Prof. Osama Salih VLP Country Coordinator (Sudan) by Osama Salih

MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT: LEADERS IN ACTION Volume 2 Profiles of Selected Visionary Leaders in Asia and Africa

Visionary Leadership Program in Population and Development

The VLP Consortium

Supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Leadership Profiles The profiles of exemplary

Visionary Leadership Program in Population and Development (VLP)

visionary leaders in the field of population and reproductive health are a vital component of the VLP learning approach. The goal is to share the experiences of these leaders whose vision, passion, action, and commitment have touched and improved the lives of so many people, and continue to do so. VLP is proud to make this contribution.

The VLP is an innovative leadership development program that was implemented in four focus countries -- Ethiopia, India, Nigeria and Sudan between 2002 and 2006. It was supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. By developing a corps of 200 visionary leaders to realize their full potential and thus creating a ‘critical mass’ for systemic change in population and reproductive health, VLP sought to improve their leadership skills and commitment, enhance their knowledge and vision, and strengthen their competencies for resource mobilization and policy dialogues at national, regional and interntional levels. With these leaders and other activities, VLP aimed to contribute towards improving the quality of life of people through improved reproductive health services, and reduced fertility and rapid population growth.

The VLP Consortium began documenting 20 such leaders from Asia and Africa in 2003. Some of these profiles had been used to enhance the VLP training and learning process as real-life inspiration for

VLP is implemented by a consortium of three partner organizations (see profiles on back cover) in partnership with the following four in-country national anchor institutions: Ethiopia: Addis Ababa University (Department of Community Health), Addis Ababa. India: Child in Need Institute, Jharkhand Unit, Ranchi.

leadership development. Nigeria: Adolescent Health and Information Projects, Kano.

These profiles are published in this volume of “Profiles of

Sudan: Ahfad University for Women (Center for Family Sciences and Nutrition), Omdurman.

Selected Visionary Leaders in Asia and Africa”. They form part of a collection of 42 VLP leadership profiles.

Credits Published by the VLP Consortium (PPD, ICOMP, CAFS)

Twenty-two profiles on

Editor: Moi Lee Liow, ICOMP

“Emerging Leaders” have

Production and Design: ICOMP

earlier been published as

Cover: SP-Muda Printing Sdn Bhd

volume 1. Printing: SP-Muda Printing Sdn Bhd

This publication may be reproduced and excerpts from it may be quoted without permission provided the material is distributed free of charge and due acknowledgement and credit is given to the VLP Consortium and the authors. ISBN:983-3017-05-3

Making a Difference for Population and Development: Leaders in Action Volume 2 Profiles of Selected Visionary Leaders in Asia and Africa

The VLP Consortium Partners in Population and Development

International Council on Management of Population Programs

Center for African Family Studies

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Nairobi, Kenya

Authors of Profiles (alphabetical order, according to first name)

LIFE STORIES Christiane McWest, Head of External Relations and Communications, CAFS Florence Muindi1, Program Officer, CAFS James Biswas, Administration and Finance Manager, PPD Prof Jay Satia, Executive Director, ICOMP Khandaker Humayun Kabir, Information and Communication Officer, PPD Moi Lee Liow, Senior Program Officer, ICOMP Dr Timothee Gandaho1, Executive Director, PPD PROGRAM LEADERS George Kahuthia, Program Officer, CAFS Moi Lee Liow, Senior Program Officer, ICOMP Dr Timothee Gandaho1, Executive Director, PPD PROGRAM SUCCESSES Dr Abera Kumie2, Assistanf Professor, Department of Community Health, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia Florence Muindi1, Program Officer, CAFS Dr Florence Nyamu1, Program Officer, CAFS Dr Josephine Banda Moyo1, Director of Corporate Development and Information Sharing, PPD Dr Mesfin Addisse2, Associate Professor, Department of Community Health, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia Moi Lee Liow, Senior Program Officer, ICOMP Dr Teshome Shibre2, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

1 2

Has resigned from organization Commissioned by CAFS

As part of their collaboration, the directors and program officers of the VLP Consortium member organizations wrote 16 of the 20 profiles in this volume. Four profiles were commissioned to faculty members of Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia.

