Impact partner profile

Lwala Community Alliance

Agency, health and wholeness of life

Est. since

2007

Location of HQ

Migori County, Kenya

Partnership date with Thankyou

September 2020

Area of focus

Health

Regions

Kenya

Website

lwala.org 

Lwala Community Alliance (Lwala) aims to build the capacity of rural communities to advance their own comprehensive wellbeing. Their solutions place communities at the forefront of the design, implementation, and evaluation of the multi-dimensional causes of poor health.

Lwala’s community-led health model rests on 4 key pillars: community committees, health centres, Community Health Workers (CHWs), and data. Core to their model is the recruitment, training, supervision and payment of traditional birth attendants as CHWs - they transform these women into the greatest champions of maternal and child health.

Lwala is focused on leveraging their proven model to improve maternal and child health outcomes for the 1 million people living in Migori County, as well as supporting county and national-level policy change, ultimately driving high-quality health care for all Kenyans. The team at Lwala are successfully driving policy change, including government payment of CHWs, improvements to CHW supervision, and adoption of Lwala’s obstetric haemorrhage protocols.

As a Kenyan-founded and Kenyan-led organisation, Lwala have found that when communities lead, change is lasting. Yearly, Lwala serve approximately 150,000 people in Kenya, constantly fighting for agency, health and wholeness of life for all.

This unique model has led to profound reductions in child mortality, a 98% skilled delivery rate, virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and a 300% increase in contraceptive uptake. Lwala-trained and supported CHWs are also more than 5 times as likely to be knowledgeable of danger signs in pregnancy and early infancy than status quo CHWs.

Core impact goals

Reduce under-5 mortality rates

With a current regional under-5 mortality rate of 85 deaths per 1,000 live births, Lwala's aim is to reach the Sustainable Development Goal of 25 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Reach at least 95% immunisation coverage

This is the percent of children who are on-track with all specified vaccines. After two years of support, Lwala communities consistently reach a 95% immunisation coverage and they want to achieve this rate in every new community they enter.

Reach at least a 95% skilled delivery rate

Skilled delivery rate refers to the percent of live births that are supported by a trained clinician. After two years of support, Lwala communities consistently reach a 95% skilled delivery rate and the team aim to achieve this rate in every new community where they work.

Increase contraceptive prevalence

Lwala aims to increase the percentage of women in the community who report using a modern form of contraceptive. Lwala’s model has driven a 300% increase in contraceptive uptake and they seek to drive significant increases in contraceptive prevalence.

Type of grant funding given

$500,000* AUD

*12 month unrestricted funded grant (October 2020 - September 2021)
FY2021 impact milestones

Lwala aims to reach the following impact milestones over the course of Thankyou’s grant period (12 months). Here’s how they went:

Skilled delivery rates of 97%, 95%, and 75% in North, East, and South Kamagambo, respectively.
2021 skilled delivery rates: North Kamagambo: 98%. East Kamagambo: 98%. South Kamagambo: 96%.
Immunisation rates of 97%, 85%, and 50% in North, East, and South Kamagambo, respectively.
2021 immunisation rates: North Kamagambo: 98%. East Kamagambo: 90%. South Kamagambo: 85%.
18,000 Couple Years of Protection - this is the volume of contraceptives delivered weighed by the number of years of pregnancy protection it provides.
Lwala provided 18,765 Couple Years of Protection (CYP).
Expand to Central Kamagambo, reaching a population of 150,000.
During this grant cycle, Lwala expanded to Central Kamagambo, reaching a population of 125,000.* *The target of 150,000 was constructed before the lasted census data was made available. Due to this, Lwala revised their goal to be 125,000.
Support 90 facilities to treat obstetric haemorrhage.
Lwala serves as the national Ministry Of Health’s (MOH) training partner on the NASG (non-pneumatic anti-shock garment). They have trained 160 health workers and clinical trainers across the country on the use of NASG, which the MOH can deploy to train others. Lwala is also working on expanding Obstetric Haemorrhage Initiatives across Migori County and have provided training and mentorship to 1,675 health care providers at 108 facilities, exceeding the target of 90.
Achieved
Milestone complete.
On track
Milestone on-track for completion within specified timeframe, outside of Thankyou’s grant period.
Partially achieved
Milestone <90% completed within grant period.
Mostly achieved
>90%+ milestone completion.
Delayed
Milestone delayed, not completed within grant period.

FY2021 impact report

Lwala FY2021 Impact Report

Find out more

Lwala’s Reports and Financials Lwala’s Model
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