Our work
Funder: USAID
Samasha is working with health experts in Liberia to make the WHO guidelines on self-care more suitable for the country. This effort will help people take better care of their health by giving them simple and practical solutions.
Samasha is working with health experts in Liberia to make the WHO guidelines on self-care more suitable for the country. This effort will help people take better care of their health by giving them simple and practical solutions.
As part of this project, Samasha is creating a step-by-step guide to show how the WHO self-care guidelines can be adapted to fit Liberia’s needs. We also help organize meetings where health experts can discuss and agree on the best self-care practices for Liberia. In addition, we are helping to improve the draft national guidelines to ensure they are clear and useful for everyone.
In the end, this project will produce a helpful guide, a clear understanding of current self-care practices in Liberia, and a set of recommendations that will be included in the country’s national health guidelines.
Through these efforts, Samasha is committed to making it easier for Liberians to maintain their health and access reliable self-care solutions. Together, we are paving the way for stronger health systems and healthier communities.
Project Duration: Start Date: August 2023 End Date: September 2025
Samasha, and FP2030 are working in partnership to develop the Family Planning Accountability Dashboard prototype and pilot in Uganda. Lessons learned from the implementation will inform scale-up to additional FP2030 commitment making countries.
The purpose of the dashboard is to provide FP advocates with credible, simplified data and a platform for collaboration to accelerate progress on achieving FP2030 commitments. It’s a tool that will help government, civil society and other stakeholders to visualize and monitor their progress on FP2030 commitments and advocate for the fulfillment of FP2030 commitments
The primary target for the FP Dash are family planning advocates that include government, Ministry of Health, CSOs, academia and development partners. The FP Accountability Dashboard is conceived as a platform that will provide a centralized, transparent system for tracking FP2030 commitments, enhancing visibility, and fostering collaboration.
FP Accountability Dashboard will address issues like insufficient data and lack of centralized information by offering real-time updates, robust data validation, and tools for advocacy and decision-making. It will support peer learning and showcase best practices.
The FP Accountability Dashboard will complement rather than duplicate the above, because the Motion Tracker Approach is more process-oriented, and will facilitate visualizing progress against the commitments. FP advocates will harness their efforts based on data, coalescing around MoH priority interventions.
Project duration: 18 months (July 2024 –December 2024)
Funder: Propel Youth and Gender
Urban areas in developing countries are growing rapidly, drawing young people seeking better opportunities. However, for youth in informal settlements, this rapid urbanization comes with significant challenges. Limited access to healthcare, including family planning (FP) and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, is compounded by poor infrastructure, climate-related stresses, and fragmented health systems. In response, Samasha, with support from IYF, is developing and testing practical recommendations to help local governments address barriers and opportunities in areas like policy, advocacy, financing, and governance.
The PROPEL Youth & Gender Project is designed to bridge these gaps by working with governments and organizations to create targeted strategies that meet the diverse needs of urban youth. By understanding the challenges, they face, fostering partnerships among municipalities, health departments, and youth groups, and actively involving young people in creating solutions, we ensure their voices are at the center of change. Climate-resilient approaches are also being integrated to address environmental challenges impacting urban youth.
This initiative aims to:
- Close gaps in SRH access for marginalized urban youth, ensuring their rights are fulfilled.
- Strengthen local governments with tools and strategies for better health program delivery.
- Empower communities by supporting youth-led organizations and CSOs to drive accountability and lasting change.
Urban youth, especially from marginalized communities, are often overlooked in health programs. By ensuring inclusivity and intersectionality, this project strives to guarantee that every young person, regardless of background, can access the SRH services they need. Together, we can create healthier communities and build a more equitable future for all.
Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
At Samasha, we are committed to ensuring that women and children receive the healthcare they deserve. With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, we are leading a three-year project (July 2024–July 2027) across Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Senegal, and Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire to hold governments and organizations accountable for their promises to improve family planning (FP) and maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH).Using our innovative Motion Tracker approach, we monitor commitments made by governments and partners, identify gaps, and drive practical solutions. By collaborating with local organizations, we gain valuable insights and ensure that the strategies we advocate for are effective and grounded in community needs. Regularly tracking progress allows us to evaluate how well governments and partners adhere to their health commitments while pushing for action to address challenges.
Through this project, we aim to:
- Raise awareness about the importance of FP and MNCH through widespread media campaigns.
- Strengthen local organizations with tools and skills to support global and regional health goals.
- Enhance accountability by building systems to address barriers hindering progress.
- Foster collaboration between governments, civil society, and partners for shared success.