Contents Page INTRODUCTION

OVERVIEW

LIFE STORIES Fazle Hasan Abed Dr Florence Manguyu Prof Dr Haryono Suyono Dr Mechai Viravaidya Molly Melching

11 13 20 24 29 37

PROGRAM LEADERS Prof Fred Binka Mairo Bello Pooven Moodley Dr Samir Chaudhuri Prof Souleymane MBoup

47 49 57 63 67 71

PROGRAM SUCCESSES Abebech Gobena Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Care and Development Organization Bina Insani Forum for African Women Educationalists Gashe Abera Mola Environment and Development Association Kabiro Kawangware Health Care Trust Mary Joy Aid through Development Paricharja Youth-2-Youth: German Foundation for World Population Youth Activists Organization Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council

88 93 97 102 105 111 115

Category

Criteria

Gender

Region

LIFE STORIES

Outstanding leaders and their experiences in the population/reproductive health field, including factors that influence their personal development as visionary leaders

3 men 2 women

Asia: 3 Africa: 2

PROGRAM LEADERS

Leaders of country- or subnational-level programs, indicating those well-known regionally or within their own country, and who have elevated their organization and programs with their personal leadership

4 men 1 woman

Asia: 1 Africa: 4

PROGRAM SUCCESSES

Organizations which have benefited from strong internal leadership and which have developed innovative approaches for action

Asia: 2 Africa: 8

EMERGING LEADERS

VLP Fellows who have taken special initiatives, strengthened their organization and shown exemplary leadership in applying their new VLP learning and skills: * Ethiopia: 4 * India: 6 * Nigeria: 6 * Sudan:6

9 men 13 women

Asia: 6 Africa: 16

16 men Asia: 12 16 women Africa: 30

Total

Visionary Leadership Program LEADERSHIP PROFILES Profile Subjects, Organizations and Countries Volume 2 LIFE STORIES 1 2 3 4 5

Profile subject Fazle Hasan Abed Dr Florence Manguyu Dr Haryono Suyono Dr Mechai Viravaidya Molly Melching

Organization BRAC Private practice Yayasan Dana Sejahtera Mandiri Population and Community Devnt Assn (PDA) Tostan

Country Bangladesh Kenya Indonesia Thailand Senegal

Organization Indepth Network Adolescent Health Information Project (AHIP) Africa Alive! Child in Need Institute African AIDS Research Network

Country Ghana Nigeria South Africa India Senegal

PROGRAM LEADERS 1 2 3 4 5

Profile subject Prof Fred Binka Mairo Bello Pooven Moodley Dr Samir Chaudhuri Prof Souleymane Mboup

PROGRAM SUCCESSES Profile subject (organization) Abebech Gobena Children’s Care & Development Organization 2 Bina Insani 3 Gashe Abera Mola Environment & Development Assn 4 Forum for African Women Educationalists 5 Kabiro Kawangware Health Care Trust 6 Mary Joy Aid through Development 7 Paricharja 8 Youth Activists Organization 9 Youth-2-Youth Initiative - German Population F’dation 10 Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council 1

Founder or Head Abebech Gobena

Country Ethiopia

Johanna Pattiasina Sileshi Demissie Dr Eddah Gachukia Lucia Wahid Sr Zebider Zewdie Dr Parwez Choudhury Holo Hachondo IV Tirsit Grishaw Dr Alex Zinanga

Indonesia Ethiopia Kenya Kenya Ethiopia Bangladesh Zambia Ethiopia Zimbabwe

Volume 1 EMERGING LEADERS (VLP FELLOWS) Profile subject 1 Anamika Sarma 2 Dilith Castleton 3 Fathia Mursal 4 Frehiwot B Defaye 5 Habiba Luka 6 Janet Ibinola 7 Jessica Obadiah 8 Joshua Ida Samson 9 Mani L Gambarawa 10 Murari Choudhury 11 Dr Nafisa Bedri 12 Dr Osama Awad Salih 13 Rakt Kalyan 14 Dr Rogaia Abu Algasim 15 Dr Sanjay Ravi 16 Dr Sayedgotb Elrashied 17 Dr Sidiga Washi 18 Selamawit Negash 19 Dr Sunday J Lengmang 20 Suresh Pankaj 21 Wubitu H G/kristos 22 Dr Yilma M Alazar

Organization Tata Steel Family Initiatives Foundation Tata Steel Family Initiatives Foundation Sudanese Women for AIDS Prevention Ethiopian Public Health Association Female Role Models Initiative RH Initiative and Support Association Country Women Association of Nigeria ENHANSE Project Muslim and Christian Forum NEEDS Ahfad University Ahfad University Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi UNFPA/University of Khartoum Govt of Jharkhand, Health and Family Welfare Dept Federal Ministry of Health Ahfad University Federal Ministry of Health (Nutrition Unit) ECWA Evangel Health Program OSERD Kulich Youth RH & Development Organization Addis Ababa University

(alphabetical order, according to first name, by category)

Country India India Sudan Ethiopia Nigeria Nigeria Nigeria Nigeria Nigeria India Sudan Sudan India Sudan India Sudan Sudan Ethiopia Nigeria India Ethiopia Ethiopia

