Guliba Florence Hakim
Coordinator South Sudan
â–º Email
Project Number: 179.1022
Child and maternal mortality rates in South Sudan are extremely high. There has been civil war in the country for years. Mothers and children receive little or no support. Against this backdrop, the midwifery school run by our partner organization PRDA (Presbyterian Relief and Development Agency) is crucial. The graduates are professionally well trained. The trainee midwives are taught obstetrics, anatomy and physiology, as well as English, mathematics and first aid. The students apply their knowledge in practice during annual internships in a hospital.
According to UNICEF, 62 out of 1,000 babies in South Sudan die in their first year of life. In comparison: in Switzerland, this figure is four out of every 1,000 children (as of 2018).
The need for trained midwives is therefore great. The midwifery school of our partner organization PRDA was founded in 2005 in the city of Leer. In spring 2014, the school relocated to northern Kenya due to the civil war. As part of a three-year training course, qualified midwives are trained there to support women during pregnancy and childbirth, prevent problems and treat complications. There is a fundamental demand for training in the health sector in South Sudan. Prevention activities, including vaccinations, are also important in order to reduce the spread of diseases. The trained midwives inform women about reproductive health.
The project trains professional midwives. They care for women during pregnancy as well as during and after birth and give the newborns a good start in life.
The overall goal of the project is to support mothers and children. The trained midwives provide women of childbearing age with knowledge regarding hygiene as well as reproductive health and family planning issues. At the same time, women and infants have better access to medical care.
The project benefits the wider population in South Sudan, as the trained midwives remain in the health sector after their training and either train in an international organization "Community Midwives" or continue their studies. In any case, it benefits women throughout South Sudan, whether in the camp for internally displaced persons or in the refugee camp outside the country, where there is also a great need for trained midwives. The Presbyterian Relief and Development Agency (PRDA) recruits students from all regions of South Sudan, regardless of their ethnicity.
Since its foundation, 122 women have successfully completed their midwifery training. On May 27, 2023, the newly built midwifery school in Juba was opened with a big celebration. There are currently 58 students enrolled at the midwifery school in Juba. Thanks to the new and larger school, there is now room for twice as many students as before. This year, for the first time, a man is also studying at the midwifery school.
Juba is strategically well located. There are plenty of hospitals for internships and good networking opportunities with other organizations such as the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and the WHO.
Project budget 2024
CHF 167'800
Mission 21
Protestant Mission Basel
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Donation account Switzerland:
IBAN: CH58 0900 0000 4072 6233 2
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CHE-105.706.527
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Savings Bank Lörrach-Rheinfelden
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BLZ: 683 500 48
IBAN: DE39 6835 0048 0001 0323 33
Account No. : 1032333