To accelerate efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths by 2030, the World Health Organization (WHO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in partnership with a wide array of partners—ministries of health, health care professionals and providers, and other bilateral and multilateral development partners—launched the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (Quality of Care Network/QED). The QED Network brings pilot countries together to test and institutionalize best practices and capture learning and documentation related to improving quality of care for maternal and newborn health.

The Network was officially launched in February 2017 during a meeting with pilot country delegations and development partners in Malawi to secure government commitment, share best practices for improving quality of care, agree on an evidence-based framework for coordinated actions, and to articulate the Network’s added value. Participants developed draft country roadmaps for improving Quality of Care by considering local country contexts, including existing quality improvement initiatives in their health sectors.

In December 2017, the Network convened again to hold a workshop in Tanzania entitled “From Roadmaps into Implementation: Operationalizing Quality Improvement Activities in Network Countries.”  Delegations from Bangladesh, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania, Sierra Leone (recent addition) and an observer delegation from Kenya were present. The objectives were to share progress and lessons learned related to implementation frameworks and readiness to implement quality improvement operations at district and facility levels. Additionally, attendees discussed monitoring plans and indicator development, implementation research, creating a learning network, and the engagement of civil society and advocacy. The workshop concluded with country-specific 2018 prioritized implementation milestones and identified country-specific technical assistance needs.