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In one remote district in Ivory Coast, men are going back to school. Their studies are part of a UN-backed project dubbed 'the school for husbands' and designed to save the lives of women and children.

The idea is to teach decision makers – the men – about the importance of family planning, check-ups, and pre-natal care for their wives. The aim is to help women and also improve general welfare in farming villages where food is scarce and incomes are dependent on the weather and good fortune.

Lucy Ash hears stories from the schools for husbands and finds out why Ivory Coast's health system is struggling to recover from the post-election crisis three years ago, even as the country's economy roars ahead.

Producer: Mike Wendling

(Image: Pupils from the School for Husbands in Sakassou – a village in the Savannah region of the Ivory Coast. They have just voted to clean their houses and to create a fund to send pregnant wives to hospital to give birth. Â鶹Éç Copyright)