State Level Annual State-Civil Society Dialogue in Lucknow on International Day of Action on Women’s Health
Each year since 2004, SAHAYOG has brought together grassroots women leaders, partner NGO staff, government officials, health workers and the media on May 28th for a Civil Society Dialogue to mark the International Day of Action on Women’s Health and to provide a platform on which community women can share their experiences with seeking and receiving maternal health services, demand their rights, and make recommendations to policymakers about how to improve these services. The main issues of focus in the last 5 years have been: - 2004 - Demand for Improved community services
- 2005 – Implementation of the government order on maternal death audit
- 2006 – Culmination of 3-month campaign and handing over 30,000 signatures to the minister demanding improved maternal health services
- 2007 – Implementation of National Maternity Benefit Act, JSY and Provision of Free Institutional Delivery Services
- 2008 – Community Audit of Nutrition Entitlements and Implementation of JSY
Civil Society Dialogue on One Year Anniversary of NRHM
On 12 April, 2006, Healthwatch Forum and partner organisations under the “Puri Nagrik, Pura Haq” campaign organised a Civil Society Dialogue to mark the one year anniversary of the introduction of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). Community Women from 8 districts of U.P. gathered to share their experiences on the ASHA selection process and the implementation of NRHM. Although NRHM was launched with the objective of improving maternal health services and lowering maternal deaths, these women’s shared experiences showed that the ASHA selection process is not proceeding as planned, and NRHM has not done what it promised to improve maternal health for India’s poor and Dalit women. Dr. L.B. Prasad, Director General of Health and Family Welfare, Government of U.P., attended as Chief Guest. Dr. Prasad promised to take this feedback to the governing body meeting of State NRHM and ask the Chief Secretary to issue a Government Order. As follow-up to the dialogue, partner NGOs decided to continue monitoring NRHM and held another dialogue in September 2006.
National Level
Civil Society Meeting on Maternal Mortality in India with Paul Hunt, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health
Paul Hunt, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, visited India between November 22nd and December 3, 2007 to learn about and report on the issue of maternal mortality. In order to share information about the status of maternal health and maternal mortality in other states of India, Healthwatch Forum, in partnership with WHRAP, CHSJ, the Coalition on Maternal Neonatal Health and Safe Abortion, and several other organizations convened a Civil Society Meeting with the Special Rapporteur and his team. The meeting, which was held on 1 December, 2007 in Delhi, brought together over 35 advocates, researchers and experts working on the issue of maternal health and maternal mortality across India. In addition, materials created for this meeting included input from over 50 civil society members working on maternal health in India. During the meeting, civil society representatives from eight states, including 4 lower-performing and 4 better-performing, gave presentations on the situation of maternal health and maternal mortality at the state level. There were also three thematic presentations and a list of recommendations for reducing maternal mortality and improving maternal health in India. For more information about this event, read the report in on the Resources page. Voices from the Ground
SAHAYOG, along with partners CHETNA and CHSJ, organised national policy dialogues among community women, the media, the Planning Commission (GOI), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (GOI), UN agencies and other networks. The event, called “Voices from the Ground,” was held in Delhi from 27-29 December, 2005 and was attended by 100 participants (not counting the media) from 8 states of India and international partners from ARROW, Malaysia. North Zonal Preparatory Meeting for IWHM
In April 2005, SAHAYOG organised the North Zonal regional consultation for the 10th International Women’s Health Conference. The consultation was attended by 100 participants from five states. This was preceded by a Press Conference to launch the event that was attended by 22 media persons and gained considerable media interest in the event. | | |
