JSI Celebrates Helping Expand Access to Health Services for 17 Million Ethiopians

Our Last Ten Kilometers (L10K) project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, came to a close this week after more than a decade of working to improve the health status of more than 17 million Ethiopians. L10K partnered with the Ministry of Health (MOH), civil society organizations, and communities to strengthen the primary health care system and improve the quality of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH) services. To celebrate the project’s legacy, JSI and the MOH co-hosted events in Addis Ababa on April 26 and 27, 2022, including a conference to share results.

L10K trained more than 10,000 health extension workers and more than 100,000 Women Development Army members and other health volunteers to better link communities to health services.

At an evening reception at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, State Minister of Health H.E. Dr. Dereje Duguma and JSI President and CEO Margaret Crotty highlighted the longstanding partnership between the MOH and JSI, as well as L10K’s impressive results. Project Director Dessalew Emaway opened the event, and former project director Wuleta Betermariam served as MC. During L10K’s 14-year history, Betemariam and Emaway led the team that drove the project’s success.

The evening continued with the screening of a short testimonial video documenting the legacy of the L10K Project, before concluding with the launch of a beautiful photo book showcasing Ethiopia’s health extension workers and the communities they serve.

JSI also hosted a conference to share project results. JSI International Division Director Mark Kowalski opened the event by thanking the partners in the room, including representatives from the MOH, civil society organizations, BMGF, USAID, UNICEF, and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation for their contributions to L10K’s success. The conference included poster presentations and panel discussions about L10K’s community engagement strategy and approach to improving the quality of RMNCAH services.

JSI looks forward to continuing the L10K legacy in Ethiopia through a newly launched Integrated Primary Health Care Service Delivery Activity, also funded by the Gates Foundation.

Presentations:

• Empowering communities local CSOs and community-level health workers for sustained RMNCH outcomes
• Bridging families and communities to primary health care
• Strengthening participatory community quality improvement approaches for RMNCH services
• mHealth solution for improved quality of RMNCH service delivery across the primary health care system
• Mitigating COVID-19 impact on neonatal mortality through community-based newborn care PSBI

Posters:

• The effect of implementation strength of basic emergency obstetric and newborn care (BEmONC) on facility deliveries and met need for BEmONC at primary health care level in Ethiopia
• Technical Assistance Embedment Approach for Health Systems Strengthening
• Human-Centered Design (HCD) for tailored health system strengthening support: Focus on components of the Health Extension Program
• What it takes to improve health service equity in low-performing zones
• Effectiveness of supportive supervision and performance review on the quality of community-based neonatal sepsis case
• Enhancing Health System Resilience for Effective COVID-19 Response: JSI/L10K’s COVID-19 response project support in Addis Ababa

Feature photo by Robin Hammond for JSI.