Leadership Profiles

Overview Written by Prof Jay Satia and Moi Lee Liow

or leaders in the population and reproductive health sector, aiming to serve and work with the poor, marginalized and disadvantaged, the tasks are daunting and the responsibilities enormous. Among the challenges endemic to the sector are:

Weak political and community will and commitment Unpredictable and inadequate funds Resistance from traditional cultural practices Weak policies and programs Shifting global thematic emphasis Inadequate implementation capabilities including infrastructure Shortage of well-trained staff and low morale Threat of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases Health sector reform and more expensive privatized health care

Yet leadership matters even more in such an environment. This is because leaders emerge and shine the brightest in challenging or difficult situations, that is, environments of change. In recent years, the drive towards the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) puts additional pressure on the sector for more effective implementation of programs. Two patterns are apparent: (1) there is a call for leadership, and (2) leaders are expected to do more with less. In his 1978 groundbreaking book on the subject, James McGregor Burns wrote that we seemed to know too much about leaders but too little about leadership1 . Many researchers had taken the cue from Burns, and subsequently, had contributed many different strands of thought to the leadership debate. Some examples are “Transformational Leadership”, “Visionary Leadership”, “Situational Leadership”, “Servant as Leader”, and so on. While there is not one clear definitive ‘school of thought’, the existence of a rich and diverse collection of theories and analyses that is now available helps us to refine our perceptions and understanding of leadership in the 21st century. However, we should be mindful that almost all research on leadership in the past 15-20 years has come out of the military, political and business commercial sectors in developed countries. As John Hailey2 points out, even if research had been done in the non-profit or NGO sector, it was on organizations in the United States, with emphasis on leadership provided by Board members rather than individuals. Hailey3 further argues that generally, there is a leadership deficit in the non-profit or NGO sector. This cannot be disputed because of a variety of factors attributed to both history and current socioeconomic and political/program conditions. The sector simply has not had the resources or the capacity to address this issue adequately. However, in recent years, there has been recognition of the importance of leaders in improving programs and the roles they can play in accelerating the achievements of the MDGs. ‘Investments’ in leadership development programs for the development sector have begun in the past several years.

That said, there are enough insights on leadership to narrow down some key features. Associated with leaders and leadership are:

a sense of direction and going forward (creating a shared vision)

a desire to find a path or strategic direction (bridging the visionreality gap)

a degree of inspiration and motivation (aligning values) a system of organizational tasks and ways to get results (managing well)

a methodology to share, mobilize and advocate (communicating effectively)

an embodiment of certain desired traits and personalities

(behaving like a leader). What is clear is that there are as many different facets to individual leadersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; thinking and behavior as there are different situations. In particular, the NGO and government sectors in the developing countries present a different set of contextual or environmental dynamics that warrants perhaps different leadership approaches. The confluence of culture, community and environment exerts particularly strong influence on leaders and leadership behavior in these sectors.

VLP Approach to Leadership Development With this in mind, the training and learning framework of VLP took into account the skills and competencies deemed most necessary and effective in the developing-country context, particularly for population and reproductive health. See Box 1.

Box 1

VLP Framework for Leadership Development

Visionary leaders should have these five major sets of skills, competencies and capabilities: Self-related individual competencies. Commitment to population and development concerns, innovative ways to addressing problems, and sensitivity to gender and equity issues; articulating a shared societal vision and deriving individual and organizational vision from that; effective communication and public speaking skills; creative problem-solving, decision-making and interpersonal relations. Organization-related capabilities. Updated knowledge on developments and policy/program interventions in family planning, reproductive health, reproductive rights, gender issues and adolescent reproductive health; strategic management skills; capacity to inspire and empower people in the organization; create a learning environment and ensure accountability. Inter-organizational partnering. Creating a shared vision; advocacy, negotiation and consensus building to bring a cohesive and consistent process of social decision-making; building strategic alliances; and sustaining policy dialogues. Development of community capacities. Creating empowered communities to meet their own aspirations; strengthening positive community values, norms and institutions. Participation in policy and program activities. Effectively articulate, advocate and manage population concerns, programs and constrained resources in respective national and regional contexts; generate and consolidate actions on population and development at highest levels of national, regional and international forums; engage in dialogue on issues like participatory decision-making and implementation by leaders on policy and program options; keep future leaders fully updated on the latest developments in the North as well as pioneering initiatives in the South.

