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Actions for Accountability Learning Visit to India for Grantees of MacArthur
Foundation from Nigeria
New Delhi (15-16 November 2012)
Summary of Proceedings
Centre for Health and Social Justice
Basement of Young Women Hostel No. 2,Near Bank of India, Avenue 21, G
Block, Saket, New Delhi – 110017
Telephone +91-11-26535203.www.chsj.org
Content
Introduction 3
Summary of the proceedings of the two days workshop 3-6
Conclusion
6-7
Annexure I: Names of the Resource Persons 8-10
Annexure II: Name of the Participants 11-13
Annexure II: Photo Gallery 14
Introduction
Round Table on Civil Society participation: The present report documents the first phase of the Nigeria exchange learning visit on Actions for Accountability at New Delhi, India on 15-16 November 2012. Eminent practitioners, lawyers, health activists shared their experiences through small round table discussions and presentations on policy, governance and accountability. The two days workshop was envisaged to achieve the following objectives:
To provide facilitated learning opportunity for grantees and partners of the MacArthur Foundation in Nigeria:
To learn about a variety of accountability initiatives being undertaken by civil society in India;
To interact with practitioners adopting different methods of accountability, including field-based practitioners.
Contribute to the development of institutional and contextual information and knowledge based on accountability initiatives and civil society participation in improving accountability in Health in India.
Summary of the proceedings of the two days workshop The focus of day I was to introduce the participants to civil society participation and public policy and governance in India. There were nine speakers and they spoke on a range of issues relating to the history and evolution of civil society participation in India and the role of civil society in strengthening the system of accountability of the government. Amitabh Behar from National Foundation for India briefly spoke on the evolution of civil society and traced the evolution of civil society movement in India. The history of the civil society was summarized as follows: From 1947 until 1970s Indian politics faced no serious challenge from civil society as everybody was busy in nation building. Once the early dream of nation building was shattered, the political system faced serious challenges. Two of the major challenge faced during the 70s was the Maoist/Naxal movement and the student movements against emergency. During the 80s and 90s civil society started engaging with the state through social movements like feminist movement, environmental movements, non-farm labor movements, etc. Amitabh stressed the fact and concluded that currently citizens have been mobilised and organised and political action is possible; India currently could be defined as a “functioning anarchy.” Subrat Das of Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability spoke on the growing recognition on the need for greater involvement of civil society organisations to strengthen the system of accountability of the government. Subrat described the change in the notion
of governance as the focus is more on efficiency in government spending. He highlighted the four stages of the budget: Planning, Enacting, Implementation and Audit; and the inroads that civil society has made in the enacting stage. He stressed on the fact that civil society’s participation in the budget is relatively new in India and there is a greater need for participation in the audit and formulation of budgets. Subrat ended on an optimistic note by sharing that the health sector has pushed for increased allocation in the sector resulting in increase from 1% to 1.2 % T.K. Rajalakshmi, journalist from a leading national political magazine Frontline highlighted the lack of attempt by the government to address systemic problems and structural inequalities. She stressed the fact that India is worse off than sub-Saharan Africa in terms of food security, and the media has though been quick to point out issues related to corporate sector, has been quite slow in reporting issues related to health and other determinants of health. Rajalakshmi noted that in India caste and religion affect how services get delivered as unfortunately government deals with citizens by primordial identity. In response to all the presentations in the first session moderator Dr. Abhijit Das briefly mentioned the difference civil society has made in the last 7 years especially in Uttar Pradesh where there is a Dalit chief minister. In the second session Jayashree Satpute, a lawyer by profession set the context by outlining the use of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) for strengthening social sector programmes. She highlighted some of the barriers and challenges faced during PIL and the lack of a shared language between the court orders and what the government does. Arundhati Dhuru a Right to Food activist shared her experience on the right to food campaign and the struggle for activists whose lives are constantly threatened as corruption flourishes in public distribution system. A short documentary film, “Voiceless Questions” was viewed by the participants. The film showed how social audit process has empowered villagers to check on misuse of job cards; and how villagers were able to strengthen the culture of transparency and turned social audit into a social movement. Adil Ali an expert on issues around citizenship, governance, gender and the environment presented the history of local governments in India. He outlined the two key game changers in strengthening local governance. The first game changer was in the 70s when democratic rights were suspended, and a strong united civil society stood up to fight against it. And the second game changer was in the 80s when a strong separatist movement was brought down by the government; these two events paved way to make local governments strong. Adil highlighted the earlier government schemes which were straightforward and there was no accountability. However things slowly changed in 2002 and the Panchayats were given constitutional status and in the newer programs bigger role is given to Panchayats. Government functionaries did start to report to local authority, and are more accountable. Adil ended his session by reflecting on the mixed result of from these constitutional bodies
