Our Work

UPHOLD’s Core Areas of Technical Intervention

Education | HIV and AIDS | Health

EDUCATION

UPHOLD’s Education component aims to improve student learning through school-based quality reform, rooted in active partnerships among pupils, parents, teachers, and administrators to create effective learning environments. All of these key actors participate in the change process to engender joint ownership and joint responsibility for quality education. To improve children’s learning, the Education component works in integrated areas of:

• Education Management Strengthening
• Teacher Effectiveness & Children’s Learning
• Community Involvement in Education
• School Health and Nutrition

To improve the management of education in districts and schools, UPHOLD supports performance improvement and management capacity building for education managers at multiple levels through an Education Management Strengthening Initiative (EMSI). EMSI builds the capacity of education officers, school inspectors, Coordinating Centre Tutors, and especially, Head Teachers and Deputies in participatory planning for school quality; professional development planning; administration and management; and curriculum leadership, though a combination of centre-based workshops to develop skills, professional networks, and action plans for implementation at schools and by continuous support-supervision visits, peer mentoring, and cluster-based Peer Group Meetings.

UPHOLD’s Teacher Effectiveness component empowers teachers in the use of participatory teaching approaches such as Cooperative Learning that gives teachers practical ways to manage large classrooms and develops pupils’ abilities and confidence as learners. Teachers also learn activity-based methods to teaching.

To build bridges between schools and communities, UPHOLD has trained Community Development Officers and Education Officers in target districts in effective team-building for community participation. School Management Committees and Parent Teacher Associations will be engaged to involve parents in improving the quality of learning. Emphasis areas will include implementation of School Development Plans, effective communication and partnerships with parents, school sanitation and hygiene, school lunches and girls’ retention and protection.

Together with the Health and HIV and AIDS components, the Education component works to address the most common health and nutrition constraints that hinder effective learning. Key among these problems are malaria, intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, and hygiene and sanitation. UPHOLD supports joint microplanning at the district level to ensure school-based delivery of deworming services during bi-annual Child Days.

School health and nutrition activities also promote the formation of healthful behaviors, including those that protect children from HIV and AIDS. UPHOLD's support to the Presidential Initiative on AIDS Strategy Communication to Youth (PIASCY) includes teacher orientation, life skills and peer-to-peer tools for clubs, and parent-child dialogue.

UPHOLD’s education component also supports key activities through grants to local government grants, including monitoring and support supervision of teachers, and grants to NGOs and Core Primary Teachers Colleges.

Back to top

HIV and AIDS

UPHOLD works to improve access to and use of the full continuum of prevention, care and support services and other healthful behaviors to prevent and mitigate the spread of HIV and AIDS:

• HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT)
• Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS
  (PMTCT)
• Palliative Care — Basic Care and Support
• Palliative Care with Tuberculosis
• Abstinence and Be Faithful
• Other Prevention Activities
• Support to Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC)

The HIV and AIDS component addresses social norms and attitudes — including gender-based violence and stigma — that affect use of services and positive behaviors through strategic mass media, traditional media, and interpersonal communication in communities and households. Couple and family dialogue around HCT and PMTCT, faithfulness and peaceful resolution of conflict are particular emphasis areas. UPHOLD endeavors to engage and empower networks of people living with HIV and AIDS in all activities.

In addition to grants to local governments and civil society organizations, UPHOLD provides financial and technical assistance to expand vital services of leading HIV and AIDS organizations: AIDS Information Centre (AIC) and The AIDS Support Organization (TASO).

Back to top

HEALTH

The Health component works to improve quality and use of services and other healthful behaviors in core areas:

• Integrated Reproductive Health;
• Child & Adolescent Health; and
• Communicable Disease Control.

The health component supports local governments and civil society organizations to improve delivery of services through new equipment, training, and supportive supervision of health workers in health facilities. To increase access to services in communities, UPHOLD supports drug distributors to deliver home-based management of fever (HBMF) and is working with the Ministry of Health on an integrated community package of preventive and curative services for children and pregnant women.

Increased demand for and use of services is promoted through strategic communication including interpersonal communication through health workers, religious leaders, radio and traditional media. Strengthened relationships between providers and consumers, improved family dialogue, and reduced gender-based violence are core areas of emphasis to promote quality and use of services.

Integrated Reproductive Health: UPHOLD promotes:

• Improved antenatal and postnatal care;
• Safe and clean deliveries;
• Essential obstetric care;
• Postabortion care;
• Gender-sensitive approaches;
• Effective dialogue and decisionmaking in families and communities;
• Increased access to and utilization of quality family planning services and methods;
• Youth–friendly services; and
• Efficient synergies with control of HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and malaria.

Child and Adolescent Health: UPHOLD’s key interventions include:

• Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) and Community IMCI;
• Community based growth promotion;
• Improved strategies and indicators for nutrition;
• Vitamin A and micronutrient supplementation;
• Promoting exclusive breastfeeding;
• Childhood immunizations;
• Youth-friendly services;
• Innovative strategies promoting peer support groups, child to child activities, and parent-child communication (click here for Listening Parents Guide, a guide for parents to talk to their children 8 to 12 years).

Communicable Disease Control: Malaria control activities include:

• Promoting implementation of new MOH National Malaria Treatment Policy using arteminisin-based combination therapy;
• Scaling up community-based TB DOTS;
• The effective home-based management of fever;
• Intermittent presumptive treatment of malaria during pregnancy;
• Promoting use of insecticide-treated nets.

UPHOLD is also working to control tuberculosis, schistosomiasis, and other communicable diseases in a multi-sectoral approach.

Back to top