In this, the development of the VLP series of training and learning methodologies was influenced by the analyses of a number of 4 5 key researchers. Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus , for example, p r ov i d e d g u i d a n c e o n t h e c r i t i c a l r o l e s o f “ v i s i o n ” o r “farsightedness” or behavior that is geared towards encouraging 6 or inspiring others to act. James Kouzes and Barry Posner were important for understanding the importance of “relationship” in leadership (fostering trust, earning credibility, etc) while John 7 Adair explained the functional aspects of leadership (the triad of 8 tasks, teams, individuals). Peter Senge’s influential book, “Fifth Discipline” laid out the mechanics for learning organizations that 9 10 leaders could help shape. From John Maxwell and John Kotter came a clearer understanding of leadership versus management. 11 Jim Collins’ concept of “5 levels” of leadership took it to a higher plane which has much resonance with the many passionate committed leaders in the population and reproductive health 12 sector. Similarly, Greenleaf’s view of leaders as servants would find agreement with the many leaders who gave selflessly so much of themselves to the work they do to serve the poor and marginalized. As a recent leadership program in population and reproductive health, the VLP has taken the approach that leadership development could only be effective if training and learning consist of different methodologies that could consecutively build on each other. For example, a simple self-learning program served as an initiation to more advanced training on leadership which would then be used to enhance learning from mentoring and networking activities. An important methodology in this approach is learning from the experiences and thoughts of other more experienced leaders. In this regard, there has been a dearth of materials on the reallife experiences of individual leaders in the population and reproductive health sector in developing countries. Considering the often harsh working environments, experienced leaders in this sector are both inspiration and role models for other new, emerging or young leaders.

Box 2

Research on Leadership is an Evolving Process – Some Examples

Type

Basic Concept

Great Man Theory

Trait Theory

Power and Influence Theory

Results-based or Behaviorist Theory

Leader are born, not made Leaders have certain traits, competencies and behavior but there is no agreement on what they are Leaders have power and influence It is what leaders actually do that matters rather than what they are

Situational Theory

Different circumstances require different forms of leadership

Leader as Servant Theory

Leadership is seen as serving others

Transactional Leadership Theory

Leaders and followers have an exchange relationship

Followers’ Attribution Theory

What do the followers attribute to the leaders

The leader is a proactive, innovative visionary

Transformational Leadership Theory

Source: Covey, 2004. The 8th8th Habit. From effectiveness to greatness. NewNew York: FreeFree PressPress Covey,Stephen StephenR.,R., 2004. The Habit. From effectiveness to greatness. York:

Leadership Profiles The VLP Consortium developed 42 leadership profiles during the period of VLP implementation, from 2002 to 2006. This collection of 20 leadership profiles spans 12 countries — four in Asia and eight in Africa. Ten individuals and ten organizations were chosen. In developing their respective profiles, the Consortium sought to understand their leadership development and experiences according to the VLP framework (page 5). We wanted to know who or what inspired or motivated them to take the path to serve others; how they created their vision or shared it; how they managed relationships with partners and collaborators; how they used communication tools, and so on. These profiles have been organized under three categories according to how their leadership impacts on their sphere of influence over time. See Figure 1. Their leadership skills – self-related, organizational, interorganizational, and policy and program-related – are honed through this journey by a continuous process of reflection and learning.

Figure 1

Sphere of Influence

▲

Leadership and Sphere of Influence Program Success

Leaders begin by achieving success in whatever programs they undertake.

Program Leader

Then they build on these successes to establish larger and longer lasting programs, in the process becoming program leaders.

Life Story

Finally, their life long dedication to the cause results in achievements over a long period of time, which leads to recognition of their contribution nationally and internationally.

Increases

Program Successes First, leaders respond to a need they see and believe in stemming from:

Desire to make a difference. A group of high school students in Zambia led by Holo Hachonda decided that there were too many problems affecting youth and they had to do something to inject hope and direction. This led to formation of Youth Activists Organization for channeling youthful energy into leadership. They mobilized the communities to address reproductive health and HIV/AIDS using interventions such as football camps and workshops at churches that would appeal to young people.

Nurturing a call for action. After his medical studies, Dr Parwez Choudhury wanted to provide affordable health care to poor people in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Despite his initial difficulties of finding resources, he nurtured this call for action, and today,

Paricharja, the organization he founded, has a self-sustaining chain of five health centers and 15 outposts for truckers and dockyard workers as well as slum dwellers.

Responding to social needs with talent and passion. Upon his return from United States to his home land in Ethiopia, artist Sileshi Demissie found deep-rooted widespread poverty: a lot of beggars on the street, homeless people struggling for survival and emerging issues related to HIV/AIDS. He used his artistic talent to mobilize youth for environment and formed an organization called GAMEDA.

The courage to meet a challenge. Mrs Johanna Pattiasina founded an NGO, Bina Insani, in northern Sumatra with a belief that communities could be empowered to help themselves. As an outsider who married into the Batak community, her strength and commitment were severely tested many times, but her perseverance and belief in her cause, her staff and her followers were to sustain her and her organization.