Every woman and child deserves access to quality healthcare. By ensuring leaders fulfill their commitments, we can secure better funding, policies, and services that save lives and improve families' well-being. Together, we are creating a movement for lasting change and paving the way for healthier futures across Africa.
Funder: Global Health Advocacy Incubator(GHAI)
At Samasha, we are committed to ensuring Uganda is prepared to handle health emergencies like disease outbreaks. Through a six-month project launched in August 2024 with support from Global Health Advocacy Incubator, we aim to ensure the timely release and effective use of UGX 57.8 billion allocated for epidemic preparedness in the national budget.
Our goal is to secure the release and use of at least 25% of these funds by December 2024.
To strengthen health security.
we monitor budget allocations
Analyze spending to ensure funds are used effectively for outbreak detection and response.
Engage key stakeholders like the Ministry of Health, Parliament, and partners to promote accountability.
We are raising public awareness through media campaigns, advocating for transparent reporting on funds, and building coalitions with civil society organizations to push for better health security policies. Using evidence-based advocacy and leveraging social media, we ensure epidemic preparedness remains a priority.
Disease outbreaks can strike anytime, and a well-resourced health system is essential to protect families, communities, and the nation. Together, we can build a healthier, safer Uganda.
Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is a global predicament to which over a third of women worldwide are exposed. Its negative consequences for reproductive, maternal, adolescent, and mental health are well-documented. The 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey revealed that up to 22% of women aged 15 to 49 in the country had experienced some form of sexual violence. The report also revealed that annually, 13% of women aged 15 to 49 report experiencing sexual violence. This translates to more than 1 million women exposed to sexual violence every year in Uganda.
Despite some successes on SGBV service access, a lot more work remains to be done to ensure the victims of SGBV can be supported to access social support services as well as other SRHR services.
With funding from UNFPA and Netherlands government, Marie Stopes UG (MSUG) is implementing the ANSWER project to advance sexual Reproductive Health and Rights in facilitate this training in 12 districts of West Nile (Pakwach, Nebbi, Zombo, Arua, Madi-Okollo, Maracha, Terego, Obongi, Adjumani, Yumbe, Koboko, Moyo) and three districts of Acholi sub region (Amuru, Lamwo and Agago).
The Goal is to contribute to the achievement of universal access to SRHR of women, girls, boys, men, including vulnerable populations in Uganda. One of the activities under this project is to conduct a training of VHTs & Health Assistants on SGBV, Disability, and refugee services.
The training is aimed at building the capacity VHTs and Health assistants to effectively detect all issues and forms of SGBV amongst adolescents, women, PWDs and refugees and be able to either refer or provide appropriate services to minimize the SGBV effects on SRHR uptake
The project started on 22nd September 2021 and is expected to run for a period of one month
Samasha was contracted by RTI Act | East to provide technical support to the MoH NTDCP secretariat to develop an NTD advocacy strategy to address policy and financing gaps identified in the Sustainability Plan, highlight the key areas and issues within the NTD Uganda program that should be given focus and also propose the advocacy tactics and approaches that facilitate to drive the overall strategy goal.
The Project Objectives are:
a) Build capacity of the NTD Secretariat members in basic advocacy skills within context of NTD programming
b) Identify, select and endorse members of the newly constituted Advocacy subcommittee within NTDCP
c) Develop NTD advocacy strategy to support the implementation of the Sustainability Plan of NTD Program for Uganda.
The project started in June 2021 and is expected to end in August 2021
Health Policy Plus (HP+) is supporting Samasha in the implementation of the Joint Accountability project in Ouagadougou Partnership Countries.
The aim of the project is to strengthen capacity of Civil Society leaders, Government and other Family Planning stakeholders including Youth Ambassadors in fostering Joint Accountability for Family Planning, especially as countries develop FP2030 commitments.
Project will run from March to December 2021 in Benin, Niger and Senegal.
Health Policy Plus (HP+) is supporting Samasha in the implementation of the Joint Accountability project in Ouagadougou Partnership Countries.
The aim of the project is to strengthen capacity of Civil Society leaders, Government and other Family Planning stakeholders including Youth Ambassadors in fostering Joint Accountability for Family Planning, especially as countries develop FP2030 commitments.
Project will run from March to December 2021 in Benin, Niger and Senegal.
Samasha was contracted by the Ministry of Health through the Uganda Reproductive Maternal Child Health Services Improvement Project to provide consultancy services for clinical skills update and mentorship for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn,Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) in the Busoga/Bukedi region.
