CAUSE Canada (Christian Aid for Under-Assisted Societies Everywhere)

Published purpose

The project, Improving Maternal Participation and Access to Community Training (IMPACT), aims to increase the utilization and improve the delivery of culturally appropriate health services to pregnant and lactating mothers and their children in 111 hard-to-reach indigenous communities in Guatemala and Honduras. Project activities include: (1) providing maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) centres with essential health care equipment and ensuring that they are adequately staffed with well-trained MNCH aides; (2) delivery of lactation workshops, as well as one-on-one counseling and support, to encourage women to initiate early and exclusive breastfeeding of their infants for at least five months; (3) delivering awareness raising workshops among key decision-makers in communities of MNCH related health risks, and enabling the health-related decision-making of vulnerable women; and (4) delivery of nutrition demonstration workshops to pregnant and lactating women. This project is expected to contribute to the improved health of 68,400 women and children, including 13,800 girls and 13,300 boys. In addition, more than 160,000 people are expected to benefit indirectly. CAUSE Canada is implementing this project in collaboration with CAUSE Honduras, CAUSE Guatemala and Instituticion Mam de Desarrollo Integral (IMDI).