Training for ethnic minority midwives on adolescent reproductive health – a new approach to improve the health of adolescent couples in Son La province, Vietnam

For years, HealthBridge has worked closely with the local government of Hoi An, a small city in central Vietnam, to improve public spaces. More recently, our work has focused on promoting cycling and further reducing the use of motorized vehicles. Cars are already banned in the old quarter and motorbikes limited to certain periods of the day. The work was further enhanced by being awarded a grant from the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI) to work on cycling.

Gaddu lives in Banke District, one of the poorest areas in rural Nepal. He lives with his wife, two daughters, and one son. He works as a farmer and sometimes goes to India to earn money.

My name is Ca Van Vinh, I am 30 years old and I work at the Commune People’s Committee. My son, Quân, is a well-behaved & handsome boy. He attends ninth grade at the commune’s Junior Secondary School. After he finishes ninth grade, my family and I have planned a marriage for him.

WBB, with support from UN-Habitat & Dhaka North City Corporation worked with a low-income community in Dhaka to design six public spaces using the computer game Minecraft.

A most noteworthy accomplishment in the first six months of 2019, was the passage of the Alcohol Control Law on June 14th. HealthBridge Vietnam provided technical support to the Ministry of Health when it was drafting the legislation, wrote the related communications materials, and engaged in effective media outreach, and advocacy directed at policy makers, in partnership with the Ministry.

In rural Tanzania, women’s groups are leading the search for sustainable, culturally relevant strategies to improve access to and use of better antenatal care services. And their voices are being heard.

Traditional gender roles also limit women’s ability to decide if and when to seek health care. Fear of being stigmatized because of short spacing between births also keeps women at home: “You will always feel very shy to go for ANC service while you know — and nurses know for sure — you have left a 6-month-old child at home,” said one woman.

This unfavourable environment, combined with long wait times at the health facility, deters women from seeking early ANC. Poor reception by health workers also discourages men from accompanying their partners, although government policy requires that pregnant women bring their spouses to their first ANC appointment.

HealthBridge's partner Work for a Better Bangladesh (WBB) Trust created created a children's corner at the local playing field across from their office in a low-income area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The children's corner was the result of a lengthy effort involving community input and design, stakeholder involvement, professional planning, and a joint process.