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Engaging with Africa
For the Afar people, a nomadic pastoralist community in Ethiopia, addressing issues of
accessibility to child and maternal healthcare services is vital in reducing the high child
mortality rates and improving maternal health outcomes. AVI’s Fran Noonan writes
about how the Australia Africa Community Engagement Scheme (AACES) is working with
the Afar to achieve their maternal health vision.
» Living in a mobile community brings
with it many challenges, especially for
women and children who are at greatest risk
in childbirth. Living in remote areas and
great distances from essential healthcare
services means that almost all pregnant
women are left without antenatal care, so if
things go wrong, there are no clear pathways
for referral.
To support the plight of the Afar and other
marginalised communities within Africa,
AusAID has established AACES; consisting of
10 accredited Australian NGO’s working in a
range of partnerships to progress the areas
of child and maternal health, water provision
and sanitation, and food security.
For the next five years AVI, Anglicord, and
the Nossal Institute will use a strengthbased
approach to work in partnership with
the Afar Pastoralist Development Association
(APDA) in Ethiopia, and the Mother’s Union
of the Anglican Church (MUACK) in Kenya, to
deliver Millennium Development Goal gains
in child and maternal healthcare. The
consortium will also engage with other
agencies including national and local
government, NGO and academic institutions.
The initial focus of the partnership will
concentrate on supporting the APDA with
a needs analysis, research, capacity
building, technical assistance and service
delivery, and aims to increase community
access to health services, improve conditions
of daily living, and promote policy dialogue
between stakeholders in a sustainable and
positive manner.
Introducing AVI’s AACES
partners
The Afar Pastoralist Development
Association
The Afar Pastoralist Development Association
was founded by the inspirational Australian
nurse, Val Browning and her Afar husband
Ismel Ali Gardo in 1994, and has worked
tirelessly to improve literacy for the Afar,
promote maternal and child health and tackle
the growing problem of HIV and AIDS. APDA is
the local partner organisation for the AACES
project and is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Above > Women of the Afar, Ethiopia.
Photo > Jay Mahasweran/Anglicord
Anglicord
Anglicord is an overseas relief and
development agency of the Anglican Church
of Australia. Building on their long standing
relationship with the AFPDA, Anglicord will
work together with the AACES partners to
train local health workers in basic maternal
and child health services, to improve pre and
post-natal care for women and children,
increase access to water and sanitation, and
provide better access to adequate nutrition.
Australian Volunteers International
As part of this exciting project AVI will provide
future technical assistance through skilled
volunteer deployment in Ethiopia and Kenya,
and locally take on a leading role in creating
public awareness about the Afar people and
the AACES project within Australia.
Nossal Institute for Global Health
The Nossal Institute for Global Health utilises
the multi-disciplinary research and educational
capabilities provided by the University of
Melbourne to improve global health, through
research, education, inclusive development
practice, and training of future leaders. During
the fi ve year AACES project the Nossal Institute
will provide comprehensive research and
documentation on the challenges and issues
facing the nomadic pastoralist community. <
Engaging with Africa > Fran Noonan
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