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September 2007 - March 2008 |
Introduction
The pilot project was initiated in September 2007, with the aim of creating Child and Woman Friendly Communities (CWFCs), focussing on improving education, protection, health and nutrition indicators. The priority goals within five years are:
- To halve rates of child malnutrition in children aged three
- To halve the number of children not enrolled and attending school at the age of six
CINI has longstanding health and nutrition +programmes in some areas of West Bengal, and education and protection programmes in others. Under the Child and Woman Friendly Communities approach, CINI is ensuring that all these strands of CINI's work are present in the same areas. The plan is to launch communities in an upward, positively reinforcing spiral, whereby better nourished children are healthier and therefore better able to concentrate in school and able to stand up for their rights. There is plentiful evidence that better educated women have better nourished and healthier children. Related issues such as gender, social, political and economic inclusion, as well as cultural practices, have also been considered during the programme's design.
The CWFC approach is to work with communities and not just for them; to work with the existing services and resources available rather than setting up parallel systems of delivery; and to bring the community and the service providers closer together by working with both groups. The project is being implemented in one rural and one urban site in West Bengal. The situations in the rural and in the urban sites are quite different; therefore the report has accordingly been divided into two sections:
Section I: Rural site
Patra G.P, Diamond Harbour, Bishnupur II, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal has a total population of 23,526. The literacy rate at 53.85% is very poor, and the female literacy rate is even lower, at 41.33%. The majority of households in the area are dependent on agricultural labour. Many are part-time or casual workers . Poverty and limited awareness about available services continue to keep many of these families vulnerable and powerless.
Project update - the first six months
A base-line study has been conducted. The project team has been recruited and trained. The stakeholders have been oriented on the concept and methodology of CWFC, including the importance of participatory planning for long-term project sustainability. All the groups were brought together for a joint sensitisation session and the many players in the project reached a common understanding. At various meetings, the gradual shift of CINI's role from that of a service provider to a facilitator was explained. Also, the role of the community, the local government members and other key stakeholders were discussed.
The next step was to bring stakeholders together within the existing forums and evolve a collective responsibility for the area which also involved framing of roles and responsibilities and jointly developing a plan of action for identification of issues, capacity building on the education, protection, health and nutrition framework and establish partnership agreements between the community and service providers.
The process of collectivisation was successfully conducted, bringing together the members of women's self help groups, members of local government and CINI staff. During these meetings, emphasis was placed on education, protection, health and nutrition issues of concern in the community, including:
- Literacy rates
- Sanitation
- Percentage of childbirths conducted in hospital or by a trained person in the community
- Immunisation rates
- Trafficking of women and children
- Levels of domestic violence and the prevalence of gender discrimination
Maps were also drawn up of the resources and services that are currently available in order to avoid duplication and maximise opportunities for improved linkages between services.
The project was officially inaugurated at a meeting attended by representatives from many government departments and the community. This was important in order to raise community awareness of the project and to secure the public commitment of government officials to provide support for the proposed plan.
Challenges faced
- Keeping aside the political interest of the various stakeholders involved is difficult. The process of collective analysis had to be delayed due to the upcoming Panchayat elections and the various preparatory activities associated with it.
- Despite participation in various meetings, it was found that a lot of community stakeholders were hesitant to actively undertake any initiative or roles and responsibilities under CWFC. The common belief that it would be an additional responsibility. Through intensive interactions on a one to one basis, CINI staff are trying to explain how the project makes their task easier and more effective through synergy between the various systems and decentralising the process.
Key findings
- The sensitisation process that involved all the sections of the community proved helpful in creating greater understanding of the CWFC concept across various sections of the community along with making this approach more holistic.
- It was also realised that new projects should be undertaken in areas in which CINI has already worked and has established rapport with various community stakeholders. It was relatively easy to organise various meetings and reach out to different sections of the community, as CINI had worked in Diamond Harbour previously and had interacted with various stakeholders.
Section II: Urban site
Shibtala, Ward 65, Borough VIII, Kolkata is a slum with a population of approximately 5,000. Ninety-five percent of the slum's inhabitants are Muslim and five percent are Hindu. Slum dwellers belong to lower and lower-middle income groups and include Bengali, Hindi and Urdu speakers.
Project update - the first six months
The project team has been recruited and trained. At Shibtala, the key community stakeholders, i.e. community leaders, service providers, representatives from local self-government have been identified. Sensitisation meetings have been successfully conducted with the different stakeholders. The councillor of Ward 65, representatives of the Ward Health Unit, representatives from government schools, staff of the local Police Station, the local club members, religious leaders and key community decision makers were included in the process. The concept of CWFC, and the role of the community as the key agent of change were discussed. From the sensitisation meetings, the common need to strengthen linkages and sharing among all the government and non-government service providers emerged.
The Steering Committee was formed comprising key community heads, representatives from local government bodies as well as CINI representatives. The Steering Committee took the next step towards identifying the needs of the community and the tools to be utilised in the process. The Committee focused on the need to conduct an assessment study of the urban site of the project area where the major community issues would emerge. It was decided that the study would be qualitative in nature, with focus group discussions being the main tool.
In order to conduct these discussions, smaller groups of community members were trained in conducting focus group discussions, in documenting the process, and in presenting the findings to the rest of the community. The focus group work was conducted with approximately 130 adults and 60 school children, to represent a cross section of the local community.
Documentation and collective analysis
Findings of all the focus group discussions were documented by the group members in their language of convenience (Hindi/Bengali/Urdu) for sharing in a larger meeting.
Key challenges
- The process of sensitisation took longer than expected due to local political and social problems. Collective Analysis by the community members to identify the needs of the community also took a long time owing to the national and religious holidays
- Some of the focus group findings and prioritisation of the issues by the Committee members did not match with proposed education, protection, health and nutrition activities. In such a case it was decided that CINI would act as a referral unit, identifying other organisations that might be able to help with these issues
Key findings
- Judgmental statements should be avoided. Economic and political issues should be handled tactfully. The same also applies to various adolescent health related issues
- As the whole process has to be conducted by the committee members in their local language, the documentation should be done in the language used by the focus group instead of the dominant language (which in this state is Bengali), in order to get an accurate picture of the findings
- It is better to keep away from controversial issues until levels of trust have been built up
Forthcoming activities over the next reporting period: rural and urban
- Development of a facilitation guide
- Design and printing of handouts and other resource materials
- Formulation of a monitoring and evaluation framework
- Training on education, protection, health and nutrition issues at the field level
- Regular interaction and meetings with communities, service providers and government bodies to ensure that the agreed plans are implemented according to agreed standards and timelines
NB: We do not currently have photos specifically from this field site, but this is a picture from a neighbouring site of a local self-help group member local identifying needs and also services and resources which already exist in the area.
See here for a printable version of this report (Word document)
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