Case Study 3 :
A Gender Balanced Approach, Kailali
District
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In
Ward No. 5 of Masuriya Village Development Committee (VDC) in Kailali
district, Nepal, the Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs)
felt that they had failed to convince community members of the
benefits of creating mothers' groups, developing emergency health
funds or having transport schemes to support women needing to get
to emergency obstetric care (EmOC) services in the towns. The staff
of the Nepal Safer Motherhood Project (NSMP) suggested that the
FCHVs should look again at the involvement of men.
From then on, things began to progress. Men started to help
to run the mothers' group meetings alongside the FCHVs. They
gave advice on managing emergency heath funds and record keeping.
They helped to disseminate safe motherhood messages, including
by participating in street dramas and song competitions. They
also declared their willingness to help in obstetric emergencies,
including by transporting women to health centres - something
that had rarely been done before.
By harnessing the influence and abilities of the men, the mothers'
group has now written its own constitution and registered at
the District Administration Office and Social Welfare Council
- which makes it eligible to receive external donations. The
group is working well and the emergency health fund scheme now
gives loans for both EmOC (Emergency Obstetric care) and income-generating
activities in the community. |
