BRAC
Location
Sierra Leone, Uganda
Sector
Public Health, Nutrition and Water
Type of Investment
Grant
Project Stage
Length of Investment
2020-2023
Website
Investment Overview
BRAC’s work focused on the COVID-19 response in Sierra Leone and Uganda, specifically on behavioural change messaging reinforced by in-person support from community health workers (CHWs). In Uganda, BRAC’s efforts also included wider health system strengthening through adoption of new technology for CHWs.
The Development Challenge
Even though at the end of 2020 there were relatively few cases and deaths attributed to Covid-19 in Africa (2.5 million and 57,000 respectively), the rate of spread and possibility of future waves had public health officials concerned. At the same time, there had been a growing awareness of the expected negative economic repercussions for many developing countries, particularly for the poorest and most vulnerable sections of their societies.
The Innovation
The investment funded emergency Covid-19 response work in Sierra Leone and Uganda, as well as the strengthening of long-term health systems in Uganda through improvisation and technology adoption. BRAC refocused existing staff and volunteers from general and health community support to collaborate with the Government of Sierra Leone and the Government of Uganda in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. BRAC worked with the Government of Uganda to demonstrate the use of digital platforms for behavioural change messaging, remote training of CHWs, and data collection by CHWs.
Our Investment
GIF’s grant of $1.05 million USD supported BRAC to provide behavioural change messaging using SMS, radio and in-person modalities; community hand washing stations and emotional support through CHWs, as well as for CHWs, in Sierra Leone. In Uganda, BRAC provided behavioural change messaging via interactive voice response (IVR), trained CHWs remotely on COVID-19 response and refreshers on maternal and childcare topics, and rolled out new technology to CHWs to support data collection, care delivery and oversight in pursuit of health systems strengthening.
BRAC in numbers
GIF grant
People reached with behavioural messaging via radio campaigns