Healthy Village
MLC Vanguard | Created by Max Foundation
Healthy Children come from Healthy Communities. Our Healthy Village approach supports the entire community – from local government to entrepreneurs and caretakers – to mobilise around the goal of child health. These stakeholders drive increased access to- and use of safe WASH, nutrition, and care, ensuring a healthy start for every child.
1,119,903 Lives Impacted
The economic impact COVID-19 and climate disruptions are devastating for child health - in 2020, we saw how these conditions contributed to setting back progress on undernutrition and stunting (being too short for one's age).
However, the 123 villages already officially declared Healthy in our programme areas in Bangladesh recorded a stunting decrease of 6% in 2020, which is double the decrease seen in Bangladesh in normal years. This means that even during this disruptive crisis, Healthy Villages managed improved on child health.
In our programme areas last year:
More than 20,000 children under five were regularly measured and monitored on growth. 48,000 people gained access to safe water, while 91,000 people gained access to improved sanitation. 211,000 people improved their hygiene facilities at home, and more than 194,000 people increased their access to home-based nutrient enriched food.
More than 12,000 pregnant women received ante- & postnatal care, and the percentage of women using improved menstrual hygiene products went up from 10% in 2018 to 33% in 2019, and to 45% in 2020.
375 entrepreneurs were trained in 2020, as well as 800 local government officials.
The Innovation
Our evidence-based Healthy Village approach stands out by combining WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) with nutrition security and care to tackle stunting and improve child health. This integrated approach focuses on supporting communities to drive their behaviour-change on a village level:
Local entrepreneurs are trained to sell health products and services, while communities commit to village wide education- and child growth monitoring sessions: driving both demand and supply.
Local government officially declares a village ‘Healthy’ once everyone (90%+) meets and maintains key indicators. These include handwashing with soap at the five critical times, use of hygienic latrines, regularly monitoring child growth, pre- and post-natal care, menstrual hygiene, and meeting minimum dietary needs – especially for pregnant and lactating women and children under five.
The data produced by a village’s results is collected and visualised on the Healthy Village Tracker dashboard. This can be accessed by local government to track progress.
The integration of sectors, engagement of all stakeholders, and tracking of progress ensure the approach's sustainability and impact.
Implemented in
Bangladesh
Get in touch
Colette Beukman, Communications Manager
About Gram Vaani
Gram Vaani Community Media (registered as OnionDev Technologies Pvt. Ltd.) is an award winning, Indian social enterprise, incorporated in 2015. Its flagship solution, Mobile Vaani (MV), is an IVRS and mobile app based two-way, audio community media platform. The MV solution has been used to design and implement more than 150 projects across the country in collaboration with organizations across the spectrum including non-profits, grant-making organizations, commercial entities, and government departments.
