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Episode 6 - MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
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Backstage Stefano asks e Vrinda replies |
Local Authorities and Civil Society
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MDGs - EPISODE 4
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MDGs - EPISODE 4
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Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
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In developing countries many people
die each year of preventable diseases. |
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Kolkata, the capital of the Indian State of West Bengal, is a city of contrasts, where the night life of the rich co-exists alongside extreme poverty; where people live their socialist ideologies while practicing traditional religious rituals. While India’s economic growth has benefited many poor families in Kolkata, nearly one third of the city’s population continues to live in slums. And nearly three-quarters of the Kolkata slum population is below the poverty line. Kolkata has been witnessing a high influx of migrants over the past decades –from West Bengal villages and from the neighbouring country of Bangladesh – contributing to the population that lives in slums. Sonagachi is the biggest red light area of Kolkata. Here live the migrant women and men who cater to the high demand for sex workers, especially among migrant labour. Most of these sex workers are illiterate and have little knowledge on risks associated with unsafe sexual practices. These women are a high risk group for HIV infections. The increasing incidence of AIDS among sex workers was a cause for concern for the Indian government. The Indian Government responded to this alarm by launching, in 1995, an intervention program in the Sonagachi red light area that aimed at reducing and preventing the incidence of STD and HIV/ AIDS. Our team went to Sonagachi to meet the sex workers who lit the flame of change and illumined the lives of many sex workers in Kolkata. The programme of the Indian government includes health services for treating sexually transmitted diseases, building awareness among sex workers and distributing condoms. The outreach workers who worked on this programme were the sex workers themselves. The government informed the outreach workers about HIV/ AIDS, trained them in spreading awareness among their co-workers in facilitating their access to public medical services. From mere transmitters of information, they slowly became educators and agents of change in their communities. They began forming groups that advocated for a change in attitudes, practices and behaviours among sex workers and the wider community. Some of the active outreach workers came together and formed an organization called Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee so that they could spread awareness on safe sex and on the prevention and cure of AIDS, among a wider group of sex workers. In 1999, the Committee took over the management of the STD/HIV Intervention Programme and replicated the approach of the 'Sonagachi Project' also in other red light areas of the city. What was the global agenda of the Millennium Development Goal and a commitment of the Indian government soon became a goal for the sex workers of Sonagachi in Kolkata. When people are strengthened by knowledge and solidarity, their collective voice surely gets heard and informs political processes. When global agendas respond to local needs and rights, it becomes a win-win situation. The story of the Durbar Mahila Samanvaya Committee is one such story of women's empowerment. Today, this Committee not only spreads awareness and distributes free condoms but also helps sex workers in demanding their right to safe sex with clients and better working conditions and in strengthening their collective bargaining power in accessing health services. Today, the Committee brings together 65,000 female, male and transgender sex workers working in the Indian state of West Bengal. |
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A.K. Shiva KumarDevelopment Economist and Professor |
There is a part of the interview in which we talk about CSR but it is not uploaded on Youtube | ||||
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I determinanti della salute Stili di vita, scelte, l’ambiente |
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The social responsability of companies in the creation of a healthy social environment.
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J.M. Balamorugan is a Indian Government Official taking a 4-5 year service with Civil Society. and is the CEO of Isha Foundation. |
Coherence for Development and Role of Spirituality Collaborations between Civil Society, Government and Private Sector Instead of using the word collaboration I would use the word inclusive, where we are trying to include everyone. It is an inclusive development of an inclusive society. Whether it is private factory, or a private sector corporation, or a government undertaking, or a government organization, or a local body, all these institutions are serving the core purpose of achieving human well-being. And when you look at human well-being, it is essential that they collaborate and create synergies between each other. The Government is very good in policy formulation, in planning, in providing finance, but after all, whatever policy you formulate sitting in your head quarters, ultimately it has unfold, blossom in the field, on the ground. Therefore it is useful for the government to collaborate with civil societies who are working at grassroots, with the people, so that what the government cannot do it can be done by the civil society. Civil society by their nature is flexible, small and they can work with the people at more close quarters. Ultimately just by framing policies things will not happen. Corporate, private sectors, also cannot see themselves as different and excluded from this process, because they also have to serve the society, ultimately. That is why you see now more and more corporate giving social service much beyond their business operations. So unless all these three agencies collaborate with each other the human well-being will not be comprehensibly addressed.
