Washington, DC, U.S.A. – Futures Group today announced the signing of a 4-year, £13.5 million Reproductive, Maternal and Neonatal Health Services contract for South Africa with the U.K. Department for International Development. The award supports South Africa’s Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality in Africa, and it was competitively awarded under the U.K’s Reproductive Health Services Framework contract.
The new project is called "Reducing Maternal and Child Mortality in South Africa through Strengthening Primary Health Care.” Futures Group and our partners, the South African Health Systems Trust, Save the Children UK and Social Development Direct, will support the implementation of South Africa’s national policy on reproductive, maternal and child health through project and financial management services, technical assistance, and strategic advice targeting 15 or more health districts. The project will focus on four key outputs:
- Building the capacity of districts to oversee improvements in reproductive, maternal and child health services;
- Strengthening the delivery of school health, ward primary health care, and obstetric and neonatal emergency services;
- Improving the demand and accountability for health services; and
- Supporting the rapid diffusion and uptake of new knowledge to remove barriers to service access.
In her announcement of the U.K.’s financial support for South Africa, Head of DFID Southern Africa, Sarah Dunn said: “Supporting safe childbirth is a key component of DFID’s gender strategy, alongside improving women’s access to economic assets, secondary education for girls and preventing violence against women and children.”
“Under this award, Futures Group brings our unique abilities to predict future health and development trends, uncover barriers to service quality and coverage, deliver targeted technical assistance, build capacity and forge on-the-ground partnerships to ensure lasting change,” said Futures Group CEO Chris LeGrand. “We will also draw upon the strong project management expertise of our sister company GRM International. This project is part of our group’s growing portfolio serving partner countries, the U.K. Department for International Development, and other clients with innovative, flexible and value-for-money solutions to contemporary development issues.”
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About Futures Group
Futures Group, the global consulting firm, helps to protect and promote people’s well-being around the world. For 40 years, Futures Group has created lasting solutions to some of the most pressing public health challenges facing nations. For more information, please visit www.futuresgroup.com, www.facebook.com/FuturesGroup, and www.twitter.com/FuturesGroupGbl.
About GRM International
GRM International is a leading international development management company specializing in the provision of project design, management expertise and technical assistance to development projects for bilateral and multilateral funding agencies, governments and corporations. For more than 45 years, GRM has been bringing expertise in managing large-scale projects, and sourcing and managing high quality experts covering all disciplinary skills required to implement development projects. For more information, visit www.grminternational.com.
Media Contact:
Jennifer Peterson, Futures Group
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