Abstract
Kabeho Mwana (Life for a Child) was implemented from October 2006 to September 2011 as one of 16 USAID/Child Survival and Health Grants Program (CSHGP)-funded expanded impact projects (EIP) worldwide. It was designed to scale up community case management (CCM) of malaria, diarrhea, and pneumonia, and to promote key community-level health promotion and disease prevention actions in Rwanda. Concern Worldwide was the lead agency, and implemented in partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and World Relief. The project covered six districts in Southern and Eastern Rwanda: Gisagara, Kirehe, Ngoma, Nyamagabe, Nyamasheke, and Nyaruguru, representing one-fifth of the districts of Rwanda and 18% of the countrys total population.The project objectives included:1) Increasing access to prompt first-line treatment for young children with malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia by expanding CCM, strengthening health service delivery systems, and establishing performance contracting for CHW supervision.2) Increasing coverage of key preventive interventions by improving targeting and increasing the breadth of preventive child health services through outreach.3) Increasing adoption of key family health practices through community mobilization and social behavior change.During these five years, the Government of Rwanda (GOR) built on initial efforts at decentralization (2005) to accelerate and nationally scale its community integrated management of childhood illnesses (c-IMCI) approach. Under the governance of the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP), independent efforts of the three NGO partners had already built a positive experience in Home-based Management of Malaria (HBM). As the GOR created the MOHs Community Health Desk (CHD), it established a national policy for integrated Community Case Management (CCM). This generated both high demands on Kabeho Mwana for flexibility, and a supportive environment for achieving results.