From 2017 to 2021 the Aga Khan Foundation, in collaboration with the Government of Tanzania, civil society partners and local communities and with the financial support of Global Affairs Canada, undertook a project dedicated to improving the health of women, adolescent girls and children, and reducing maternal and newborn mortality in eight underserved districts of Mwanza, Tanzania. The US$ 11.6 million project – Improving Access to Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health in Mwanza, Tanzania (IMPACT) – reached about 1 million people, over 65 percent of them women and girls.

Some key results:

• 30 percent increase in newborns breastfed within one hour of birth.
• 80 public health facilities with improved Reproductive Maternal and Newborn Health (RMNH) services, including infrastructure improvements at 24 sites.
• +400 healthcare workers and managers trained and mentored to deliver quality, gender-responsive and adolescent-friendly RMNH services.
• 25 percent increase in births attended by a skilled health professional.
• 35 percent increase in women attending at least four prenatal appointments.
• 141 percent increase in the number of women who say their male partners support their access to family planning services.

International Day of Rural Women is celebrated every year on 15 October.