PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Subject to this evaluation is the bilateral project “Health Systems strengthening with a focus on reproductive health" (Malawi German Health Programme, MGHP), implemented from 01.02.2017 to 31.07.2020. The MGHP was commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) with a budget of 16 Mio. EUR. Through a co-funding agreement with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) the overall programme budget was topped up with a grant of 4.65 Mio EUR to a total of 20.65 Mio. EUR. The implementation of the BMGF grant is part of this evaluation. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and its health sector is heavily underfunded. Even though maternal and neonatal mortality have fallen by more than half since 1990, 439 women still die for every 100,000 live births; twice the global average. 27 out of every 1,000 infants die within the first month; 50% more than in the rest of the world. There was good progress over the last decades in increasing the number of women delivering in health facilities, where deliveries are assisted by skilled birth attendants. Poor quality of care, however, remains a major obstacle in the fight against maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity.

The objective: strengthen the Malawi helath system to deliver higher quality maternal and newborn health services, especially in the target districts. The central project evaluations are divided into two phases: (1) inception phase with the preparation of the inception report on the methodological approach, (2) data collection and evaluation phase with the evaluation mission and the preparation of the evaluation report. Both phases are implemented semi-remote due to COVID-19 restrictions.

(9909936)