Foundations for Health and Empowerment (F4HE)

Duration: 2020-2027

Location: Afghanistan, India, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan 

Reach: 1.08 million people (612,875F 466,873 M) 

Budget: $67.3 million (Global Affairs Canada: $49 million, AKFC: $18.3 million) 

Description: 

Foundations for Health and Empowerment (F4HE) aims to improve the health and wellbeing, and enhance the equitable development and empowerment, of women, girls, their families, and their communities.  

This initiative is made up of four integrated components: 

Foundations for Health (F4H) 

The double burden of infectious and non-communicable diseases poses a growing challenge to healthcare systems in the developing world. F4H will improve maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health; augment sexual and reproductive health services; and address increases in non-communicable diseases, by strengthening systems to respond to this double burden in the project’s geographies.  It will focus on a broad range of sexual and reproductive health and rights issues, particularly for adolescents, and select non-communicable diseases such as cervical and breast cancer, mental health, and nutrition (particularly for women and adolescent girls), to mitigate inter-generational cycles of poor health outcomes.  

Foundations for Children (F4C) 

A child’s early years set the stage for all future growth. Under F4C, early childhood development programming will be integrated with health programming to enable parents, caregivers, and healthcare providers to support and promote holistic child development, ensuring the next generation can thrive socially, emotionally, cognitively, and physically.  

Advancing Gender Equality through Civil Society (AGECS) 

Women, adolescents, and young children often lack access to the knowledge, services, and support that they need to protect and promote their health, including the engagement of men as supportive partners and parents in addressing these issues. By further developing the capacity of women- and adolescent-led civil society groups to become more engaged in the health needs of their communities, AGECS will enhance the ability of community structures, institutions, and leaders to respond to gender and social barriers and foster inclusive governance. 

Advancing Canadian Champions for Development (ACCD) 

Canadians have a critical role to play in international development, as global citizens. ACCD will advance Canadians’ knowledge and awareness of issues related to delivering quality health care in Central Asia – alongside a range of other issues and themes in global development – through a collection of signature initiatives that offer Canadians a pathway towards enriched levels of engagement and commitment. 

Through these interrelated components, F4HE will:  

  • Strengthen the delivery of quality, gender-responsive, and inclusive services to improve maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health; sexual and reproductive health; and early childhood development. 
  • Reduce gender and social barriers to utilization and uptake of these services. 
  • Engage international and Canadian stakeholders in gender-sensitive and evidence-based research, dialogue, and development programming.  

Learn more:
F4HE: Advancing Gender Equality through Civil Society: Subprojects Overview

 

Results:

Progress Update: 2023