Meghalaya in Focus: Participatory Stakeholder Consultation to Advance SDR Learnings

The Government of Meghalaya, a state in Northeastern India, is undertaking ambitious reforms in maternal and neonatal health aimed at reducing mortality and improving outcomes for mothers and newborns at scale. Grounded in SDR principles and supported by a World Bank Health Systems Strengthening investment, these efforts include upgrades of Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEMONC) facilities, specialized obstetric training for generalist providers, the establishment of transit homes, provision of free and flexible transportation, short-term specialist trainings, and the use of digital tracking mechanisms.

To support and learn from this pioneering work, the World Bank is conducting a process evaluation of Meghalaya’s reforms. Using a theory-driven approach, the evaluation integrates quantitative analysis of program and secondary data with qualitative insights from the field.

On July 4, the Government of Meghalaya and the World Bank jointly convened a participatory stakeholder consultation to review preliminary findings of the evaluation. The consultation brought together government leaders, health officials, and development partners to examine early insights, explore potential explanations, and map the way forward.

The consultations highlighted early findings of the reform, including significant reductions in early neonatal mortality and increasing facility childbirth rates, especially at CEmONC facilities. The results also show that both providers and patients, especially those living in rural and remote areas, value integrated interventions addressing access and quality challenges. These findings will aid the Government of Meghalaya to refine future strategies and make evidence-informed course corrections to maximize the impact of the state’s extensive investments in maternal and newborn health. 

Additional results and learnings will be shared in a forthcoming SDR CoP webinar.