The courage, passion and desire coupled with talent lead to program success. Second, leaders believe in empowerment of the people to build a potential for development. This is best expressed by Mrs Lucia Wahid, founder of Kabiro Kawangware Health Care Trust in Kabiro slum in Nairobi, Kenya, who used a single Swahili word, Tujijenge (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Let us build ourselvesâ&#x20AC;?) to describe her guiding philosophy of community empowerment. Initiated with organizing the women for incomegeneration activities, the community has gone on to set up a community primary school and a polyclinic for health services. Similarly Dr Eddah Gachukia focused on education to realize full potential of women in Kenya. The German Foundation for World Population (DSW) uses young people as role models in its Youth-toYouth program. Third, program success is helped by a favorable policy environment as the example of Dr Alex Zinanga and the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council shows. While top teams and work culture impact on organizational improvements, supportive political environment can facilitate achievement of program goals. Underlying all of these program successes, one thing stands out: belief in full commitment and spirit of self dependence, which is exemplified by Mrs Abebech Gobena. She began her work in Addis Ababa with orphaned children in order to be self-supportive. For first six years she supported the children from her personal assets and taking up some income-generation activities. This commitment was rewarded and other individuals, groups and organizations began providing support.

Program Leaders Program leaders build upon their success in a program by expanding its scope and size. Thus, their organizations grow and become well known. The Navrongo Health Center is famous for its path-breaking studies in the field of community-based health service delivery innovations, many of which are being adapted and scaled-up by the Government of Ghana. Challenges and resourceful ways to overcome them are

highlighted by Prof Fred Binka who headed the center for several years. Mairo Bello works on sensitive issues of adolescent reproductive health in northern Nigeria, a region with strong Christian and Muslim communities. She has built her organization on the belief that success can come about when every one is a source of ideas. Effective leadership and programs, she feels, often start small, usually simple ideas that become catalysts for vision and then action. Program leaders have a cause for which they advocate with stakeholders in many ways. This is the case with Pooven Moodley who has advocated for HIV/AIDS and youth issues in South Africa. He began when he was a student and as a member of Students Representative Council, mobilized people around student welfare issues. He moved to become a national lobbyist for HIV/AIDS, and from there, the international stage. Program success in one field builds a leader’s credibility and this, in turn, becomes the pillar of leadership, believes Dr Samir Chaudhuri who founded the Child in Need Institute (CINI) in India. The credibility he has built for himself and for CINI has led to the organization’s steady growth over 30 years. CINI now works in several states and is recognized as a leading NGO in India. All program leaders documented here worked hard and believed in themselves as they overcame many barriers. This is particularly true when the socio-economic conditions are so challenging, as the example of Prof Souleymane Mboup of Senegal illustrates. The National Office of HIV/AIDS Surveillance Center, which he heads, has played an important research support role as Senegal has been able to control the HIV epidemic with continuing low prevalence. The country’s experience is one of the remarkable global success stories that has been documented by UNAIDS. This is the belief in self – a Can Do spirit – that has made the center a leading research institution.

Life Stories The life stories documented here illustrate life-time achievements. What starts the life journey is the power of conviction, that communities can be empowered for change. This is the mission of Tostan in Senegal, founded and nurtured by Molly Melching – to contribute to the human dignity of African people through the development and implementation of a non-formal, participatory education program in national languages. Quality, holistic education and development activities based on principles of human rights provide communities with the tools to direct their own social and economic transformation. Winner of many international recognition awards, Tostan has reached out to more than 2,000 villages, changing the lives of thousands of people. Program leaders who have dedicated themselves to a life-long cause and been successful at program level, would see the need to use the credibility earned to communicate their cause even more widely. Dr Mechai Viravaidya, Founder and Chairman of the Population and Community Development Association in Thailand is an acknowledged master of the media which he has used very well to advance his cause and mobilize resources. This has been so effective that many in Thailand refer to condoms as ‘mechai’. He acquired first-hand exposure to the power and tools of the

media when he worked with radio, TV and the print media as a young man. Dr Haryono Suyono, a former Minister of Population in Indonesia, credits the success of the family planning program of his country to communication built on the foundation of strong program development and innovation. His advice is: “Use all mass media and always be ready with your message”. He saw opportunities where others saw obstacles. Although the focus on strong programs and innovation is shared by all the life stories, Dr Haryono puts particular emphasis on them. Children’s welfare is dear to Dr Florence Manguyu, a pediatrician in Kenya. Now in private practice, she has advocated children’s causes with passion for many years, in other capacities such as SOS Children’s Village. She pioneered the Children’s Act in Kenya which took 12 years of lobbying but she persisted. Her greatest source of motivation is to give without expecting anything in return, and to have the personal satisfaction when her actions benefited other people. What keeps them going besides a vision and a conviction to dedicate their lives? “Results are the greatest inspiration”, Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder of BRAC, provides a clue. BRAC is perhaps the world’s largest NGO, with a staff base of 35,000 and is responsible for, at least in part, Bangladesh’s remarkable development story. His only regret is that while much work still needs to be done, he has few years ahead of him to pursue his goals. Clearly one life time is not enough to achieve the lofty vision of society that these life leaders have set for themselves. For their vision, passion, commitment and action, they are indeed true inspiring leaders.

