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WONDER Foundation
Our mission is to empower women, girls and their community through access to quality education so that they can exit poverty for good. We are working, with our women-led local partners, towards a future where women and girls are empowered to make informed life choices and lead the way in their own personal development.
Idea for research
Idea for research
Our partners in DR Congo (Kinshasa) are seeking to introduce the first 4-year midwifery training programme in the country (Africa's third most populous, and with some of the continent's lowest maternal and infant health). It is hard to explain why degree-level midwifery is needed. Many people assume that lower levels of training are sufficient, in a country with such a deficit of trained staff whilst our partners on the ground are clear that this level is needed. Many Congolese women have experienced sexual violence and may have complex deliveries. The country also needs midwives who can train and supervise others, where many clinics currently are nurse-led (due to lack of other trained personel), and mothers live far from clinics, which may also be low resourced.

We understand that Morocco and Djibouti have recently moved to degree-level midwifery training, with strong results, starting with a similar range of challenges to those currently seen in DRC. We would like to better understand the impact of these programmes and understand how this affects the case for 4-year, degree-level training in DRC>
Impact of idea
This will feed into our understanding of why this development of our partner project is so crucial. We will be able to better explain the need to potential funders and other stakeholders, and to inform our strategic planning for this project.

We would aim to publish a summary of your work on online in English and French (the local language).

If you have any existing data or information you would like included in a project, please tell us what kind of data these are

Data generated through this idea

Application process
Application criteria
- French language (Arabic would be a plus as both Morocco and Djibouti speak Arabic).
- Interest in Public Health, Medicine, Health Systems, Education or similar
- Curious mind and open to the adventure of looking for information that is hard to find. Understanding that the 'obvious' statistics and data in this region need scrutinising for accuracy and timeliness.
Is this project fully accessible to students with the disabilities?
Yes
Disabilities information
It would be remote.