The pastoralist communities in remote South Omo lack access to government health services and are marginalised due to a combination of political, social, economic and geographical factors.
Reliance on livestock leaves communities particularly sensitive to shocks such as drought and floods which negatively impacts their ability to build sustainable, healthy livelihoods. This is reflected in the high levels of preventable disease as well as maternal and child death rates in the area. There are six different ethnic groups in the project area, with different dialects and cultural practices, making it very diverse!
This project targets 90,000 pastoralists, with a particular focus on women and children, by:
- training health workers and Traditional Birth Attendants so that women are able to give birth in safer environments, with skilled assistance at hand
- constructing traditional birthing huts where pastoralist women can give birth safely and be referred to equipped health facilities if complications arise
- vaccinating children against preventable diseases such as polio and TB
- providing mobile outreach services to treat common illnesses and working with communities to raise awareness about disease prevention, hygiene and harmful practices
- providing sexual and reproductive health education and distributing condoms to reduce HIV transmission
- Raising awareness about harmful practices like female genital mutilation and encouraging pastoralists to realise their right to health
A health insurance scheme has been set up to improve maternal health, supporting cash-poor families who would otherwise have to wait until market day to sell a goat before expectant mothers could be transferred to hospital.
To complement this, birthing huts are built near the hospital so pregnant women can stay there before going into labour.
Communities are now aware of the importance of vaccinating their children, and last year more than 6,000 children received life-saving immunisations.
Our staff live permanently in mobile outreach camps (a nurse is seen here) among the pastoralist communities they serve. People visit for help with health problems, to learn about health and to get advice. Doctors also visit those who do not come to the camps on motorbikes.
This four year project is implemented in partnership with a local organisation, Enhancing Pastoralist Research and Development Alternatives (EPaRDA).
This project is funded by the Big Lottery Fund.
Last modified: 13/04/2012
