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Break Review of the Saving Lives Programme in Sierra Leone
Financer:
DFID
Country:
Sierra Leone
Field of Expertise:
Health Service Delivery; PHC/MNCH/RH/Nutrition/W&S; Child and adolescent health; Health Service Delivery; PHC/MNCH/RH/Nutrition/W&S; Reproductive Health / Maternal health / newborn health
Narrative description of project:
The SLiSL programme seeks to save the lives of women, children, and adolescents by improving the quality, availability, and accessibility of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health services. The programme was approved in 2016, investing £150 million over five years in two phases: Phase 1 ran from October 2016 to September 2018, and Phase 2 from October 2018 to March 2021. In its first two years, the project focused on supporting the maternal and child health results of the President's Recovery Priorities, including efforts to resume health service delivery across the country in the wake of the Ebola outbreak (2014–2016).
DFID commissioned a Break Review to: assess progress made in Phase 1, including the identification of lessons and successes; analyse emerging opportunities and priorities, taking into consideration changing national policy priorities, as well as the role and contributions of other development partners; consider shifting UK priorities in Sierra Leone (reflected in the Strategy Refresh), Africa (the Africa Strategy), and globally (UK high-level commitments); and lay out a number of options for the Department of International Development (DFID) to guide decision-making for Phase 2.
Description of services provided:
hera provided the Team Leader for this Break Review. Evidence was collected through multiple qualitative data collection approaches and analysed using pragmatic but robust techniques. Data collection sources included semi-structured interviews, document review, analysis of Phase 1 programme outputs and expenditure, site visits (including facility review), observations and interviews with staff, and target group discussions. An internal workshop was conducted with the DFID Sierra Leone health team to present and discuss preliminary findings and to shape Phase 2 options. A summary of progress and high-level findings was also discussed with the Chief Medical Officer and his team at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS).
