A UNFPA team, led by Dr. Benjamin O. Alli, the Country Representative (ad interim) in the company of Dr. Geoffrey Okumu (Program Analyst - SRH and HIV/AIDS) and Mr. Sammy Kibandi (Operations Manager), recently embarked on a field monitoring mission from Nairobi through Naivasha and to Migori to assess the progress made in the implementation of the annual work plan by UNFPA's implementing partners in those regions.

Besides visiting UNFPA's partners in the field, the monitoring visit provided the UNFPA team the opportunity to discuss successes and challenges in implementing the projects, and to address emerging issues. Additionally, the monitoring visit allowed the UNFPA team the chance to explore ways of improving the quality of service provision and to identify future collaborations.\

The field monitoring visit started on Monday, August 5, 2013, with the tour of Naivasha District with a courtesy call to Mr. Mohamed Abass, the Naivasha District Deputy County Commissioner. Mr. Abass welcomed the UNFPA team to the District who then briefed him on the areas supported by UNFPA in the district. These include:

• The establishment of a Health Center of Excellence at Ndabibi.

• The training of health workers in Focused Antenatal Care, Family Planning and Reproductive Health Commodity Management.

• Installation of a Gender-Based Violence Information Management System (GBV IMS) at the Naivasha District Hospital, including the provision of computers and training of health care workers.

• Technical support for the Court Users Committee that brings together all stakeholders involved in issues of gender-based violence, including the police, magistrates, judges, health care workers and civil society organizations.

• Technical support to the District Development Officer on the use of data for planning purposes.

The Deputy County Commissioner thanked UNFPA for the support it has extended to the district for the past four years. Mr. Abass reiterated the importance of the Government partnering with international organizations and the private sector in addressing some of the challenges experienced by the community. Mr. Abass pointed out that Naivasha is generally considered a political hot spot. Only last week, he said, violent clashes rocked Maela area.

Later that day, the UNFPA team paid a courtesy call to the Naivasha Member of Parliament, Hon. John Karanja Kihagi to brief him on the purpose of their visit to the area. Hon. Kihagi expressed his appreciation for UNFPA's support saying that the needs of the community far exceeded the Kshs. 89 million allocated to the constituency through Constituency Development Fund (CDF), as it amounted to about Kshs. 10 million per ward for the eight county wards in the constituency.

Hon. Kihagi added that health was one of his priority areas and he was thus willing to partner with UNFPA to improve the quality of care accessed by his constituents. He listed some of the challenges affecting the health sectors, which include lack of ambulance services, inadequate primary health care facilities leading to overcrowding at the District hospital, and poor road infrastructure making some facilities inaccessible. The MP's other priorities are youth and women empowerment.

Hon. Kihagi promised to lobby the Cabinet Secretary of Health to post a driver for the UNFPA donated ambulance, which is currently assigned to the Ndabibi Health Center. 

In response the to the lack of ambulance services, Dr. Alli proposed that the MP adopt motorbike ambulances as a more cost effective way of combating poor road network in the constituency. The motorbike ambulance could be managed by community members for efficiency. Lauding the suggesting, Hon. Kihagi pledged to lobby the County Government to procure at least one motorbike ambulance for each ward.

Visit to the Naivasha District Hospital

The UNFPA team was received at the hospital by Dr. Joseph Mburu, the Naivasha Medical Superintendent. He briefed the UNFPA team on the hospital services provided to the community before leading a tour of the maternity (mother-baby unit) ward and the youth friendly services center.

The mother-baby unity is a 60-bed facility that was constructed with the support of the leading flower firms in the area as part of their community social responsibility. The unit is equipped with two theaters and a nursery for premature deliveries. Currently, the unit conducts between 400 and 450 deliveries a month, which is an increase from the 350 deliveries recorded prior to President Uhuru Kenyatta's directive on free maternity services.

The hospital, however, is currently facing various challenges such as space limitation, lack of sufficient equipment and staff. These challenges need to be addressed if the hospital is to provide quality services.

The UNFPA team then visited the youth friendly center, which offers HIV Testing and Counseling, prevention of drug abuse, promotion of condoms and IEC on various topics. The peer educators also conduct outreach services to both in and out of school youth. As a way of attracting more youth to the center, the managers have started various income generating activities such as the production of mats and bead necklaces using recycled paper, which they sell to community members.

Meeting with the Naivasha District Health Management team

As the UNFPA team concluded its tour of Naivasha, the District Health Management team led by the  District Medical Officer of Health Dr. Joseph K. Lenai, gave highlights of the district, which has a resident population of 279,008 and a large migrant population mainly from Western Kenya who work in the flower farms that employ between 1000 and 5000 workers, and a mobile population from truckers.

There Naivasha District Hospital is located along the Nairobi- Nakuru highway, making it a major recipient of victims from road accidents.

UNFPA is supporting the construction of a Health Center of Excellence at Ndabibi, which is expected to be the main referral center for that area when complete. The center was also awarded a donation of an ambulance, which is already in use although it still lacks a permanent driver. The health center committee is in the process of recruiting a driver although it still faces some challenges including staff housing and lack of running water, due to the phasing out of the user fee at the Level 2 and 3 facilities. Meanwhile, the Government has posted three nurses to the facility, provided beds and equipment for cervical cancer screening.