Sierra Leone High-Level Coordination Meeting on the Maternal and Child Health Handbook ｜ News & PR - Konrad News

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Event Title: Sierra Leone Maternal and Child Health High Level Coordination Meeting

Date: March 5, 2026

Organizers: Ministry of Health of Sierra Leone, JICA, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone

speaker

Hon. Austin Denby, Minister of Health

Mr. Maury Momo, Deputy Undersecretary of the Treasury Department

Mohamed Masaquoi, Director General, National Registration Authority

Mr. Salimatu Koroma, Deputy Director, Formal Education Department, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education

Vandana Joshi, Health Representative, UNICEF Sierra Leone

Tokuto Yonebayashi, Director, JICA Sierra Leone Branch

Akiko Hagiwara, JICA International Cooperation Specialist, et al.

Background and Overview

The Ministry of Health in Sierra Leone, with support from JICA, UNICEF, WHO, and other organizations, has been working to develop and disseminate the MCH handbook. 2022 saw the start of distribution in some areas, and training for health care workers was conducted. Then, from February 2026, the MCH handbook will be used in all healthcare facilities nationwide. In order for the MCH handbook to take root as a national system and continue to be used for a long time, cooperation not only from the Ministry of Health but also from various parties concerned is indispensable. Therefore, this meeting brought together about 100 people involved in the MCH handbook program, including government ministries and agencies, Diet members, development partners such as UN agencies, NGOs, and civil society organizations, and medical professionals, to discuss the role and expected effects of the MCH handbook. They also confirmed the roles and responsibilities to be fulfilled in order to continue the nationwide development of the MCH handbook as an institution, and each organization demonstrated its commitment.

Contents

At the meeting, the value of utilizing the MCH handbook to protect the health of mothers and children was highly appreciated. The meeting then articulated the role that each organization should play in ensuring that the MCH handbook is continuously utilized by mothers and children throughout the country.

Health Minister Demby described the value of the MCH handbook as a core tool of the 300 Days of Activism initiative promoted by the Ministry of Health of Sierra Leone, and expressed his intention to work with the initiative to disseminate the MCH handbook throughout the country. Mr. Momo, Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, promised to place the maternal and child health sector on the national priority list, to take appropriate budgetary measures, and to mobilize domestic resources to ensure stable financial resources. National Registrar Masakhoi announced the policy of officially recognizing the Maternal and Child Health Handbook as a valid document for birth registration. Furthermore, Mr. Koroma of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education stated that the Ministry would consider recognizing the Maternal and Child Health Handbook as a document to be submitted at the time of enrollment in primary education.

JICA Sierra Leone’s Yone Hayashi, Director of JICA’s Sierra Leone Branch Office, noted that the MCH handbook is a tool for promoting UHC and encouraging women and families to take charge of their own health care, and indicated that JICA will continue to provide technical support for its nationwide development in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and related organizations. UNICEF Joshi also indicated that UNICEF will continue to support the Ministry of Health’s national rollout.

In his keynote speech, JICA Specialist for International Cooperation Mr. Hagiwara introduced examples of the use and effectiveness of the MCH handbooks in various countries, and pointed out that in order to achieve nationwide development and sustainability, it is essential to strengthen cooperation among related parties and take measures to address issues common to all countries, such as printing costs, human resource development, supply systems, and copyright management.

Finally, Mr. Moses, Director of the Department of Reproductive Health and Child Health of the Ministry of Health, emphasized the need to continue the stable supply, distribution, monitoring, supervision, and collaboration with partners of the Maternal and Child Health Handbook throughout the country.

This meeting confirmed the high level of interest and cooperative attitude of relevant ministries and development partners, and created an environment for sustaining the MCH handbook as a national system. In addition, from the perspective of “maximizing the effects of JICA projects through collaboration with development partners,” as stated in the JICA Maternal and Child Health Cluster Strategy, the nationwide development of the Sierra Leone MCH handbook through collaboration between JICA and UNICEF was a good example of “co-creation.

Sierra Leone Maternal and Child Health High Level Coordination Meeting Main Speakers

Approximately 100 concerned parties attended the event.

Announcement of Commitment by the Minister of Health

Sierra Leonean mothers and children using the Maternal and Child Health Handbook

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