The objective of the assignment is to coordinate and supervise the Health Professional Associations (HPAs) and Regional Referral Hospitals (RRHs) in the implementation and provision of clinical mentorship program in the regions (Busoga and Bukedi) and facilitate the programme to achieve its goal and objective.
It’s a 12months project.
The Specific objectives are
- In collaboration and working with Health Professional Associations and respective Regional Referral Hospitals, prepare and submit a detailed and costed proposal for providing the clinical mentorship programme for all the health workers in Health Centres IIIs and IVs and hospitals of the specified region (s) (and the districts therein) of the country
- Conduct a Training/Mentorship Needs Assessment (TNA) for the mentorship of the health workers in all the districts of the specified region.
- Ensure HPAs and RRHS conduct the training/mentorship and follow up of the health workers in collaboration with MoH.
- Establish and maintain a training/mentorship database for trained staff in the region by district. Use of the existing MoH HRIS is advised but take care of tracking improvement in competence levels.
- Coordinate and supervise the Health Professional Associations and the respective Regional Referral Hospitals in the provision of the mentorship of the health workers in the specified regions
- Facilitate Health Professional Associations and Regional Referral Hospitals to provide the mentorship programme (detailed in the submitted proposal) in the region
- Monitor the implementation of the mentorship programme in the specified regions, tracking coverage, skills and competence improvement, clinical quality of care as well as improved leadership and data driven programming in the health facilities
- Provide regular (Monthly and Quarterly) updates on progress of the implementation of the mentorship programme to Ministry of Health
At the end of the project, we expect to have improved the knowledge and skills of health workers hence reduction of maternal/neonatal mortality and morbidity
The project is to run for 12 months and is expected to end in January 2022
Family Planning programs have historically had limited financial data for decision-making around program implementation and resource allocation and prioritization. To help improve data availability on government FP expenditures, the Track20 Project works directly with governments in participating FP2020 countries to collect, analyze and actively use data to produce annual estimates on a range of key FP indicators. The project also aims to obtain primary cost data to improve costing of FP strategies and plans. Samasha was therefore contracted by Avenir Health/Track20 in collaboration with Ministry of Health, to the FP Unit cost study in Uganda.
The study is aimed at;
- The cost of delivering FP services in a variety of settings and at various implementation levels (i.e. at site level and above site).
- The specific cost components (labour, drugs and medical supplies, equipment, etc.) that drive or carry the largest share of the total cost of service delivery.
The USAID/Family Planning Activity (FPA) is a five-year project under Pathfinder International running from 2020-2025. The USAID/FPA will play a catalytic role in increasing access to modern contraception and reducing the unmet need for voluntary family planning services in Uganda.
The project will apply evidence-based approaches that address gender disparities and biases preventing adolescents and youth from accessing contraception. Samasha is the lead partner for commodity security components of the project.
In close collaboration with Uganda’s Ministry of Health, the USAID/Uganda Family Planning Activity (FPA) will support the Government of Uganda to accelerate progress toward its commitments and objectives under FP2020 and the country’s Vision 2040 strategy. FPA approaches include:
FPA interventions will be conducted across 11 districts of Uganda where communities have a significant unmet need for voluntary family planning services and will support regionally based implementing partners to offer quality services at scale. FPA will scale up high-impact practices and test new innovations that address the unique reproductive health needs of individual Ugandans.
The Consortium Partnership includes Pathfinder International, Samasha Medical Foundation, Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau (UPMB) and Ugandan Young and Adolescent Health Forum (UYAHF).
The Ministry of Health (Reproductive and Infant Health Division) in collaboration with Uganda Family Planning Consortium (UFPC) contracted Samasha to facilitate the process of developing district FP CIPs for Mpigi, Butambala, Apac, Dokolo, Nebbi and Maracha Districts.
The District FP-CIPs will address six thematic areas: Demand creation, Service delivery and access, Contraceptive security, Financing, Policy and enabling environment, and Stewardship, management and accountability.
The Objectives of the assignment are:
This assigment started in January 2020 and is expected to be completed by April 2020.
In Uganda, the Family Planning market is greatly subsidized for both poor and well to do and there are indications that the market for Family Planning commodities in Uganda is not sustainable due to monopoly of the few market shareholders, who control more than 50 percent of the market for selected products. This gives them a controlling stake to influence the quantity and price, which undermines market sustainability.
The goal of this Project is to contribute to the draft Uganda Family Planning Total Market Approach strategy of increasing private sector market share from 39% to 50%; particularly, to measure the contribution of the commercial sector (private for profit) to the Family planning market
The objectives of the project are;
The project started in December 2019 and its expected to run for a period of Two years.
