Project News

In order to learn from the experience of JICA technical cooperation projects in Morocco and to promote south-south cooperation between Djibouti and Morocco, the project activities included cooperation with Morocco as one of the main pillars. From the end of October 2013, counterparts of Djibouti visited Morocco, and technical exchange program was implemented for one week. The objective of this program was to grasp successful experience achieved in the field of maternal and newborn health in Morocco and to utilize its lessons learned for planning and implementing future activities in Djibouti.

The participants of technical exchange program were officer of Maternal and Child Health Department, Ministry of Health (Project Manager), obstetrician and gynecologist at Dal el Hanan Maternity Hospital which is the top referral obstetric hospital in Djibouti, director of a health center in Djibouti city, instructor of midwifery course at Higher Institute of Health Sciences (ISSS), and a Japanese expert. The participants visited Moroccan Ministry of Health, Orangers Maternity Hospital and Child Hospital, the top referral hospitals in Morocco as well as Sefrou Province. During the visit, the participants of Djibouti explained not only the current situation of maternal and newborn health and activities to improve the situation in their country, but also the progress of the project. In addition, they received explanation of the health situation in Morocco and achievements of related program at each facility. At the end of the program, the participants joined discussion for planning in-service training of midwives in Djibouti and they exchanged opinion based on the experience in Morocco. As a result, concrete implementation plan for in-service training of midwives in Djibouti was finalized.

And in March 2014, a Japanese expert participated in the JICA's third country training program "Maternal and Child Health Care Phase III" in cooperation with National School of Public Health (ENSP) in Morocco targeting 9 French-speaking countries in African Continent, for the purpose of supporting to dispatch trainees from Djibouti to this program. As the first year of the program, a seminar was held targeting decision makers in the field of maternal and child health from each country. From Djibouti, the director of the Maternal and Child Health Department of Ministry of Health, who is the project director, and the director of Ali Sabieh district hospital participated in the training with the Japanese expert.

In the training, the representatives of each country presented road maps of the maternal and child health care policies. Then the participants received lectures by Ministry of Health in Morocco and visited health facilities that have kept a good partnership with JICA for a long period. In the last day of the training, the representatives of each country presented action plans to improve the issues of maternal and child health care based on the knowledge and perspectives gained throughout the training. The participants from Djibouti made a presentation of the action plan to improve the women's health during perinatal period by utilizing the existing resources in Ali Sabieh district. In addition, it was also discussed how the decision makers can cooperate in selecting the future candidates for the second year of the training and then on.

The project is willing to continuously support the participants of Djibouti so that they can maximize the lessons learned acquired during the training for future activities.