Sonkie Foster Leymanni- Ntcheu | Millennium Online Radio

A four-day content development and customisation workshop under the TRUST: Women’s Voices, Midwifery Leadership for Resilient Health Project has commenced at Ntcheu District Council.

The workshop, which is funded by the Global Affairs Canada through Canadian Associationof Midwives, has brought together officials from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Gender and Social Welfare to develop and customise project content for communities.

Ntcheu District Nursing and Midwifery Officer Rachael Champiti has welcomed the initiative, saying the project will help take sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) messages directly to women in their communities.

Champiti said Ntcheu is one of the pilot districts for the project and expressed optimism that the initiative will help bridge the gap between health facilities and communities.

"We want these messages to find our people, our mothers, wherever they are, so that they get to know what they are supposed to do," She said.

Champiti added that the messages will focus particularly on sexual and reproductive health and rights, with the aim of helping women access and follow important health information that can contribute to safer motherhood.

Meanwhile, Sam Kalimba, Communication Specialist at Farm Radio Trust (FRT), said the project is being implemented in three districts of Ntcheu, Mwanza and Mzimba South, with the aim of raising public awareness on key health issues.

Kalimba said workshops have already been conducted in Mwanza and Mzimba South, with Ntcheu being the latest district.

" As Farm Radio Trust we are using three main communication channels to reach communities: radio programmes, SMS messages and a call centre", he added.

Kalimba said health experts have been invited to the workshop to provide technical information based on gaps identified through formative research in the district. 

"The project has identified seven thematic areas from which content is being developed. Among other thing the content will subsequently be customised for radio programming, SMS messages and call-centre services during the final two days of the workshop", He said.

The TRUST project seeks to strengthen communication on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) while ensuring that women and communities have access to accurate, relevant and practical health information.