Children who reach their full development potential have greater opportunities to thrive. Our Moments That Matter® (MTM) program partnership enables parents to address children’s cognitive, psychosocial and physical development needs while also equipping communities to support their healthy development. The program’s goal is to ensure children younger than three years old reach the developmental milestones that will help them live healthier and more prosperous lives. MTM leverages the assets of churches with a network of local community and faith leaders and trained early childhood development volunteers. Monthly caregiver group meetings increase the knowledge and skills for protecting children against common preventable illnesses like malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and HIV/AIDS and promote good nutrition. Members of caregiver groups also collectively save, lend and build relationships among each other.
Our integrated programs strive to advance women’s empowerment in all aspects of their lives. We help women access quality health care, especially for pregnant mothers-to-be. Our programs work to ensure that gender perspectives and the goal of gender equality are central to all our activities. We work for the participation of both men and women in all our programs. Program leaders ensure that gender norms are considered as they support caregivers in Moments That Matter®. In our partnership with CMS-Africa, we promote financial literacy and savings among women and youth to help them build financial management skills and access micro-loans to improve their household financial resilience.
ADS-Nyanza promotes resilience to the changing climate through training farmers on crop production and processing, climate-resilient crops, renewable energy, soil and water conservation, livestock production, and food and nutrition. Mentors help their neighbors become better farmers. The program also focuses on economic development through the support of farmers, women, primary caregivers and other groups vulnerable to climate change. Faith leaders and Mothers’ Union members receive training on climate change, gender equity and child protection in relation to agricultural production. Members of savings groups save, access credit and build relationships among each other. Their knowledge and skills help them cope with financial shocks and invest in their health, education and food security.
ADS is assisting households who have been affected by violence and displacement by helping to meet basic needs such as food, clean water and sanitation. ADS also addresses the psychological trauma associated with conflict, particularly among vulnerable groups of women and children.
Following heavy rainfall and severe flooding in April 2024, ADS-MKE collaborated with local churches and leaders to provide cash transfers to flood-affected households. The effort ensures that funds are distributed directly to beneficiaries’ mobile money accounts.