References 1 2 3 4. 5.

Burns, James McGregor, 1978. Leadership. New York: Harper & Row. Hailey, John. 2006. “NGO Leadership Development. A Review of the Literature.” Praxis Paper 10. Oxford, UK: INTRAC Hailey, John, ibid Bennis, Warren, 1989. On Becoming a Leader. New York: Addison-Wesley. Nanus, Burt, 1992. Visionary Leadership. Creating a compelling sense of direction for your organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers 6. Kouzes, James and Barry Posner, 1995. The Leadership Challenge. How to keep getting extraordinary things done in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers 7. Adair, John, 2002. Effective Strategic Leadership. London: MacMillan 8. Senge, Peter, 1990. The Fifth Discipline. The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: DoubleDay 9. Maxwell, John, 1993. Developing the Leader within You. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers 10. Kotter, John, 1996. Leading Change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press 11. Collins, Jim, 2001. Good to Great. Why some companies make the leap, and others don’t. New York: HarpersCollins Publishers 12. Greenleaf, Robert. “The Servant as Leader”. In Business Leadership. A Jossey-Bass Reader, 2003. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Chapter 9, pages 117-136. 13. Covey, Stephen R., 2004. The 8th Habit. From effectiveness to greatness. New York: Free Press

Life Stories

Outstanding leaders and their experiences in the population and reproductive health field, including factors that influence their personal development as visionary leaders

Readersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Guide

As you read through these profiles, please consider the following:

What did you learn? Questions for Reflection What are the leadership challenges being addressed? What can we learn about addressing these challenges? What are the key personal competencies for an effective leader? What are the possible ways to acquire these competencies?

Leadership Strengths: _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

Achievements: _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

Your Take-Home Learning? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________

Life Story

Fazle Hasan Abed

Results are the Greatest Inspiration Written by James Biswas and Khandaker Humayun Kabir

I ntroduction Founder and Chairman BRAC

Thirty-four years ago, Fazle Hasan Abed left a lucrative career in a prestigious oil company to dedicate himself entirely to development in Bangladesh by founding the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC). At that time, Bangladesh was teetering on the brink of collapse, with high mortality rates, alarmingly low literacy rates, 70% below poverty line, virtually no immunization for children and the country’s infrastructure

BANGLADESH

reduced to rubble. Today, BRAC’s work has contributed immensely to the country’s development, although there is still room for much more work. With the vision of a just, enlightened, healthy and democratic Bangladesh free from hunger, poverty and environmental degradation and all forms of exploitations based on age, sex, religion and ethnicity, BRAC has evolved and expanded in leaps and bounds. Mr Abed has remained focused on the cause of empowering the poor and helping them become useful members of society. The challenges may be enormous and the road ahead filled with uncertainty, yet the sight of the people in the fields whose lives have been transformed through the activities of BRAC provide renewed strength, confidence and courage for Mr Abed to push further the frontiers of development. Over the years, Mr Abed has gained a wealth of experience in reconstructing a war-torn country and building one of the largest non-profit organizations in the South. Not only is he a visionary thinker whose inventive ideas have pioneered and set high standards in sustainable development, but he has also emerged as an exemplary leader and manager of a staff base of 35,000. To keep his team motivated, Mr Abed endeavors to transmit the vision and values of the organization to all staff and co-workers so that they are constantly reminded of the Big Picture and the greater good that inspire and motivate them to remain dedicated to the cause of poverty alleviation. A cascading approach that he designed ensures that all workers have regular meetings with their managers which not only help to solve problems at their roots, but also keeps him informed about every detail of the organization.

www.brac.net

To be a good leader, Mr Abed emphasizes the need to devote oneself entirely to one’s work and freeing oneself from preoccupations related to accumulation of personal wealth. A leader must regard his work as a lifestyle, rather than a nine-to-five job. He also stresses the need for effective partnerships to make a difference and change societies. In all of

Life Story Fazle Hasan Abed

----------

“

----------

Success helps us remain committed....Our greatest

BRAC’s work, the poor are regarded as partners in a common struggle, rather than the objects of program interventions. Mr Abed remains steadfast in his work through even the most distressing calamities. He inculcates values of leadership, partnership and ethical practices to his colleagues and co-workers.

inspiration is from our field

Self-related Competencies

visits...When I see for myself the improvements that our programs are bringing, it gives me strength and motivation.

