District activists win hearts for the MamaYe campaign

This case study is part of our book, MamaYe Evidence for Action Stories of Change: Selected Case Studies. Through illustrative case studies, we describe how Evidence for Action - MamaYe has strategically combined evidence with advocacy and accountability activities in
six countries, across Africa, and globally.

In this case study (no.13), we describe an example of decision-makers re-allocating or increasing resources to improve quality of care for women and babies as a result of our activities.

In Sierra Leone, the network of MamaYe lead activists has mobilised many associations and individual citizens to take personal and political action for maternal health, causing councils and district health management teams to address gaps, such as purifying a health facility’s
contaminated well.

Another learning in this case study has been the conditions under which advocacy leads to a change in perception in the general public that maternal and newborn survival is an important and achievable goal, as well as greater political will towards that goal.

Dissemination of health information, reframing the issue of maternal health towards hope and change, and mobilising activists from the general population greatly depends on messages being shared in a way that is sensitive to local cultural understandings.

That is why Sierra Leone’s district activists have succeeded in driving social change: they have all involved the initial mobilisation of a small number of super-activists who have in turn mobilised others. Building a MamaYe movement has been even more successful when
activists are recruited as members of existing associations such as unions, which come with an established way of working and strong social ties.