Since 2013, UNICEF’s Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) has facilitated cross-country learning exchanges to take advantage of the considerable experience, knowledge and innovation relating to maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (MNCAH) available within the region. Early exchanges included teams from Afghanistan visiting India to learn about quality of care and real time monitoring in newborn care facilities, Afghanistan visiting Nepal to learn about appreciative inquiry approaches to improve demand for MNCH services, and a team from Afghanistan visiting Sri Lanka to learn about the Maternal and Perinatal Death Review System.
Building on these successes, UNICEF ROSA initiated the ‘South 2 South Collaboration for Health’ (S2S) in 2015 to enhance collaboration and learning exchanges among professionals working to improve MNCAH in South Asia. Exchange visits that year included Bangladesh visiting India to learn about kangaroo mother care, and Sri Lanka visiting India to learn about real-time monitoring. In collaboration with UNICEF Sri Lanka, a high performing country in the region, a S2S Coordinator was appointed to oversee activities.