and the fact that there is now an emerging collaboration between civil society and local government, which would hopefully help in the citizens’ voice being heard. In the post lunch session, Mira Shiva the Chairperson, Health Action International Asia-Pacific Founder, People’s Health Movement explained the right to health and shared important cases which primarily pushed for access to essential and affordable medicines. She stressed that basic health care is a right of the people. Tarun Seem an advisor for the WHO and the Government of India on a wide variety of health issues elaborated on civil society participation and spaces for engagement in India and spoke about the challenges and contradictions that exist within India. He stressed and explained three crucial areas where accountability lacked in India; these are: Accountability of Physical Assets; Accountability of Performance; Accountability of Reporting. Some of the key recommendations of Dr. Seem were:
To create spaces in civil society, structure the engagement and consolidate the position of NGOs in public programmes in India;
Identify loci where public systems can shift from provider to facilitator role with help of civil society
Develop protocols to facilitate civil society action
Build capacity for civil society action
Support civil society action. Jayashree Velankar a leading social activist who has been actively pursuing issues as a journalist, writer, trainer, organiser and campaigner on various issues related to women’s health and rights and peace spoke on human rights violation and the huge challenges faced due to coercive population policies in India. One of the coercive population policies she highlighted was the two child norm which forced youths, marginalised lower caste poor people who were forced not to avail key schemes and benefits. On Day II the thematic focus was on maternal health programming through increased accountability. The key speakers shared the following: Jashodhara Dasgupta, Coordinator of Sahayog provided an overview on accountability for health. She explained accountability and its fundamental relationship with human rights. She explained in detail the three kinds of accountability: horizontal (the entire system of government accountability), vertical (advocates demand for effective policies, and better implementation of services, they also create pressure and remind government that there is constitutional obligation and international obligation, national and international law) and hybrid accountability (citizen and the state work together to make health system accountable to users). Deepa Jha Programme Officer, CEDPA, highlighted about the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood which promotes increased public awareness on the need to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for all women and newborns. It uses social accountability, which is a people centered approach to hold governments and policy makers accountable
to their commitments. She explained in detail about public hearings one of the important tools of social accountability. Anubha Rastogi a young passionate lawyer discussed how litigation has been used in India to improve maternal health programmes. Anubha shared important landmark judgements which have helped in improving maternal health. Bijit Roy from Population Foundation of India, a leading national organisation in the forefront of implementing community monitoring shared his experiences how community monitoring has been effectively used at the community level to improve performance and services in primary health care. Bijit also shared briefly on National Rural Health Mission the flagship programme of government of India Renu Khanna a leading health activist highlighted the maternal death reviews being undertaken through her organisation Sahaj in Baroda, Gujarat. She explained in detail the various tools that were being used to undertake maternal death review. The various sections and contents of social autopsy were elaborated upon. Thanks were extended to all. A reception was held to allow participants the opportunity to continue informal conversations
Conclusion
The participants were happy with the content and the resource persons, and all the participants felt that the learning’s provided them with useful answers on accountability. All the participants strongly felt that the sessions were related to their work and were satisfied with the sessions and the facilitation by the resource persons. Below are comments and feedback from the participants:
The sessions were very well planned and the discussions are very helpful and revealing.
The resource persons are brilliant and spoke freely and openly on issues. Two of the
resource persons who were brilliant and did inspire me were Dr. Mira Shiva and Tarun
Seem. The only flaw was if more time could have been given to the resource persons to
respond to our queries. I think it would have been nice……
I liked the way Indian CSOs have been utilising their space. The session on PIL was very
interesting as that looks like a window of opportunity my organisation can explore…..
It was wonderful to hear about reproductive rights in India, right to health and access to
essential medicines. The only shortcoming was there was no time to absorb all the
information and formulate questions…….
The role of civil society in budget monitoring and policy process is well appreciated and I
really want to carry this forward to improve my work…….
The contents of the topic are rich but not enough time to ask question, but over all a
wonderful experience…..
I loved all the sessions and I hope to engage more of the CSOs in the government……
Jashodhara’s strategy of comparing our understanding of accountability and tying it to our
constitution before presenting the Indian perspective was a new approach which was
awesome. …..
Jashodhara used participatory skills to tease out the whole gamut of accountability as it
relates to our individual work experiences, we owned the lecture…….