Samasha is working alongside PAI to provide technical assistance to advocates in four African countries (Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia ) to track Family Planning budget and domestic allocation.
Phase 2 of this project includes two main areas of work;
This project started in august 2019, and expected to last 3 years.
In May 2019, Samasha Medical Foundation (Samasha) partnered with the Ouagadougou Partnership to implement a 1 year project titled FP2020 Accountability Project in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo.
The overall goal of the project is to accelerate the fulfillment of the targeted number of fundamental commitments to Family Planning 2020. The aim is to support countries in meeting their country-specific commitments using the Motion Tracker© which leverages both the expertise and resources of national partners as well as those of the international community.
Specific objectives of the project are;
a) Select a country level partner in project countries as the local convener
b) Conduct high intensity, tailored training of one technical person and the convener organization manager from the three local convening organizations in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo.
c) Facilitate and oversee interpretation, data collection and analysis of country-specific commitments.
d) Support 3 stakeholder meetings in each of the project countries (Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo)
e) Provide quarterly updates of the Regional Motion Tracker (Online visual platform)
f) Document experience in the Motion Tracker replication, commitments tracking and lessons learned
The project started in May 2019 and is expected to end in February 2020.
In November 2018, Samasha Medical Foundation (Samasha) partnered with PAI to implement a 3year project titled FP2020 Accountability Project in Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya and Tanzania. The aim of the project is to support country advocates in implementing a multi-stakeholder driven accountability and monitoring tool that strengthens and enhances the capacity of civil society to track progress in achieving government FP2020 commitments.
Samasha and PAI identified country conveners in each of the project countries namely Consortium of Reproductive Health Associations (CORHA) in Ethiopia, YAYASAN CIPTA in Indonesia, AMREF Kenya in Kenya and HDT in Tanzania.
The objectives of the FP2020 Accountability Project are;
• To increase mutual accountability and partnership among civil society and government in at least four countries to realize FP2020 commitments.
• To increase sustainability of established accountability coalitions, processes and work led by civil society in at least four countries beyond 2021
The project started in November 2019 and runs until June 2021.
Funder: Planned Parenthood Global (PPG)
From December 2023 to September 2024, Samasha, with support from Planned Parenthood Global and in collaboration with the Ministry of Health’s Adolescent and School Health Division, addressed teenage pregnancies in Luwero and Kole districts, where 24% of teenage girls in Uganda become pregnant.
Achievements at a glance
Our efforts led to a modest reduction in teenage pregnancies in Luwero, with rates dropping from 16.5% in FY2022/23 to 16.1% in FY2023/24
"I always stayed home during menstruation because of cramps, but after attending a health talk, from Samasha and health workers, I learned to manage the pain and now help peers avoid absenteeism," shared Pretty Nalujja, a student at Little Flowers Primary School.
Despite challenges like delays in approving the District Committee on Adolescent Health (DICAH) guidelines and limited funding, we advocated for increased resources and district budget allocations while fostering community engagement to address stigma and misinformation.
Community involvement proved key, with district leaders, health workers, Village Health Teams, and school administrators driving the project's success. This work has laid a solid foundation for improving adolescent health, and we remain committed to advancing these efforts for Uganda's youth.
Samasha is supporting Save the Children Apolou Activity by providing contextual information and guidance to producing a comprehensive, low-literacy set of integrated manuals for adolescent boys and girls in Karamoja. The Apolou activity is conducted in Kaabong, Kotido, Moroto and Amudat districts.
The assignment started in August 2018 and ended inApril 2019.
Samasha Medical Foundation entered into an agreement with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) to implement a project titled ‘Translating Global Commitments into Local Action: Development of a Regional Tracker for Africa’ in four countries (Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia).The overall goal of the project is to accelerate the fulfilment of the targeted number of fundamental commitments to the updated EWEC Global Strategy and Family Planning 2020.
The aim is to support countries meet their country-specific commitments using the Motion Tracker© Framework which leverages both the expertise and resources of national partners as well as those of the International community.Specific objectives of the project are;
- Select country level partner in a new country (Nigeria) as local convener
- Conduct high intensity, tailored training of two technical personnel from the four local convening organizations from Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.
- Facilitate and oversee interpretation, data collection and analysis of country-specific commitments.
- Support 3 stakeholder meetings in each of the four countries (Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia)
- Quarterly Update of the Regional Motion Tracker (Online visual platform)
- Conduct media outreach in each country
- Document experience in TMT© replication, commitments tracking and lessons learned
The project started in July 2018 and runs until June 2019.
