It is now 15 years since Save the Children first arrived in the coastal areas of Puntland. When we first arrived in Puntland, the main objective was to respond to the Tsunami disaster that hit many countries in eastern regions of Somalia in 2004. The Tsunami is known by many because of its disastrous impact in Indonesia. However, the disaster also impacted the horn of Africa, in particular, coastal areas in eastern Somalia. Fifteen years later, Save the Children is pleased to have built a close relationship with communities, civil society, and government to advocate children’s rights in Puntland and general in Somalia.

Community Health and Nutrition through local Governance and Empowerment (CHANGE) programme is long term health programme that the United Kingdom Government funds under its Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) through a consortium of four international Non-Governmental Organisations. In Puntland, Population Services International partners Save the Children International to implement the programme. Save the Children International implements the programme in the Karkaar region of Puntland state of Somalia and is one of our flagship health programmes in Somalia.

Over the years, with the support of our generous donor, the UK government, Save the Children and Population Service International, provided health services to children in the Karkar region of Puntland. Through this programme, a total of 990,057 people benefited the outpatient consultation and treatment, including 39% (390,154) under-five children and 39% (385,966) women of reproductive age. The average utilization rate of outpatient consultation and treatment throughout the project was 0.89 visits per person per year. We have also helped a total of 54,445 under one-year children got their third shot of the pentavalent vaccine, protected against deadly diseases.

The programme also helped build governance and leadership capacity of the Ministry of Health in Puntland. It offered capacity building to the Regional Health Office staff members and health workers at the facility level. Under this programme, the government has increased its oversight and engagement in the health sector. At the same time, the programme design is widely recognized as a model that can be replicated in other regions. The programme has supported the MOHs in each zone to manage the Essential Package of Health Services.

This photo and storybook present the programme achievements, lessons learned, figures, and testimonies from communities in Karkar. These include testimonies from mothers who gave birth at health facilities under the Community Health and Nutrition through the Local Governance and Empowerment (CHANGE) programme. We thank our donors, the communities in the Karkar region, the government and our partner Population Services International for their commitment to successfully implement this programme in Puntland.