USAID visits Marie Stopes Kenya

Nairobi - Signaling the new commitment to global SRH and rights under the US Obama administration, delegates from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently visited Marie Stopes Kenya (MS Kenya) to find out more about the programme.

The four member delegation was led by Dr Scott Radloff, Director, Office of Population and Reproductive Health Bureau for Global Health. Accompanying Dr Radloff, were
Patricia MacDonald, Senior Technical Adviser, Service Delivery Improvement
Division Population Leadership Program / Public Health Institute; Dana M. Vogel, Service Delivery Improvement Division; and Lynne Krueger Adrian, Director, Office of Population and Health.

Programme Director, Cyprian Awiti, welcomed the delegates and provided them with an overview of the Kenya programme’s work before handing over to Jared Mogushe who spoke about demand generation activities. The delegates were also very interested to find out more about MS Kenya’s involvement in Pathfinder’s AIDS, Population and Health Integrated Assistance (APHIA) programme and about MS Kenya’s outreach model (choice camps).

Visiting one of the outreach sites, the delegation witnessed firsthand how the outreach teams are overstretched both in the distances they have to cover and in the huge numbers of clients they serve.

Dr Radloff made it known that he was personally delighted by the lifting of the Bush imposed Mexico City Policy, which had undermined health systems and endangered the lives and health of the poorest and most vulnerable women by denying them
access to life saving services.

Ultimately, it is hoped that the new found dialogue and accord with USAID may eventually translate into substantive US financial support for the crucial work of MS Kenya and other members of the MSI Global Partnership.

Related categories: Kenya