Under the leadership of H.E. the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Salomón Nguema Owono, the Steering Committee of the Project “Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction in Bioko Norte and Kie Ntem” has met on 31 January 2018, to set up the main strategic guidelines for 2018.

In this committee chaired by H.E. the Minister of Health, the UNFPA Resident Representative, Mr. Mady Biaye, and the Noble Energy Social Responsibility Manager, Mr. Ken Mcghee, participated as vice-presidents.

This important meeting took place in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare headquarters, in Malabo, capital city. The Health Infrastructures Director-General, the Hospitals’ Coordinator Director-General, as well as the Noble Energy social projects coordinator, and the UNFPA technical team also participated in the meeting.

The Project Coordinator, Mrs. Maria Teixeira, has presented the main 2017 achievements, and some technical recommendations for the Steering Committee deliberation.

After the presentation, H.E. the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare congratulated UNFPA for the good work, and asked the company Noble Energy to continue supporting the country with important projects as this one.

After the technical discussion, the Committee has decided that the essential medicines and Family Planning commodities, which will be brought to the country in the framework of the Project, should be free of charge to the end-users. The Committee also approved the decision to buy a mobile clinic and to adopt a targeted strategy for Kie Ntem, in order to tackle the specific problems of the Province population.

The Project Steering Committee is in charge of ensuring that the aim, roadmap and goals of the Project are reflected in the Project operational process. The Committee should also ensure that the sustainability is a cornerstone of the Project implementation.