Overview

Through the six-year Integrated Health Project (IHP) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we engaged every level of society—individuals; families; communities; and local, provincial, and national governments—to strengthen an integrated, people-centered health system for better maternal and child health outcomes. We understand clients will only use health services if they trust and perceive care to be respectful and responsive to their preferences, needs, and values. We worked with the central Ministry of Health to create effective policies, norms, and protocols while simultaneously contributing to community empowerment and resilience through bottom-up approaches.

Over six years of implementation, our comprehensive community and facility-based support reached vulnerable populations, enhanced an environment of dignity and respect, and increased the availability and use of high-impact services for family planning; maternal, newborn, and child health; nutrition; and malaria services in health zones that covered close to 17% of the Congolese population. We supported evidence-based planning throughout 78 health zones, laying the foundation for sustained impact. We built competencies of health sector leaders and facilities and community-based health care workers to strengthen the provision of and experience in care. We supported communities and individuals to choose healthy behaviors by strengthening the capacity of health development committees to become a core organizing structure of the health system at the local level.

By the end of the project, we ensured the provision of essential newborn care to more than 1.9 million newborns, fully vaccinated more than 2 million children under 12 months in targeted zones, counseled more than 1.7 million mothers of children under 2 about proper nutrition, and distributed 2.2 million long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets to pregnant women and caregivers of children under 12 months.