Infant and Child Mortality Assignment
Infant and Child Mortality Assignment
The Save the Child Fund: Infant and Child Mortality in Somalia
Part 1: Executive Summary
The infant and child mortality rate refers to the number of deaths occurring for infants and child under 5 years per 1,000 live births (Maniruzzaman et al, 2018). Majority of the deaths are due to malnutrition, lack of health access, poor hygiene, poor sanitation, and diseases. The infant and child mortality in Somalia is among the highest worldwide where 1 out of every 7 infants and child die before their 5th birthday (Smart Vision, 2018). The major causes of infant and child mortality rate in Somalia include malnutrition and diseases such as diarrhea, pneumonia, measles, and malaria. Somalia faces serious food insecurity, drought, poor healthcare, as well as lack of safe drinking water and safe sanitation (Smart Vision, 2018). Infant and Child Mortality Assignment
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The Save the Child Fund is an NGO that focuses on improving the lives of the child through better healthcare, improved education, provision of emergency aid and economic opportunities. Therefore, Save the Child reduce the infant and child mortality rate within Somalia by providing healthcare services and supplies, developing healthcare facilities and equipping the facilities with medical supplies such as medications and vaccines and nutritional services (Yaya et al, 2018).
The Save the Child can fill a gap in health care services by building and equipping healthcare facilities, employing qualified medical staff and providing health systems and clinical support that include vaccination services for child, training community health workers, and providing health education (GBD, 2018). Save the Child is best positioned to address this need because currently, the governmental and private organizations in Somalia lack the resources to address the need.
The proposal seeks aid to reduce infant and child mortality rate in Somali by improving healthcare in the country. This is in line with the mission and objective of Save the Child. The aim and mission of Save the Child is to improve a child’s lives by providing better healthcare, among other services.
Part 2: Need
The government of Somalia has not been able to provide effective healthcare to its population. This is because the humanitarian situation in the country continues to deteriorate with approximately 3.2 million people requiring healthcare services (Smart Vision, 2018). The severe vulnerability of Somali and inability of the government to address infant and child mortality is manifested by the child health indicators that continue being among the worst worldwide with 1 out of 10 children in Somali dying before they are 12 months (Smart Vision, 2018). Infant and Child Mortality Assignment
There are various NGOs such as World Vision and UNICEF that have been addressing the issue of infant and child mortality through community-based programs. These programs aim to lower common childhood diseases that lead to high infant and child mortality rate within Somali. The programs not only build healthcare facilities but also aim to improve healthcare access in order to ensure healthcare aid to children. In addition, the NGOs have established programs that support child healthcare programs that encompass child immunizations and child health and treatment of common diseases.
However, with the lack of government capacity to address the infant and child mortality in Somalia as well as the lack of government security and prevalent conflicts within Somalia, it has become extremely difficult for the government to make any progress and adequately address healthcare. As a result, there is a need for NGOs such as Save the Child to take the issue of infant and child mortality in their own hands and implement interventions that can help in reducing the infant and child mortality rate.
Part 3: Balanced Scorecard
The current performance indicators include the infant and child mortality rate, increased access to healthcare and reduced rate of diseases among children. Potential improvements will be measured by evaluating the increased access to primary healthcare by the target population, and also measured the increased access to intervention focusing in prevention, identification and treatment of childhood diseases and interventions aimed to reduce infant and child mortality rate (Rasella et al, 2018).
The strategic targets for the NGO would be to improve the health of infants and children in Somalia and reduce the infant and child mortality rate. The priority program includes developing the quality of health services within Somali; developing and maintaining healthcare facilities and community infrastructure; to improve health services for infants, children, and maternal health; and to prevent infectious and noninfectious diseases among children. The strategic measures include infant and child mortality rate. The target is that 1/1000 birth survives (Maniruzzaman et al, 2018).
For the financial perspective, the government has the role of providing licensing services to the health facilities. The government entities in Somalia are not able to recruit qualified healthcare personnel not adequately equip healthcare facilities due to lack of finances and resources. However, private and nongovernmental providers have the required resources and financial capacity to recruit qualified personnel and equip healthcare facilities to ensure effective delivery of healthcare services (Rasella et al, 2018).
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Save the Child can address the unmet needs by providing funds and resources to develop healthcare facilities and equipping them with the required medical components. In addition, the NGO will implement other interventions that can help in reducing the infant and child mortality rate. The expectations are that the infant and child mortality rate will reduce due to improved healthcare in the country.
Project Evaluation
An evaluation of the programs implemented by the NGO (Save the Children) will be conducted to confirm if the project met its goals and targets in accordance with the set evaluation criteria. The evaluation will provide a comprehensive analysis of the programs’ achievements against the expected goals and targets the current performance of the NGO’s programs (OECD, 2018). The evaluation will be conducted along the five pillars of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development-Development Assistant Committee (OECD- DAC) evaluation criteria that include: Relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. Additionally, the evaluation will analyze how Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) information will be utilized in informing the programs’ implementation. Outcomes will be assessed in accordance with the Sphere Project standards while accountability will be evaluated in accordance with Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS) (OECD, 2018). Infant and Child Mortality Assignment
Conclusion
Save the Child is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of Somalia because it has the experience and the required resources to improve the lives of children in Somali by improving healthcare and economic opportunities. This will be achieved by the NGO providing healthcare supplies, building healthcare facilities and equipping the facilities with medical supplies. The NGO Save the Child has adequate resources, funds, and competency in addressing issues such as infant and child mortality.
References
GBD 2015 Eastern Mediterranean Region Neonatal, Infant, and under-5 Mortality Collaborators (2018). Neonatal, infant, and under-5 mortality and morbidity burden in the Eastern Mediterranean region: findings from the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study. Int J Public Health. 63(1), 63–77.
Maniruzzaman M, Kumar N, Suri J, Bhoot M, Teji J & Rahman J. (2018). Risk factors of neonatal mortality and child mortality in Somali. J Glob Health. 8(1), 010417.
OECD (2018). Development Co-operation Report 2018: Joining Forces to Leave No One Behind. Paris: OECD Publishing.
Rasella D, Basu S, Hone T, Paes-Sousa R, Ocké-Reis CO, Millett C. (2018). Child morbidity and mortality associated with alternative policy responses to the economic crisis in Brazil: A nationwide microsimulation study. PLoS Med. 15(5).
Smart Vision (2018). Final Report for Integrated Lifesaving Assistance for Drought and Conflict-Affected Populations in Somalia Program. Smart Vision.
Yaya S, Bishwajit G, Okonofua F & Uthman O. (2018). Under-five mortality patterns and associated maternal risk factors in sub-Saharan Africa: A multi-country analysis. PLoS ONE. 13(10).
NGO_Proposal_Scoring_Guide
Infant and Child Mortality Assignment
