The Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) marked its 10-year anniversary in 2019 which culminated in the evaluation of the campaign from the period May 2009 to December 2018. The African Union, campaign (Assembly/AU/Decl.1(XI)) was launched in 2009 under the theme: “Africa Cares: No Woman Should Die while Giving Life”. The CARMMA Campaign serves as a platform advocating for improvement in Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH). It seeks to promote and advocate for renewed and intensified implementation of the Maputo Plan of Action (MPoA) to reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality by improving health outcomes for women and children in Africa. Since the inception, 51 African Union Member States have launched the Campaign.
The decade long campaign evaluation was commissioned by the African Union Commission (AUC), Department of Social Affairs to determine the relevance, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of the campaign. Additionally, the evaluation aimed to make recommendations that would allow the campaign to further contribute to the reduction of maternal, newborn and child deaths and the achievement of the AU’s ‘Transformational Agenda 2063’, the global sustainable Agenda 2030 and other global commitments.
Key recommendations from the CARMMA evaluation include:
- Stronger political-will at the level of AU recognized Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to adopt the CARMMA Campaign
- Involvement of the Private Sector in the CARMMA Campaign
- Development of a robust continental Accountability Framework that takes into account systems for improved data collection and knowledge management
- Review of the frequency and number of MNCH reports and meetings
- Establishment of the CARMMA Secretariat with adequate human resources
- Mobilization of adequate resources to support the campaign activities
- Revision of the CARMMA campaign strategy in line with the post-2015 commitments on MNCH and adolescent health
Following the in-depth evaluation, the Commission organized two separate virtual consultations with partners and key stakeholders on the collective strategies to advance maternal and child health goals on the African continent. Further, a consultative meeting was held with AU recognized Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on the 10-year evaluation report of the CARMMA campaign (2009-2019) to determine what the next phase of the CARMMA campaign will entail and the role of the RECs and the Commission in accelerating the reduction of preventable maternal deaths by 2030.
Speaking virtually at the RECs consultative meeting Dr. Margaret Agama-Anyetei, Head of Division for Health, Nutrition and Population presented key considerations in implementing the campaign. “The Commission is in the process of developing a proposal to re-strengthen CARMMA (2021-2030) and its Accountability Partnership Framework and we look forward to involving and engaging the RECs individually and collectively with clear objectives moving forward as we implement the re-strengthening of CARMMA.”
Dr. Margaret further presented the endorsed CARMMA activities that have been heavily dependent on partners and some member states funding. Similarly, recommendations from the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) related activities were presented.
The re-strengthening of CARMMA campaign will need to look at a new concept on how to structure it based on the findings of the evaluation report and the recommendations from the consultations. The Commission will proceed to have the draft proposal to re-strengthen CARMMA (2021-2030) and its draft Accountability Partnership Framework tabled at the fourth Specialized Technical Committee on Health, Population and Drug Control (STC-HPDC) in 2021 for endorsement by the Policy Organs of the Union.