Samasha worked alongside PAI to provide technical assistance to advocates in six African countries (Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia Kenya, Nigeria) to
collect and report government allocations and expenditures on Family Planning using a harmonized set of indicators developed by consensus by participating countries.
In addition, Samasha developed advocacy strategies that focused on capacity building and support for the country civil society advocacy for increased government transparency and commitments for family planning and supplies.
This project started in july 2017,,,2019 lasted for 3 years.
Samasha was contracted by UNFPA to support Abim and Kotido districts to develop district Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan.
The assignment started in April 2018 and ended in August 2018.
Samasha with support from the New Venture Fund for Global Policy and advocacy project continues to support 3 selected countries (Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia) in meeting their commitments to FP2020 and EWEC Global Strategy (2016-2030).The aim of the project is to support countries meet their commitments through the Motion Tracker framework (TMT™) which leverages both the expertise and resources of national partners as well as those of the International community.
The project will be implemented using the SMF proprietary Motion Tracker framework in three East and South African countries (Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia). The Motion Tracker framework (TMT™) is a process aimed at ensuring universal understanding of commitments through purposeful concurrent stakeholder engagement.
The objectives of the project are;
- Facilitate and oversee the data collection and analysis of the country-specific commitments
- Support stakeholder engagements in each of the three countries
- Update the online visual platform (Regional Tracker) with country-specific updated Global Strategy and FP2020 commitments
- Conduct media outreach to amplify commitments at the country level
- This Project Started in October 2017 and is expected to last a period of 1 year.
With Support from the PAI Opportunity Fund, Samasha was identified to advocate for the Inclusion of Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives onto the Uganda Essential and Health Supplies (EHMS) Kit for HC IIIs.
This Project started in October 2017 and ended in April 2018.
Samasha Medical Foundation with support from RTI International developed a regional tracker for FP 2020 Commitments to track RMNCAH commitments hence leading to the development of an online motion tracker.
The aim of the project is to build capacity of local organizations in Tanzania and Zambia in the motion tracker framework and provide support to these organizations as they collect, analyze and develop a final report on data Analysis.
Some of the Specific Objectives of the Project are;
- To select country level partners to receive training in participatory methodology in Tanzania and Zambia
- Conduct high intensity, tailored training of technical personnel of two local Organisations from the two Countries
- Facilitate and oversee the collection and analysis of data on commitments in the two Countries
- Support the women’s leadership and accountability for the FP 2020 workshop in Uganda
- Hold three stakeholder meetings in Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia
- Conduct Media outreach in Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia
- Develop guide for Implementers to develop Motion Tracker in additional Countries
This Project Started in August 2016 and ended in August 2017
Samasha was contracted by Hera to perform consultancy tasks on Institutional capacity building project in planning leadership and management in the Uganda Health Sector – West Nile and Rwenzori.
The project was from 30th 10 2017 to 23rd 12 2017
Samasha on hehalf of Engender Health carried out a project on Advocacy to Action in the Districts of Masaka and Hoima.
The project was aimed at accelerating voluntary uptake and use of contraceptives methods in the districts of Hoima and Masaka.
This was a 2 month assignment from July to August 2017
Samasha on Behalf of Marie Stopes International Uganda is carrying out an assessment of District Family Planning Days implemented by MSIU under the TFP project with the aim of assessing the performance of the campaign and identify key lessons learned for the current and future implementing strategies.
Objectives of the assignment were as follows;
- Assess the performance of MSIU implemented District Family Planning days
- Identify key lessons learnt from implementation of District Family Planning Days
- Undertake a cost-benefit analysis comparing District Family Planning Days and Mobile Outreaches as implemented by MSIU
- Identify and recommend immediate, medium-term and long-term programmatic and policy implications of implementing family planning days and increasing FP services access and delivery in Uganda.
This is a one-month assignment from January –February, 2017
Samasha Medical Foundation is supporting the Government of Uganda Ministry of Health’s (MoH) plan for the replacement of Implanon Classic with Implanon NXT following the manufacturer’s decision to completely phase out production of Implanon Classic in October 2015. Uganda is a beneficiary from a volume-guaranteed price by more than 50% to $8.50 per Unit manufacturer Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) and as a result, the country has seen significant efforts in recent years to increase uptake of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC), especially implants, through scaling up access, demand and trained health worker capacity.
The objectives of the transition plan include the following;
The assignment is for a period of 12 months starting January, 2017- December, 2017