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Since its inception in 2015, the PreMDESA programme is making significant progress in East and Southern Africa.

Procuring contraceptives

Almost $7 million worth of contraceptives procured for the PreMDESA programme in 2016 will avert an estimated £13 million in direct healthcare costs and will provide over 1.8 million couple years of protection (CYP).

Supporting 2020 Round of Censuses

To address the Demographic Dividend, DFID is supporting UNFPA’s efforts to capture demographic trends through electronic census in Africa, and to advocate for policies and laws. Training of young African staticians during the Lesotho census was conducted with participants from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Lesotho and South Africa.

 

Lesotho ICT-enabled Census

Lesotho conducted its Population and Housing census in 2016. The country was the first in the ESA region, and the fifth in Africa, to undertake a digital census data capture using mobile devices. UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office – in partnership with DFID, the Secretariat of the African Symposium on Statistical Development/Statistics South Africa, and the Lesotho Bureau of Statistics – collaborated to ensure efficient  data capturing and increased the geographical reach to the most rural and remote areas.

PreMDESA activities underway

  • Scaling up capacity building of health-care workers on family planning, including the introduction of new contraceptives, is underway in six ESA countries.
  • Work is ongoing on the Innovation Accelerator cycles, the Demographic Dividend, and the youth engagement platform TuneMe in five additional Southern African countries, as well as the development of a regional strategy for increasing SRH services for people living with disabilities, especially adolescents and young people.