Donor: USAID

Overview

MCGL is a USAID flagship program to reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality and morbidity in high-burden countries. It strengthens the capacity of national institutions and local organisations to implement and sustain quality maternal, newborn, and child health services. MCGL operates in Zambia’s northern and central provinces.

MCGL shifts from direct service delivery to enhancing partnerships with country and national governments, focusing on locally-led development through coaching, mentoring, mutual accountability, and co-investment.

The program focuses on six accelerators to improve the Ministry of Health-led, multi-partner programming cycle:

1. Partnerships: Strengthen collaboration and accountability.
2. Co-Creation: Jointly develop systems-oriented plans.
3. Technical Quality: Enhance program rigour.
4. Equity Focus: Address and reduce equity gaps.
5. Capacity Development: Build technical and managerial skills.
6. Adaptive Management: Implement flexible strategies for improvement.

Objective

The overarching goal of the USAID MCGL is to improve maternal, neonatal, child, and adolescent health services in Zambia’s northern and central provinces. 

The specific objectives for the activity include: 

1. Increasing availability of and access to quality reproductive maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH) services. 
2. Increasing demand and uptake of RMNCAH services.
3. Strengthening health systems at national and sub-national levels for effective RMNCAH service delivery.

Impact

• Successfully implemented the Youth-Led Social Accountability initiative, empowering young people to actively participate in monitoring and advocating for quality services in their communities.
• Developed a Leadership succession guide for youth-led organisations to ensure sustainable leadership and continuity in their initiatives.
• Conducted SMART advocacy training for nearly 100 adolescents and adolescent focal point persons in Chibombo, Kabwe and Mbala.
• Oriented over 100 healthcare providers and 34 in-service paediatric nursing students with knowledge and skills in adolescent health and how to screen adolescents using the HEADSS approach.
• Provided GBV LIVES and Multidisciplinary orientations/trainings to 60 healthcare providers, community-based volunteers, religious leaders, civic leaders and other stakeholders in both provinces.
• Conducted adolescent health service quality assessments to more than 20 health facilities in 5 districts in both provinces.
• Conducted community engagement meetings with more than 8 communities focused on reducing teenage pregnancy.
• Successfully trained over 30 adolescents as community-based distributors in Chibombo and Mbala districts.  
• Conducted adolescent and gender-responsive assessments training in 2 districts.
• Conducted gender assessment at Mumbwa District Hospital and Serenje District Hospital.
• Successfully oriented 76 peer educators in IPC/WASH in Kaputa and Mporokoso, Northern Province and Kabwe in Central Province. The aim was to improve knowledge and skills on infection prevention and ensure adolescent participation in RMNCAH/WASH programmes at a community level.

Time frame: November 2021 – December 2025
Thematic area: Health and Wellbeing/Gender Equity