Service: Bi-Annual Interactive Meeting With Stakeholders

WOCHAD conducted 2 Bi-annual interactive meetings during the Project life. These interactive meetings were held with State, Local Government Area, ward and Civil societies organizations’ stakeholders at San-Diego Hotel Kpirikpiri mile 50 Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. The first meeting took place on 15th June 2022 during which a total of 36 participants were in attendance (24 males and 12 females) while the second took place on 28th September 2022 during which 31 persons (13 males and 18 females) were in attendance.

The meeting provided a platform to share with State, LGAs and community stakeholders project implementation updates, challenges, lessons learnt and receive inputs on way-forwards on identified gaps. LGAs and PHCs scores cards were also presented during the meetings to ensure state, LGAs and community stakeholders were well informed on progress and gaps in PHC financing in their LGAs and PHCs. Stakeholders made evidence based decisions on addressing gaps and participated actively in implementing their LGAs and facilities action plans. These helped to improve primary health care financing, strengthened health systems, supported and improved access to PHC services, increased quality of provided services and contributed to child and maternal morbidity and mortality reduction and improved health resources and outcome. During the meetings, key decisions were made on response to inadequate resources including Human resource for Health (HRH), equipment, poor infrastructure etc. Stakeholders in the 2 meetings linked inadequate/lack of key resources to non- budgetary provision and/or non- release of budgeted fund. Hence they emphasized and came up with effective next steps on increasing PHC financing and prudent use of provided fund and effective measures to improve access and quality of PHC services to women, children and citizens of Ebonyi state to respond to the negative maternal and child health indicators.

Some of the key decisions reached during the meetings included among others: to train PHCs workers on budgeting and AOP development and support them to develop their facilities annual budget which will be included in their respective LGAs’ annual budget. This was later conducted by WOCHAD and 14 focal LGAs’s Oi/cs were trained and supported to develop their respective facilities’2023 annual budget. This will be and captured in 2023 LGAs annual budget. Also stakeholders at the meeting planned and later conducted advocacy with State to Government to recruit health workers in response to identified gross inadequate HRH. Decision was also taken for communities and LGAs to support recruitment of ad hoc health workers while waiting for government recruitment.