Meet Stephen Malimba, particpant of "Training for leaders and supervisors in women's and children's health" (7,5 credits)
Stephen Malimba, program manager at the NGO Empowered Girls Initiative in Uganda, particpated in a training supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for key persons in maternal and child health care and nutrition in Sub-Saharan African countries. How has the training helped Stephen Malimba in his profession? How will the training impact his organization and community?
Stephen Malimba, program manager at the NGO Empowered Girls Initiative, Uganda
How has this training helped you in your profession?
I gained new knowledge and confidence of the possibility of significantly reducing the statistics of mortality rates in Uganda once the right policies and strategies are in place. As a public health leader, I realized that I have a big role to play to mobilize the communities, lobby for the buy-in by political leaders, legislators, civil society, and the youths and women themselves.
How do you think this training will impact or help your organization and community?
The training has illuminated the leaders who participated in it. There will be a ripple effect when the leaders also start to sensitize their colleagues, local leadership and community about the importance of the MIDWISE* approach to maternal and child health care in their respective countries.
What first steps are you planning to take to implement your new knowledge?
I plan to link up with the midwives in my health district and invite them to sensitize the young women and their parents and community leaders about reproductive health rights, the role of midwives in their community, and lobby for increased allocation of funds for reproductive healthcare.
*MIDWISE is a network of care in which the midwife is the hub of the maternal health care system providing care during the whole reproductive life cycle of the woman.