Nepal Assessment of the Ghar Ghar Maa Swaasthya (GGMS) Project

The USAID/Nepal Health Office requested that the Sustaining Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS) Plus project assess the Ghar Ghar Maa Swaasthya (GGMS) project, a cooperative agreement funded by USAID and implemented by the Nepal CRS Company (CRS) since May 2010. Since its inception in 1976, CRS has been the key social marketing partner to the Ministry of Health and Population and the leading non-state supplier of family planning products in Nepal. CRS has benefited from continuous support from USAID for over 40 years both through direct funding to CRS and through sub-agreements with international non-governmental organizations.

The assessment found that CRS is achieving key GGMS objectives but higher-level goals for health impact and institutional development will likely fall short of expectations. In addition, GGMS is likely having a negative impact on the commercial health product market and a modest positive impact on service delivery in the private sector. The assessment provided several recommendations to improve GGMs performance across project design and key interventions, including applying total market approach principles, investing more in behavior change communication, and promoting greater private sector engagement by the public sector.