Following the successes of previous seminars, JOICFP conducted the 5th Reproductive Health (RH) Seminar for NGO Senior Officers, entrusted by JICA, from 29th August to 16th September.

Twelve participants from ten countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America attended to learn about capacity building, specifically toward program and financial sustainability.

The seminar focused on sustainable community-operated RH programs, GO-NGO partnership, and advocacy and resource mobilization. The participants learned about Japan's post-WWII MCH activities, and shared their own experiences with each other.

Field trip

In addition to lectures in Tokyo, a field trip was conducted in Saga prefecture to learn about:

1. Experiences of health promotion and self-sustainable activities by maternal and child health promoters

2. How to promote RH as a part of primary health care

3. How to integrate participatory community health initiatives with public programs

Visits included offices for prefectural and municipal health administration, a community child care support center, observation of an underweight infant and neonatal medical care department at a hospital, and a primary school to learn about health education, including that on HIV/AIDS.

MCH promoters

Meeting with MCH promoters, the participants learned that their activities go beyond MCH and that they bridge gaps between local government and the community. MCH promoters find themselves integrating topics such as HIV/AIDS, abortion, and adolescent sexual and reproductive health into their educational activities, thereby contributing to the overall health of the community.

The participants realized the importance of existing community voluntary groups that work hand-in-hand with local administrative programs. A lot of discussion took place and as a result, nearly all the action plan developed by the participants at the end of the course focused on strategies for community mobilization.

Meeting with MCH promoters

Advocacy

This 5th seminar placed greater emphasis on advocacy, meeting the changing demands of NGO needs. Prior to a session on effective advocacy, the participants developed a structure of how advocacy can be conducted, considering topics such as issues to be addressed, target audience, and data collection. It was realized that there are many variables, for example, country and cultural differences, and national and local level approaches.

However, despite the variables in conducting advocacy it is a critical part of program sustainability and must be effectively carried out.

Group meeting

Experience sharing

'JICA net' is a worldwide teleconferencing system, and the seminar participants used it to speak with previous seminar members, staff from YKB Indonesia (an Indonesian NGO in RH), and the two parties shared experiences with each other. YKB explained how it has been particularly successful in networking and private sector partnership, as well as how it has contributed to the health of the community at large.

The seminar participants were particularly encouraged by YKB's experience, seeing not only the importance of networking and advocacy in sustainability, but also that what they had learned on the seminar was being successfully applied at the community level in a developing country.

YKB's clinic in Jakarta