East Africa
Our Work in East Africa
The East Africa region faces many health risks that transcend borders. The health and development context within the region emphasizes strengthening cross-border health systems and tapping into a strong network of regional intergovernmental organizations (RIGOs), who play a convening role in previous and ongoing health investments. Gender inequity in the region continues to shape power and decision-making in the region and as such gender equality work is of high priority. Additionally, youth – and increasing their representation in decision-making roles – is of utmost importance. Family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) goals need to be met within the framework of these priorities, and knowledge management (KM) has a big role to play in this work. The goal for Knowledge SUCCESS in East Africa is to improve access to and quality of FP/RH programs by strengthening KM capacities for audiences ranging from practitioners and health care organizations to policymakers.
We’re sharing country and regional experiences.
We publish technical content highlighting FP/RH programs and experiences from the East Africa region.
We’re connecting East Africans for peer-to-peer learning.
We manage TheCollaborative, a regional community of practice for FP/RH professionals.
We’re training a new generation of KM champions.
We conduct regular trainings on key KM techniques for people working in FP/RH programs throughout the region.
We’re infusing KM within national FP/RH frameworks.
We partner with governments and other stakeholders to incorporate KM activities into their national FP/RH policies and frameworks, like FP2030 re-commitments.
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Sign up for our regular newsletter, “The Emphasis on East Africa,” and get reminders about events and new content from the East Africa team and region.
Explore Content from East Africa Region
We work primarily in USAID family planning priority countries. Is your country not listed? Contact us. We’d be happy to explore a potential collaboration.
Professionals can discuss various family planning options, educate you about their effectiveness, and help you understand potential side effects and risks associated with each family planning method.
On March 16, the NextGen RH CoP, Knowledge SUCCESS, E2A, FP2030, and IBP hosted a webinar, “Adolescent Family Planning and Sexual and Reproductive Health: A Health Systems Perspective,” that explored the updated High Impact Practice (HIP) brief on Adolescent Responsive Services.
Blue Ventures started integrating health interventions, addressing a huge unmet need for family planning. We came to understand that we were addressing a health need which is part of a broader ecosystem consisting of conservation, health, livelihood, and other challenges.
Blue Ventures started integrating health interventions, addressing a huge unmet need for family planning. We came to understand that we were addressing a health need which is part of a broader ecosystem consisting of conservation, health, livelihood, and other challenges.
For robust evidence-based decision making, data and statistics are essential. To ensure proper planning in reproductive health, the accuracy and availability of this data cannot be over emphasized. We spoke to Samuel Dupre, a statistician with the U.S. Census Bureau’s International Program, and Mitali Sen, the International Program’s Chief of Technical Assistance and Capacity Building, who shed light on how the U.S. Census Bureau is supporting data collection on reproductive health.
On this World Contraception Day, September 26, the Knowledge SUCCESS East Africa team engaged members of TheCollaborative, an East Africa FP/RH Community of Practice, in a WhatsApp dialogue to understand what they had to say about the power of "Options."
The role of patriarchy in South Sudan was clear when Maper Village community chiefs and members resisted male midwives being deployed to Aweil Hospital's Maternity Ward. To combat the stigma, the South Sudan Nurses and Midwives Association (SSNAMA) piloted the “Safe Motherhood Campaign” for community engagement. They addressed misconceptions about maternal health care, helping to change attitudes about male midwives and nurses.
In 2023, Young and Alive Initiative are working in partnership with USAID, and IREX through the youth excel project, we are implementing a gender transformative program for adolescent boys and young men in the southern highlands of Tanzania. The reason we focused on men this time is because men and boys have often been overlooked in discussions around SRHR and gender.
Since 2019, Knowledge SUCCESS has been building momentum in improving access to and quality of family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH) programs by strengthening knowledge management (KM) capacities among relevant stakeholders in East Africa.
Our website has a robust search function that can help you find what you need. The search bar 
is located near the right corner of the page.
East Africa Resources
Meet the East Africa Regional Team
Irene Alenga
Irene is a Knowledge Management and Communications Lead at Amref Health Africa’s Institute of Capacity Development.
Diana Mukami
Diana is the Digital Learning Director and Head of Programmes at Amref Health Africa’s Institute of Capacity Development.
Collins Otieno
Collins is a FP/RH Technical Officer at Amref Health Africa’s Institute of Capacity Development.
Elizabeth Tully (“Liz”)
Liz is a Senior Program Officer at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs.
Natalie Apcar
Natalie is a Program Officer II at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communications Programs.
Opportunities
Please contact us if you would like to contribute content to our website, or if you:
- Have a challenge related to learning, knowledge sharing, or collaboration.
- Are interested in learning how knowledge management can help you achieve your goals and support strategic investments.
- Have feedback on what you’d like us to feature in our newsletter and technical content.
Events in the East Africa Region
Our team hosts regular webinars on relevant FP/RH topics for the East Africa region. We also host trainings on knowledge management approaches and tools.
Upcoming Events for East Africa
