Connecting communities across the region: How best practices in child survival are being shared

Adama Kone, Management Sciences for Health
Chevenee Reavis, Management Sciences for Health
Stephen Redding, Management Sciences for Health

Communities facing challenges of child illness can often find their solutions close by. Exchanging insights and successes from one community to the next can mean quick and easy problem-solving at a fraction of the cost. The USAID-funded AWARE-RH Program (Action for West Africa Region - Reproductive Health) believes in the power of community-exchange. In the case of malaria and integrated management of child health, AWARE-RH has pioneered a community-based exchange network which engages local organizations in transferring successful community-based programs from one country to another. Through a region-wide search for best practices in key areas of child survival, AWARE-RH has been able to document and disseminate these practices through a regional forum. This community-based exchange component has resulted in important expansions of key regional child health strategies, with organizations trained and equipped to continue their regional scale-up.