----------

”

----------

Q. You have a lifelong commitment to the poor and needy for the improvement of their lives. What keeps you going? A. I think what keeps us going is that the challenges of development in a poor country like Bangladesh, where people are so disadvantaged in many ways, are so intense. One doesn’t really feel that after 34 years of work, one has really completed the mission. The continuing poverty in our society provides the kind of challenge that makes you feel that you ought to go on doing the kind of things you are doing. I really don’t think that even if I lived another 10 or 15 years, I would feel that my job was complete. I have to go on working on these issues because we have not really completed any of the things we want Bangladesh to attain over the next few years. Success is difficult in a situation like that of Bangladesh and challenges are enormous. That’s what keeps us going. Q. What do you do to remain committed? A. I don’t think I need to do anything in order to remain committed. I think the situation in Bangladesh is so challenging that one remains committed to doing something about this situation. For instance, when I go to a village, and I see that some of the work that we do has improved people’s lives, that gives me the urge to go on doing this kind of work. Success helps us remain committed. If we had not been successful in our work, it would act as a big de-motivator. Poverty alleviation is the main focus of BRAC, in terms of better health care, better education and livelihood opportunities and so on. We are trying to do these and we see some changes. The success of our efforts in rural Bangladesh also renews our commitment. So the greatest inspiration is from our field visits rather than from my work at the office. When I go to the field and see for myself the improvements that our programs are bringing, it gives me strength and motivation. Q. You started your organization 34 years ago. Has your vision changed from what it was in 1972?

BRAC Since its founding in 1972, BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) has grown to be the largest NGO in the world, in terms of scale and program interventions. It has an annual budget of over US$300 million, with three-quarters selffinanced. Its outreach covers all 64 districts in the country, employing more than 97,000 people. Through its programs it provides and protects the livelihoods of about 100 million Bangladeshis. For more information, go to: www.brac.net and www.braceducation.org

A. I suppose visions don’t change, but certain emphasis changes. The BRAC vision is a just, enlightened, healthy and democratic Bangladesh, free from hunger, poverty and environmental degradation. This is very broad and has been there all the time. But, for example, when you work in an education project, you have a limited vision of education where you want to ensure that children get opportunities to learn. You want to see them get quality education. Therefore, you first want to see that all children get quality primary education. Then your concern shifts to secondary education.

Life Story Fazle Hasan Abed

There are 17,000 secondary schools in Bangladesh out of which I suppose only 200 schools or so would be considered of good quality. Vast numbers provide education of appalling quality. So, in that situation, you think in terms of curriculum development, the need for teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; training, teaching learning methodologies, which could be employed to improve the quality of education dramatically. We havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really gone into that area very much as yet. We are still thinking of what percentage of our children is enrolled in schools. Initially the vision might be that we want to have every child go to school and then once you have attained that you want to start emphasizing on the quality of education. So there are hierarchies of missions, but the ultimate vision is, of course, an enlightened society.

Aligning Values and Motivation For any organization, it is important to:

Organization-related Capabilities Q. What do you do to align your commitment with that of your colleagues, co-workers? A. Whenever I have a chance to meet my co-workers, I try to give them a broader vision of things, rather than operational ideas alone. I try to give them a Big Picture of what needs to be done in Bangladesh. I think the best way is to transmit your values to your co-workers and thus make them share the same enthusiasm and commitment towards their work. After all, the kind of work we do is values-driven and not profit driven. So, continuously instilling in people the principles of development and changes that we want to see in our society is always helpful and seems to inspire them to action. Making everyone feel part of the decision-making process is another important motivating factor. We have almost 35,000 workers in the field and everyone has a meeting with their supervisor each week in which they discuss progress and problems they encounter. The supervisors, in turn, meet their manager once in a month. So we are getting information from the fields all the time. Decisions are also very decentralized. Our field workers and managers decide how to go about addressing the issues that confront them. We have a cascading series of meetings that generate feedback from the field all the time. Hence everyone at BRAC feels that they are part of the decisionmaking process where feedback is taken and decisions made at the field level. I head an organization with 35,000 staff, and when they ask me whether I know what is going on within the organization I tell them that I have a fair idea. The information system and the system of getting feedback from the field, which we have instituted within BRAC, seem to work to strengthen the communication between the field and the headquarters. That helps to give people the feeling that they are not just cogs in a machine, but they are also actors who are part of the program itself. I also think that it is impossible to empower the poor without empowering our staff. Empowerment is not something disempowered people can do. It is important for your staff to feel that they are empowered to do things to

Children learning to read and write

Transmit the Big Picture Share the same enthusiasm and commitment as your colleagues and coworkers Make them part of decision-making Empower them so that they can empower others

Life Story Fazle Hasan Abed

Building Capacity

empower others. A BRAC worker gets committed from his own empowerment. He feels committed to further the goals of the organization, which means ensuring the well-being of the poor.