Instead of using the word collaboration I would use the word inclusive, where we are trying to include everyone. It is an inclusive development of an inclusive society. Whether it is private factory, or a private sector corporation, or a government undertaking, or a government organization, or a local body, all these institutions are serving the core purpose of achieving human well-being. And when you look at human well-being, it is essential that they collaborate and create synergies between each other. The Government is very good in policy formulation, in planning, in providing finance, but after all, whatever policy you formulate sitting in your head quarters, ultimately it has unfold, blossom in the field, on the ground. Therefore it is useful for the government to collaborate with civil societies who are working at grassroots, with the people, so that what the government cannot do it can be done by the civil society. Civil society by their nature is flexible, small and they can work with the people at more close quarters. Ultimately just by framing policies things will not happen. Corporate, private sectors, also cannot see themselves as different and excluded from this process, because they also have to serve the society, ultimately. That is why you see now more and more corporate giving social service much beyond their business operations. So unless all these three agencies collaborate with each other the human well-being will not be comprehensibly addressed.
Because I thought that it time to give back to society and get a reality check of what we are doing as government offices. After some time in the government one realizes that you are out of touch with the reality and it is necessary to go back to the root and learn a lot of things and unlearn a lot of things. When you are in touch with people you are actually able to see their conditions and realities and your policy formulation gets much more realistic. This is one of the reason I have chose to work in the civil society and also to bring in my experience as a government official in the implementations of the programs of the civil society. An other important reason to work for civil society is to fill-in this gap of what we cannot achieve in the government can be achieved in the civil society. And when a government official is coming in the civil society, that gap is filled.
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Il ruolo della civil society nella creazione di salute |
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Select the right passages · Lappalainen - Etikwa Ikutu -talking of disaster but not on prevention · Lappalainen - Etikwa Ikutu - Media (and ONGs) stereotypes and the resulting disinformation · Lappalainen - Etikwa Ikutu - Media (and ONGs) media uninterested on the real policy issues – why? |
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Julian Parr is the Regional Manager, South East Asia for Oxfam GB. |
11 - Do you think cause related marketing can ensure a flow of corporate fund in the social sector? Where I'm more interested in companies is around their supply chain. You can buy a bottle of Coca-Cola in every corner of India. Now if I could use their supply chain for public health messages. For an example, getting banks to put HIV safe sex messages on each of their bank and pay slips... there is where I find companies and private sectors can really make a difference. You are here getting an access which organizations like mine or even governments can never reach. I am more interested in using companies for dissemination rather than cause related marketing. |
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Il TV7 su Terziani ?? |
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| Rajesh Kumar Jha is the Sr. Programme Officer for the Centre for World Solidarity. | What Message would you give to the Donors? As small NGOs we don't have the capacity to change the whole district, state or country, but these small funds are very important to mobilize the community, to involve them in the planning and as a result the people are able to take care of themselves. 'Most of the project are not owned by the community and they have a top to bottom approach where the state formulates and the project which in turn will have an effect on the people. Instead these projects have a bottom to top approach where the community tries to understand what is it that they need, how they need it, where they need it and then the projects are implemented. | ||||
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The Vrinda project approach: keeping the plurality of the points of view without establishing a final “truth”. Is it possible in television? Is it better done with the Web media? |
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Backstage - Italy 1 - Armadilla Office in Rome - MDG1 -
- Backstage - Italy 2 - At the RAI studios in Rome Goal 10 -