Empowering Women for Better Reproductive Health Outcomes (EMPOWER)

EMPOWER will address the underlying factors that have sustained Uganda’s high maternal deaths and pregnancy rates, namely: (a) weak health systems that are unable to deliver lifesaving maternal and reproductive services; (b) misinformation and myths about family planning that deter or undermine women’s autonomy over their own bodies. This will be done through four components: (a) Mentorship of health workers in public health facilities across 50-70 rural and hard-to-reach districts on how to administer lifesaving maternal and reproductive services. (b) Strengthening maternal health systems, including essential supplies and medical equipment to reduce preventable maternal deaths and increase uptake of post-partum family planning. (c) Creating a vibrant and self-sustaining private sector market in urban and semi-urban areas for FP commodities through a total market approach. (d) Countering misinformation and myths around modern FP through use of community leaders, influencers, and peer engagement. This will also include addressing harmful cultural attitudes and practices that disempower women. All these components will be monitored, evaluated and decisions made through a Third-party monitoring Group (TMG). TPMG will interrogate reports, undertake field visits, collect data and monitor indicators in the results framework and conduct specific time bound in depth studies to explore specific bottlenecks or areas of learning and adaption.