As part of the Community-oriented Reproductive Health Project launched in June 2005 in Myanmar under the joint collaboration of the Myanmar Department of Health (DOH), JICA and JOICFP, a series of Project Cycle Management (PCM) Workshops were held during August 18th to 31st.

A Japanese expert on PCM, was dispatched to organize the workshops together with DOH representatives and a JOICFP team in Myanmar.

The workshops were organized as the first step in initiating activities at the township level following workshops conducted as part of the preliminary study mission in July 2004 for the pre-project assessment, the outcomes of which formed the basis of the PDM of this current project.

Workshop objectives

(1) To encourage participants from each of the project townships, Kyaukme and Naungcho in Northern Shan State, to enhance their ownership of the project

(2) To share the visions of the project among the stakeholders and participants

(3) To grasp the contents of the PDM formulated by last year's workshops

(4) To exchange their opinions

(5) To reflect and incorporate the results of this workshop to develop project activities, particularly at the community level

Problem analysis at the PCM workshop
in Mandalay held for Naungcho Township

A workshop at the central level instructed key DOH personnel on JICA's PCM methods.

Township level workshop participants analyzed and discussed various project activities in the PDM, especially those related to community actions and participation. These included:

• Establishing and managing a Township Working Group (TWG)
• Organizing linkages between health workers and the community for early detection of high-risk pregnancy
• Establishing an effective referral system for high-risk cases
• Determining factors that hinder IEC/BCC activities and how to counter them

All the participants actively took part in the workshops and action plans were produced for project implementation.

District medical officer,
central level medical officer
from DOH, and Takaaki Hirakawa, Japanese
expert on PCM take part in group discussions
at the Mandalay PCM workshop held
for Kyaukme Township

Recommendations

• Because some people in the townships do not speak the Myanmar language, speaking Shan instead, it was recommended that educational materials and textbooks be prepared in both languages.
• In order to assist with sustainability of TWGs, possible fund raising and income generating activities need to be determined.
• Women living in remote areas do not receive sufficient antenatal care, so strategies to deliver sufficient care must be developed.
• Furthermore, women also do not receive sufficient antenatal care because of lack of support from husbands, pressures of work, and unsupportive traditional beliefs. It is therefore urgent that IEC/BCC activities take place to increase knowledge and understanding on RH among all community people.

Objective tree based on consensus from all participants

The outcomes of the PCM workshops were reflected in the review of PDM and the Plan of Operations in the Planning Meeting, conducted immediately after on September 1st and 2nd among the representatives from DOH, Kyaukme and Naungcho Townships, Northern Shan Health Department, and JOICFP.