Since May 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO), through its headquarters, regional and country office teams, has supported 19 countries in five WHO Regions to raise the profile of and commitment to maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and ageing (MNCAAH) through an Initiative on mitigating the indirect impacts of COVID-19 on MNCAAH services. The goal was to ensure that during the response to COVID-19, actions would be taken to mitigate indirect effects on MNCAAH due to disruptions to service provision and use.

This report covers Phase I of the Initiative, from May 2020 to February 2021. Section A of the report presents a synthesis of information across the 19 countries, including lessons learned. Section B includes more detailed individual country information, drawn directly from country Thematic Working Group (TWG) and national consultant reports, country health information management system (HMIS) data, research publications and surveys that describe the impact of COVID-19 on MNCAAH services.