Family Care International (FCI) has been working in Tanzania since 1990, when we assisted the Ministry of Health in developing its first Safe Motherhood Strategy. Since then, we have continued to work with a range of governmental and non-governmental partners to improve maternal and adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

Making Motherhood Safer

Since 1999, FCI has collaborated with key stakeholders in Tanzania to develop national strategies and initiatives to address gaps in maternity care. In 2000, for example, we developed training curriculum on life-saving obstetric care skills, which is now being used nation-wide to update the skills of maternity care providers.

Tanzania is one of three focus countries for FCI’s Skilled Care Initiative. Through this work, FCI is working in the Igunga District (Tabora Region) to improve access to skilled maternity care during and after childbirth. A vast and sparsely populated district, Igunga is typical of many low-resource settings where poverty, geographic distances and women’s low status make it difficult for women to deliver with assistance from a skilled provider. Through a multi-faceted package of interventions—training providers, addressing equipment gaps, upgrading the health infrastructure, and community mobilization—FCI is working with the Ministry of Health to ensure that high-quality maternity care is available as close as possible to rural communities where the majority of women live.

Getting Young People What They Need…
Sexuality Education and Reproductive Health Services

Since early 2000, FCI has been working to address young people’s needs for sexuality education and reproductive health services. In collaboration with local partners, FCI has translated our set of English-language sexuality education materials into Swahili to make them more accessible and appropriate for Tanzanian youth. FCI has also worked with the Ministry of Education and Culture and other partners to explore and highlight the needs of younger adolescents and pre-teens, as well as the needs of disadvantaged youth, such as blind adolescents.

In addition to our sexuality education initiatives, FCI has worked with the national association of private nurses and midwives (PRINMAT), to introduce youth-friendly reproductive health services at private clinics throughout the country. An evaluation of this program showed that trained providers saw an increase in adolescents seeking information and care, and adolescents report that many clinics are now welcoming to young people.

FCI has also been working to stem the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Tanzania by building and strengthening the capacity of community-based groups and youth to advocate for young people’s rights to access sexual and reproductive health information and services. Launched in 2002, this advocacy initiative focused on ensuring that a range of supportive national policies were implemented at the district level. Local partners were trained in advocacy and adolescent sexual and reproductive health issues, and supported in the development and implementation of advocacy activities targeted at local officials, opinion leaders, and decision-makers. A range of advocacy materials and media were produced with local partners, including “briefing sheets” aimed at specific groups (such as religious leaders, teachers, parents, and health care providers), a radio call-in program, and music and dance performances.

For more information contact:

Ubora wa Afya Kwa Familia Dunaini
Aga Khan Education Service Building
Urambo Street
Upanga P.O. Box 13414
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Tel/Fax: (255) 22 21 51 699
E-mail: UAFD@fcimail.org 

Family Care International
Anglophone Africa Program
588 Broadway, Suite 503
New York, New York
Tel: (212) 941-5300
Fax: (212) 941-5563
E-mail: anglo@fcimail.org