Maternal death review is a new process and Renu Khanna threw more light to the process
and this will definitely help me in strengthening the process in Nigeria……
Bijit Roy shared the community monitoring process, this makes it easy to pick up the steps
used and we can roll it out accordingly……
The two things that I will take back from these two days are: 1. Hybrid Accountability as
this is the best form of accountability and the second is the social accountability tools……
Annexure I
Profile of the Resource Persons
The following experts were invited to share their experiences on accountability with the delegation:
Name
Brief bio on the Resource Persons
Adil Ali
Adil Ali’s work focuses on the interface of issues around citizenship, governance, gender and the environment. He has worked with civil society organisations in India as well as in South East Asia on people’s access and control over natural resources, livelihoods, human rights, corporate accountability and governance over the past two decades. His past experience includes strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, participatory research and people oriented advocacy. Engagements with community based organisations, international NGOs, university as well as bilateral agencies has allowed him to work at different levels. [email protected]
Subrat Das
Subrat Das has been working as Executive Director in Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability since the past two years. He studied economics at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Subrat has been working on India’s public policy towards natural disasters, public spending on social sectors, responsiveness of budgets to disadvantaged sections of population and bottlenecks in budgetary processes in the country. [email protected]
Amitabh Behar
Amitabh Behar is the Executive Director of National Foundation forof India, an independent, Indian grant-making and fundraising body, helping people improves their own lives. Mr. Behar is a political scientist by training. His research interests span governance and civil society, especially decentralized rural self-governance and social movements in central India. He has earlier worked with the Ford Foundation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. He is also the Asia convener of the ‘Global Call to Action Against Poverty’ (GCAP). [email protected]
Jayshree Satpute
Jayashree Satpute is a New Delhi-based human rights lawyer and an activist, figured among the five Indians who had been selected to be part of the 'World's Top 100 Inspirational Women' by 'The Guardian', a prestigious UK-based newspaper. Jayashree is an advocate in the Delhi High Court as well as the Supreme Court. [email protected]
Dr. Tarun Seem
Dr. Tarun Seem graduated from the University College of Medical Sciences, Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi. Dr. Seem has been an advisor for the WHO and the Government of India on a wide variety of health issues. He has also served on a number of Committees and Task Forces for the Indian Ministry of Health’s National Rural Health Mission initiatives. [email protected]
Jayashree Velankar is a leading social activist who has been actively pursuing issues as a journalist, writer, trainer, organiser and campaigner on various issues related to women’s health and rights and peace. She is currently based in New Delhi and has been involved in
Jayashree Velankar
organizing various campaigns and actions related to reproductive health and rights. [email protected]
Dr. Mira Shiva
Dr. Mira Shiva is currently the Chairperson, Health Action International Asia-Pacific Founder, People’s Health Movement and has an MD from Christian Medical College. Dr Mira Shiva is a renowned medical doctor and public health activist from India. She was a member of the Drug Pricing Review Committee in 2001, and has been a member of various bodies such as the National Population Commission, National Human Rights Commission, Voluntary Health Association of India, Health Equity and Society, All India Drug Action Network, Doctors for Food and Biosafety and Diverse Women for Diversity. [email protected]
Anubha Rastogi Based in Mumbai, Anubha Rastogi practices at Mumbai and , Delhi High Courts and addresses concerns of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. Ethics and Compliance consultant assisting workplaces in implementing laws, policies and best practices to ensure better productivity and a safer work place. She has a bachelor’s degree in law from Delhi University and has experience of using legal tools to reduce maternal mortality. [email protected]
Deepa Jha Deepa Jha, Program Officer, CEDPA has been campaigning in India on reducing needless maternal deaths in India. Deepa has been advocating with policymakers and implementers to strengthen health care system and to empower women to demand accountability and bring changes in their health seeking behavior. [email protected]
Renu Khanna Renu Khanna is a founding trustee of SAHAJ - Society for Health Alternatives in Gujarat, India. She has an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies at Delhi University, and is a joint convener of the People’s Health Movement, a Steering Committee Member of the Coalition for Maternal Health and Safe Abortion, and a Member of Medico Friend Circle. She was an Erasmus Mundus scholar and taught in KIT Amsterdam and QMU Edinburgh in 2008. [email protected]
Jashodhara Dasgupta
Jashodhara Dasgupta is the Coordinator of SAHAYOG, an Indian NGO that works on women's health and gender equality using human rights frameworks. She is an activist and researcher working on women's rights issues. She is part of local, regional and global platforms to advocate for maternal mortality and human rights, including the South Asian Women's Health and Rights Advocacy Forum, and the International Initiative on Maternal Mortality and Human Rights. [email protected]
Bijit Roy Bijit Roy has over fourteen years of experience in planning, implementation and management of large scale nutrition, maternal and child health and HIV/AIDS programmes at the district, state and national level. At Population Foundation of India (PFI), Bijit coordinates the Scaling up Program and the Advisory Group on Community Action (AGCA), a civil society group constituted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to provide guidance on the community action component under the National Rural Health Mission for which PFI is the National Secretariat. Bijit holds a Masters in Rural Development from Xavier's Institute for Social Services, Ranchi and Bachelor degree in Political Science from Benares Hindu University. [email protected]
