USAID West Africa Supports local NGOs, STOP SIDA and EL HANANE, through the West African Ambassadors Fund (WAAF) and EngenderHealth grants
Nouakchott, MAURITANIA – United States Agency for International Development (USAID) /West Africa through the West African Ambassador’s Fund (WAAF) and EngenderHealth’s “Agir PF” program awarded two grants of $25,000/each local NGOs : STOP-SIDA and EL HANANE to improve family planning and birth spacing in Nouakchott. U.S. Ambassador to Mauritania Larry André presided over the ceremony, at which the two WAAF grants were signed in presence of Nouakchott-based family planning stakeholders.
The U.S.-based EngenderHealth organization, in collaboration with the United States Embassy of Mauritania, organized a transparent selection process resulting in the choice of these two local NGOs, which will implement their respective WAAF-funded projects over the next five months:
STOP SIDA plans to improve women’s access to family planning services, particularly for women living with HIV/AIDS and women of child-bearing age, to help reduce the HIV mother-to-child transmission.
EL HANANE plans to work through religious and civil society leaders, community relay persons and social media channels to increase access to information on responsible child bearing. This project will contribute to increased demand for family planning services among the targeted populations.
Engender Health, funded by USAID /West Africa, is implementing a five year program, entitled “Act for family planning (AgirPF),” in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Niger and Togo. The goal of this program is to permit voluntary and informed decisions on use of birth spacing services by increasing the access, quality and demand for birth spacing services across the country.
In Mauritania, the “AgirPF” project aims to assist the Ministry of Health in improving of mother and child health in Nouakchott and supporting the national goal to raise the rate of modern contraceptive prevalence from 10% to 18.5% in2018.
These two WAAF–funded projects granted to STOP SIDA and EL HANANE will amplify the impact of activities already undertaken by AgrirPF in Nouakchott and consolidate the efforts of the Mauritanian government in promoting mother and child health.
Note to Editors:
About USAID: USAID is the lead U.S. government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential. This activity is supported through the USAID|West Africa Regional Mission, whose goal is to promote social and economic well-being advanced by West Africans. Spanning 21 countries, USAID|West Africa designs and implements programs with West African partners to strengthen systems of non-violent conflict management, support economic growth, and expand quality health services. The American people, through USAID, provide economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.usaid.gov/west-africa-regional.
EngenderHealth: For more information on EngenderHealth and Agir PF, please visit: https://www.engenderhealth.org/our-work/major-projects/agir-pf.php
