FPAM, WaterAid, and Youth Wave
Interested in partnering with us or learning more about our work in Malawi? Contact us here or check out our regional reference brief.
Learn more about USAID’s work in Malawi.
References
- United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. Levels & Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2020, Stillbirth and Child Mortality Estimates. New York: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 2020.
- Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (Malawi) and UNICEF. Child Poverty in Malawi. March 2016. https://www.unicef.org/esa/sites/unicef.org.esa/files/2018-09/UNICEF-Malawi-2016-Child-Poverty.PDF
Last updated December 2023.