Arundhati Dhuru Arundhati Dhuru has over twenty five year of experience in the forefront of mass movements, advocacy campaigns, policy formulation, community organisation and mass mobilisation. She has been closely associated with the lobbying and subsequent drafting
of laws on the Right to Information, Right to Food and NREGA. Arundhati has been appointed as an Advisor for the state of Uttar Pradesh to the Commissioners (Commissioners are appointed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of PUCL v Union of India and others, writ petition (civil) (106/2001) popularly known as Right to Food case.(since 2006). She is the National Convener of National Alliance of People’s Movement. She has conducted and authored many research on the schemes and programmes of Government of India, poverty alleviation programmes of government. [email protected]
Dr. Abhijit Das
Abhijit Das is Director of Centre for Health and Social Justice (CHSJ) a policy research and advocacy institution around health and human rights and men and gender equality in India. He is also a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Department of Global Health, at the University of Washington in Seattle USA. He has worked over the last twenty five years as a community based clinician and manager of community based health and development programmes, and as a health policy researcher and advocate especially in the area of gender, health rights and accountability. His areas of interest include maternal health rights, equity, human rights, accountability and governance in health programming, quality of care of health care service delivery and health and population policy. He is currently serving in an advisory capacity with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India, and is a member of the Steering Committee on Health for the 12th Five Year Plan of India which is currently being formulated. [email protected]
Annexure II
Profile of the Participants from Nigeria:
Name Organisation Brief Description
Aliyu Abdulrahman Bello Email: [email protected]
Education As a Vaccine
Aliyu Abdulrahman Bello is a 22year old young person from a large Muslim family from the northern part of Nigeria. He took a certification course at National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT) as a certified Network Administrator; and is a member of the Youth Advocates Group with Education as a Vaccine, World Bank Youth Forum, and Adobe educator.
Ahamed Salkida Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Journalist Ahamed Salkida is a leading journalist who has worked in several leading newspaper and journals since the past 11 years. Mr. Salkida has briefly worked with UNFPA and DFID as media consultant and conflict analyst respectively. His reporting has focused on larger issues of poverty and maternal mortality in rural areas in the north east of Nigeria for the Daily Trust newspaper.
Ms. Umma Iliyasu Mohammed Email: [email protected]
Advocacy Action
Umma Iliyasu Mohammed was a journalist and has worked as a line editor on health and gender issues in a print media for over 5 years. Ms. Mohammed has also been associated with various NGOs working on maternal health, girls’ education, adolescents’ reproductive health and youth empowerment. Ms. Mohammed previous assignments were as follows: 1. Program officer for Nigeria
Association of journalist Kaduna USAID/JHU sponsored 2 years project on “Democracy and Governance”.
2. Media consultant for PATHS 2 (partnership for transforming health systems)Kaduna Nigeria in 2010 and a member of the Gender Working Group, which is a group that fosters partnership with gender and education focused civil societies in Kaduna state to mainstream gender through education MTSS and also identify gender concerns within
policies.
David O. Ajagun Email: [email protected]
Deputy Director, Ministry of Health, Department of Family Health, Abuja
David O. Ajagun graduated with BSc (Hons) Sociology from the University of Ibadan in 1984 and MA Population and Social Research, with emphasis on FP from the Institute of Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Bangkok Thailand (1993). He joined the Federal Ministry of Health, Department of Population Activities as a Programme Officer in 1989 and is currently positioned as Deputy Director in Family Health Department working in different areas. In this capacity he oversees the day to day smooth operation of ARH Branch and also coordinates development of guidelines, standard of practice, training manual and the training of health care providers in provision of adolescent friendly service. Monitor, supervise, evaluate adolescent health and development programmes
Chioma Blessing Kanu Email: [email protected]
Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre
Chioma Blessing Kanu has been working as Program Officer (Gender) for CISLAC since the past two years and has had the opportunity to facilitate an advocacy campaign on strengthening policy engagement on Education, health and gender towards the attainment of the MDGs (national intervention). Chioma has also lead a team of CSOs to National Assembly, National Food Reserve Agency, Strategic Grain Reserve, Ministry of Agriculture, The Guardian Newspaper, Independent Television, etc, on advocacy campaign on food security.
Ms. Ismail Binta Aduke Email: [email protected]
National Primary HealthCare Development Agency
Ismail Binta Aduke is a nurse/midwife with a degree in health education and a master’s in public health. Ismail Binta Aduke has worked both with the State Government as well as various bilateral and international organisations. Currently Ismail Binta Aduke works with the Department of Primary Health Care Systems Development, a department saddled with the responsibility to increase access to quality PHC services and where the day to day running and coordination
of the Midwives Service scheme is domiciled.
Mal Saddiq Kalgo
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Kalgo hails from Sokoto, north of Nigeria. He is an educator and as an Advocacy Officer is advocating for increase in budgetry allocation in health.
Annexure III
Photo Gallery
