2gether 4 SRHR Phase 2

Phase II was awarded in April 2023, and the annual work plan and budget was developed and approved in June 2023, triggering programme implementation. At the same time the programme was engaged in the process of finalising the implementation of Phase I which was extended to September 2023. All in all, this has caused some delays in program implementation. Some of the results during the reporting period (April December) 2023 include: Outcome 1: Legal, policy and financial environment strengthened to enable beneficiaries to access SRHR services and realize their SRHR rights - The Programme supported the review and updating of the SADC HIV & AIDS M&E Framework that provides guidance to Member States to track and report on core indicators aligned to the HIV and AIDS indicators in the Global HIV Strategy 20212026. - Eight countries (Eswatini, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania, and South Sudan) developed UHC country action plans that they will be taking forward in 2024 and beyond. Fifteen (15) consultants were trained to support country level engagement to incorporate SRHR in UHC frameworks and will support countries through the TA Hub. - Three countries strengthened their health financing strategies and mechanisms to fund UHC benefit packages that include critical SRHR services. Zambia held a Country Health Financing Dialogue, as follow up to the Africa Leadership Meeting (ALM) on Investing in Health, that advocates for increasing domestic resources the dialogue agreed to develop an ALM Plan for increasing domestic financing. Outcome 2: Increased access to and utilization of quality, people centred integrated SRHR services - The programme strengthened regional and national capacity to improve the attitudes and knowledge of health care professionals to improve the quality of SRHR service delivery. Examples include: a) Malawi and Namibia developed triple elimination of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B plans as part of their Path to Elimination validation process. Namibia being the first country in ESA to apply for triple elimination validation b) Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe strengthened their national health systems through undertaking a training of trainers on CAC, including comprehensive post abortion care, safe medical abortion and use of MVA c) Training was conducted with the Regional Training for Strategic Information (SI) advisors in ESA countries that will strengthen regional and national SRHR data analysis and use, including indepth data analysis of SRHR and HIV inequalities using arc QGIS maps to visualize country data. Malawi and Zimbabwe undertook a national training of trainers on data analysis. - The Programme provided catalytic funding and technical support to eleven (11) countries (Botswana, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe) to implement their roadmaps on unintended pregnancies/comprehensive abortion care (UiP/CAC) programming that was developed in Phase I. - A regional guidance document to guide countries in transitioning from a paper based system to digital health information was initiated. Eight countries were supported to collect, analyse and use SRHR data for decision making. For ex. did Malawi and Zimbabwe conduct a national training of trainers on SRHR data analysis and use. Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi and Rwanda were capacitated on data analysis and use towards their path to Triple Elimination of HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis B. Tanzania was supported to host a data deep dive to build the capacity of national and subnational stakeholders involved in programme management and strategic information. Outcome 3: Gender and social norms, and behavioural drivers addressed for the realisation of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all - The strategic assessment on SRHR needs of men and boys in five countries (Lesotho, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe) was finalized. The programme supported the countries to develop roadmaps with identified priorities developed to improve evidencebased programming for engaging men and boys towards advancing SRHR within ESA. South Sudan and Namibia conducted a gender assessment of policies and plans to inform the development of the next HIV response plans to ensure that country HIV policies and strategies are gender responsive and to inform policy advocacy by the partners at country level. - The Programme engaged regional and national networks of adolescent and youth and men and boys networks and champions to address social, religious and cultural norms. The UNITED! Movement, a regional youthled SRHR network, was expanded to include 130 new youth advocates from 11 countries across the region and provided youthled inperson sessions on social media advocacy, network strengthening, engagement and influencing skills to an estimated 300 youth advocates. Outcome 4: Resilient health systems and communities are enabled to ensure the continuity of SRHR Services during crises - A regional workshop was conducted to disseminate the 2022 regional MISP Readiness Assessment in humanitarian settings in ESA region. The workshop engaged with Ministries of Health and other relevant stakeholders to mainstream SRHR into disaster preparedness and response plans and health strategies and policies. Coordination between SRHR and disaster management sectors was also enhanced fostering collaboration and synergy to address the unique needs of affected populations. - The Programme supported countries to implement their roadmaps developed following the MISP Readiness Assessment (MRA) and the integration of GBV interventions in humanitarian actions. 16 countries updated their action plans and introduced vulnerability assessment tools, tailored to address the SRH, HIV, and GBV needs of vulnerable populations. Five (5) countries (Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia and Tanzania) were supported to implement their roadmaps to strengthen the preparedness and resilience of national health systems for the provision of SRHR services before crisis strikes through a series of policy, programmatic and operational actions outlined in the MISP readiness action plans. Anticipatory GBV actions have been initiated in DRC, Ethiopia, Malawi, Madagascar and Zambia.

The overall goal of the Programme is to contribute towards the attainment of the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) related targets of SDGs 3 (good health and wellbeing) and 5 (gender equality) through four programme outcomes: Outcome 1: Legal, policy and financial environment strengthened to enable beneficiaries to access services and realise their SRHR rights Output 1.1 - Political, legal and policy barriers reduced Output 1.2 - Domestic, bilateral and multilateral investment in SRHR increased Outcome 2. Increased access to and utilisation of quality, people-centred integrated SRHR services Output 2.1 - Regional and national capacity to provide equitable access to quality integrated SRHR increased Output 2.2 Quality, people-centred integrated SRHR services scaled up Output 2.3 - High quality SRHR data and strategic information produced and used to inform the development of SRHR policies, funding and programme implementation Outcome 3: Gender and social norms and behavioral drivers addressed for the realisation of SRHR for all Output 3.1 - Evidence on key gender norms, social norms, attitudes and values influencing SRHR outcomes used to enhance the development of SRHR policies, funding and programme implementation Output 3.2 Networks of Regional adolescent & youth, key populations, and influential stakeholders, including religious and traditional leaders, engaged and empowered to promote positive gender and social norms in ESA Outcome 4: Resilient health systems and communities are enabled to ensure the continuity of SRHR Services during crises Output 4.1 - Policy and legal environment enabled to address SRHR during humanitarian crisis and emergency situations Output 4.2 - Resilience of health systems strengthened to provide the minimum integrated SRHR service package (MISP) in times of crisis Output 4.3 - Evidence base for humanitarian and emergency response strengthened