Reproductive Health and Maternal & Child Project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Grant Signing for Additional Funding for Reproductive Health and Maternal & Child Health Project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern Punjab, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit / Baltistan between the Govt. of Germany, Govt. of Pakistan and Greenstar Social Marketing
Dr. Anna-Christine Janke, Country Representative, German Development Bank (KM), Islamabad Dr. Masuma Zaidi, Project Manager - Health, German Development Bank (eW), Islamabad Mr. Ali Reza Bhutta, Joint Secretary, Economic Affairs Division, Government of Pakistan Dr. Haroon Ibrahim, Chief of Party, IOW Programs, Greenstar Social Marketing Dr. Nadeem Hassan, Head of Operations, Greenstar Social Marketing
Islamabad, 20th January, 2014 - The Governments of Pakistan and Germany signed a financing agreement for an additional € 2.5 million grant funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through KfW Development Bank. The agreement was signed by the Joint Secretary, Economic Affairs Division, Mr. At Reza Bhutta, the Director of the KtW Office Pakistan, KfW Development Bank, Dr. Anna-Christine Janke and Chief of Party, KfW Programs, Greenstar Social Marketing, Dr. Haroon Ibrahim in the presence of Project Coordinator - Health, KfW Office Pakistan, Dr. Masuma Zaidi. The economical and financial development cooperation between Pakistan and Germany goes back to 1961, including trade investment exceeding € 2.5 billion. KfW Development Bank invests on behalf of the German Government in Health programs to improve Mother & Child Health (MCH), Control the Spread of Communicable Diseases like Tuberculosis, Reconstruct Health Infrastructure in AJK, Supply Basic Equipment Project, Support the Social Health Protection, Safe Blood Transfusion Systems and FATA Health Project. In Pakistan, 25% of married women have an unmet need for Family Planning. Issues such as Reproductive Health, Mother & Child Health and Tuberculosis also need urgent attention. Maternal mortality remains high, at an estimated 276 deaths per 100,000 live births. Infant mortality remains at 78 deaths per 1000 hue births. In order to help meet this gap in provision of health services, the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through KfW Development Bank provides funding for marketed products and services for Family Planning, Reproductive Health, Mother & Child Health, Tuberculosis, Nutritional Supplements for Children and Safe Water. On 20th January, 2014, the Government of Pakistan received an additional support of € 2.5 million to be utilized under the current phase of the Reproductive Health Project through the implementing partner, Greenstar, which is currently working with the German Government's support in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern Punjab, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan for expanding the availability of quality Reproductive Health and Maternal & Child Health services. The 3 year project, at a total amount of € 12 million is already under implementation and through these additional funds, further signature clinics will be developed and managed which will provide quality, affordable services to low income communities, while simultaneously serving as training sites for classroom and hands-on practical training. These additional funds will also be used to run a pilot Family Planning and Mother & Child Health Voucher Scheme in selected districts of KPK and Punjab. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ali Reza, Joint Secretary, EAD thanked KfW for providing vital support to Pakistan especially to address this critically important issue of Reproductive Health. EAD assured that Pakistan is fully committed to mobilize efforts and scale up practices for Reproductive Health issues. The Director of KfW Office Pakistan, Dr. Anna-Christine Janke thanked EAD for its support and appreciated the efforts of Greenstar for its exemplary work in helping families to gain access to high quality MCH services and supplies. This tripartite partnership shall achieve lasting results that will benefit current and future generations of Pakistanis. Adding to her comments, Greenstars representative also thanked the German Government and KfW for their generous support to address the most critical issue of Maternal & Child Health in Pakistan...,