Video Report: Traditional Birth Attendants Saving Lives With a Mobile App
In the Central African Republic, a new project is transforming maternal care by involving matrons, traditional birth attendants, in the management of high-risk pregnancies. The project, called “Wakobo Ti Kodro,” uses an innovative mobile app to improve maternal and child health in a region with some of the highest mortality rates in the world.
My adventure at ALIMA
I joined the ALIMA team in January 2024. A month and a half later, I was lucky enough to go on a mission to Mali and then to Burkina Faso. Despite my fatigue, and spurred by my passion for storytelling, I continued my journey across the Senegal River into Mauritania. In just a few weeks, I was able to get to the heart of our work. Instead of just key figures on paper, I saw people. Beyond funding, I found the real support that my colleagues provide. And in place of logical frameworks, I saw landscapes, villages, and towns.
“Light Mothers” Leading the Fight Against Child Malnutrition in Bamako’s Displacement Camps
Amid Mali’s worsening security situation, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) is on the rise. ALIMA, alongside its Malian partner Medical Alliance Against Malaria-Population Health (AMCP-SP), is working in IDP camps in the country’s capital of Bamako to provide essential care to the most vulnerable communities.
3 Questions for Dr. Pierre Claver Nsavyimana, ALIMA Project Coordinator in Brakna, Mauritania
ALIMA is currently implementing three projects that cover 91 of the 95 health facilities in the region. The interventions primarily focus on addressing issues related to malnutrition, maternal and child health, as well as responding to health emergencies and natural disasters (including floods).
In Haiti, access to health care has become a privilege
Given the magnitude of the health needs in Haiti, ALIMA works on the ground to provide healthcare to the most vulnerable populations in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, the island’s capital. It is one of the few international medical NGOs working in the area.
Burkina Faso: Train health workers to better respond to humanitarian disasters
In Burkina Faso, the health system is under severe strain as a result of the volatile security situation. In the Center-North region, three-quarters of health facilities are closed due to insecurity. ALIMA and its local partners, KEOOGO and SOS Médecins Burkina Faso, have trained local health workers to better prepare for the influx of patients into the few health centers still operating, which are often overwhelmed by unexpected and even recurring disasters.
Heavy fighting resumes in Masisi and Rutshuru, Democratic Republic of the Congo
ALIMA, Handicap International, and Première Urgence International, three humanitarian NGOs on the front line of the humanitarian crisis in the DRC, warn of their inability to access communities in need and the severe consequences that might follow, especially for women and children.
Fighting against the silent death of women in childbirth in Guinea
In the coastal West African country of Guinea, pregnant women are often poorly monitored, and left to cope on their own. In 2014, a major Ebola outbreak weakened health systems; this impacted the care pregnant women received. Meet Oussaïna, she is currently 36 weeks pregnant and is from Sinta, a town in west Guinea.
“Insecurity fosters gender-based violence”
The Central African Republic is one of the poorest countries in the world. The security situation remains tense, and humanitarian needs continue to grow: “citizens have insufficient access to basic services, (…) gender-based violence (GBV) is widespread,” ¹ according to the World Bank. Meet Gypsie Christelle Nambozouina, 30, a clinical psychologist at the Castors maternity hospital in Bangui.
In the face of COVID-19, collaboration makes a world of difference!
In the Central African Republic, two million people have been vaccinated against COVID-19, including over 215,000 vaccinated by ALIMA (The Alliance for International Medical Action). This was made possible due to close partnership with communities, one of the pillars of the ALIMA model.
