VFM support for MNCH2

The Project

The Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH2) programme in Nigeria was a five-year DFID (now FCDO) funded programme delivering maternal, newborn and child health interventions. The programme aimed to strengthen health system coordination through improved health sector planning and financing, in six states in northern Nigeria. MNCH2 worked with community, organizations, local and state government, health practitioners, and more to improve the lives of women, children and families.

During inception, LAMP developed a value for money (VFM) strategy which set out the metrics and evidence to measure and monitor VFM. It was based on the MNCH2 results framework and covered economy, efficiency, effectiveness, equity and sustainability throughout the programme cycle.

LAMP designed and implemented a value for money approach within MNCH2, which included building up the capability of the programme team and developing a VFM plan to ensure objectives were met. Costs were benchmarked from data available from previous DFID Health projects such as PATHS2 and PRINNN-MNCH. The capacity of the technical and operational staff across the states and HQs was built not only to understand the practical aspect of VFM but to embed VFM considerations in daily operations of MNCH2. LAMP developed data collection tools to help states to accurately capture information about cost savings, government contributions and unit costs of workshops and training.

Through quarterly and annual reviews, LAMP supported MNCH2 monitoring and reporting at state level, to measure efficiency of the programme and provided recommendations to maximise use of resources and drive continuous improvement year on year.