Fonds Muskoka for Women and Child Health Multi-Partner Trust Fund 

Objectives

Fund Scope

The Muskoka Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health Multi-Partner Trust Fund (Muskoka-WCH-MPTF) is a regional multi-agency financing mechanism dedicated to improving the health, nutrition, rights and gender equality of women, mothers, newborns, children, adolescents and young people in West and Central Africa.

Building on over 15 years of implementation and more than EUR 203 million invested by France through the Muskoka Mechanism, the Muskoka Fund leverages the complementary mandates of UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women and WHO to accelerate progress towards SDGs 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.7, 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3.

Phase I (2026–2030) will initially focus on Benin, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal and Togo, with the possibility of expansion to additional countries.

Theory of Change / Strategic Framework

Vision: Ensuring that mothers, newborns, children, adolescents and young people live in optimal health and well-being.

Impact: Accelerated progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to maternal, newborn, child, adolescent and youth health, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), nutrition, and the well-being of women, children and young people.

Results Pathway

The Fund’s theory of change is based on three mutually reinforcing outcomes:

Outcome 1 – Resilient Health Systems

• Strengthen health system performance and resilience, including at community level.
• Improve availability, accessibility and quality of integrated RMNCAH-NUT services.
• Strengthen health information systems, referral mechanisms and crisis preparedness.

Outcome 2 – Enabling Environment

• Support evidence-based laws, policies, strategies and governance frameworks.
• Strengthen intersectoral collaboration and partnerships.
• Enhance advocacy, coordination and domestic resource mobilization.

Outcome 3 – Demand, Rights and Empowerment

• Transform harmful social norms and behaviours.
• Promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Strengthen prevention and response to gender-based violence.
• Improve access to SRHR information, services and decision-making power for women, girls and youth.

Implementation is guided by four operational strategies:

• Integrated and multisectoral programming;
• Alignment and convergence of priority interventions;
• Strengthening strategic partnerships;
• Advocacy for increased and better-targeted investments in RMNCAH-NUT.

Financing Streams

The Muskoka-WCH-MPTF operates as a pooled financing mechanism managed through the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTFO).

Resources are invested through:

• Country-level programmes aligned with national priorities and jointly implemented by UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women and WHO
• Regional initiatives supporting policy development, innovation, research, advocacy, monitoring and knowledge management
• Health systems strengthening, including workforce capacity, essential commodities, service delivery and community systems
• Gender equality, adolescent health, SRHR and nutrition interventions
• Partnerships, communication, resource mobilization and evidence generation

The Fund seeks diversified financing from governments, philanthropic organizations, private-sector partners and other contributors, while promoting multi-year, flexible and pooled funding to maximize impact, efficiency, country ownership and sustainability.

Governance

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Board
The Steering Committee (COPIL) serves as the Fund’s governing body and provides overall strategic oversight. It reviews and approves key decisions related to Fund priorities, resource allocation, performance, and strategic direction.

Steering Committee
The Technical Committee (COTECH) supports the Steering Committee by providing technical oversight and coordination. It reviews programme proposals, workplans and results, and facilitates collaboration among participating organizations and partners.

Secretariat
The Secretariat supports the governance and day-to-day management of the Fund. It coordinates planning, monitoring, reporting, communication, advocacy, partnership development and resource mobilization, and serves as the main coordination mechanism between governance bodies, participating organizations and the Administrative Agent.

Participating Organizations
Participating United Nations Organizations develop project and programme proposals, and report on implementation and financial processes and outcomes. Each Participating Organization assumes full programmatic and financial accountability for funds disbursed to it by the Administrative Agent.  

Administrative Agent
Recipient Organizations receive funds through the Administrative Agent, the MPTF Office. The Administrative Agent is responsible for the receipt, administration and management of contributions from donors, disbursement of funds to Recipient Organizations, and consolidation and dissemination of progress reports to donors. 

Projects

Fonds Muskoka for Women and Child Health Multi-Partner Trust Fund

Fonds Muskoka for Women and Child Health Multi-Partner Trust Fund is currently supporting count_projects ongoing projectscount_globalInterregional and count_countries country-specific. This table shows the most recently approved ongoing projects.

All project financial information can be found in the Financials section, including delivery analysis by organization, theme and project; project financial status by country and by theme.

Fonds Muskoka for Women and Child Health Multi-Partner Trust Fund

Results

The Muskoka Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health Multi-Partner Trust Fund (Muskoka-WCH-MPTF) applies a results-based management approach grounded in the Muskoka Strategy 3.0 and a common results framework. Interventions are jointly planned and implemented by participating UN organizations at regional and country levels through integrated, multi-sectoral workplans aligned with national priorities and the global RMNCAH-NUT agenda.

Results are monitored against a set of harmonized Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) linked to the Fund’s three outcomes: (i) strengthened health system performance and resilience; (ii) a favorable environment for health, nutrition and well-being; and (iii) increased demand for services and strengthened rights of women and adolescent girls. The Fund combines output, outcome and SDG-level indicators to track progress and demonstrate contribution to national and regional development goals.

Quarterly joint monitoring reviews assess programmatic progress, financial performance, implementation bottlenecks and corrective actions. Annual programmatic and financial reporting is complemented by common dashboards, harmonized reporting tools, knowledge-sharing mechanisms and regular performance reviews. Monitoring and evaluation are conducted jointly by participating organizations, with technical support from the Secretariat.

Independent evaluations are planned at mid-term and at the end of Phase I, subject to funding availability, in line with United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) standards. Evaluation findings and recommendations are systematically used to strengthen performance, accountability, learning and adaptive management throughout the Fund’s implementation cycle.

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