Factors that will strengthen capacity development to ensure success in programs:

Q. What are the challenges facing your organization today? As a leader, what do you do to keep yourself updated on challenges?

Determination - to bring changes in people’s lives

A. There are many challenges. First of all, the entire organization is fairly large. BRAC has extended its programs to other countries like Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. We can now offer the learning from our experience in Bangladesh and spread that to other countries that need support.

Thinking in national terms - be ambitious enough to go beyond small areas

We are thinking of Africa as a possible entry point for BRAC to help institutional capacity building in that continent, so that they can engage in poverty alleviation themselves. These are the new challenges we think BRAC as an organization can meet in support of other poor nations.

Inspiration - think nationally, work locally and look for inspiration globally

Africa provides an opportunity where we can do useful work because our experience is very similar. Organizations like World Vision and CARE International are essentially Northern and they are helping poor countries in the South. I feel that our experience is more in tune with the kind of services that need to be provided in Africa. Thus, we do have an edge in terms of program experience in providing help over the Northern NGOs.

Ability to do the work develop competency to handle programs at national levels

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Leaders cannot really inspire others by word of mouth. They have to live a life that inspires others

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Northern NGOs have two or three advantages over us. They can raise money, so resource mobilization at their home base is easy. They can also hire well-educated people, but not necessarily the most appropriately trained. I think that our staff are better suited to meet the needs of Africa than the development personnel, unexposed to African conditions, that the Northern NGOs deploy. We may not have our own resources, but we should be able to mobilize resources if we have the right kind of programs. So that is one challenge where we feel we need to go international and help people. The second challenge, being in the South, is mobilizing large amount of resources. The third challenge is to continuously be on the lookout for improving your capacity and be able to deliver appropriate program outputs. Capacity building within our organization must progress in such a way that we can help not only ourselves, but also other nations.

Community-related Skills Q. How would you describe the needs of the poor today compared to their needs 34 years ago when you started BRAC? A. Bangladesh was a lot poorer 34 years ago, with lots of people going hungry. More than 70% of our people were under the poverty line. Now I think things have improved. Our poverty line has come down to 40%. We didn’t have effective programs to meet the needs of the poor back then. We didn’t have micro finance, agricultural improvements that we have developed over the last 34 years. Society was much less forthcoming; for example, women were still very domestically involved. There is a huge difference between poverty back then and poverty now. For instance, children back then did not receive immunization. I remember in the 1980s, we took the immunization program throughout the country. From less than 2% then, we took it up to 70%. So there have been dramatic changes, but the next task was thinking in terms of the remaining 30% who still didn’t get immunized. We wanted to reach all the children. So, in spite of the changes that had taken place, we also thought that the same things needed to be done but not in the manner we did before. The type of work we do is more or less the same but the challenges are to serve the people who still do not have access to the services that we, as a nation, are working to provide.

Life Story Fazle Hasan Abed

The other change is that we are now trying to provide more services and technologies than before. For example, in the old days we were trying to get our agriculture to produce more from the technology that we were employing then. High-yielding varieties of rice are good examples. We were teaching the farmers to put the right amount of fertilizers, water and pesticides to get better crops. These challenges have, more or less, been achieved. The next challenge will be more bio-technological development, where we go for hybrid crops, tissue culture, etc. We would then need to adopt these technological advances to improve our food production capabilities. The same applies to health care. We have to bring down mortality levels but the problem lies with vitamin deficiencies in our children. It is not just feeding children but also giving them food with adequate micronutrients and iodine so that they have better nutrition. These are the changes in the way we think about development today as opposed to 34 years ago.

Poultry

farm under the Ultra-Poor

program

I nter-organizational Partnering Skills Q. Partnership is an important concept for sustaining organizational programs and activities. How do you foster a meaningful partnership? A. You need partnerships in all kinds of activities. You cannot do things by yourself and change societies on your own. When you are working with poor people, you need them as partners. Instead of seeing the poor as the objects of our program interventions, we like to see them as partners in a common struggle for freedom from poverty and social injustice. Poverty alleviation can only be done when organizations like BRAC are in partnership with the poor. There are many kinds of partnerships. There are partnerships with donors who provide resources; with people who want to change their lives; with schools that want to educate children, and so on. There are partnerships you are building to bring about changes in a society, so they are very important in the sense that there will be very many different kinds of partnerships for implementing your work. Without partnerships, one cannot bring about social change.

Retrenched

garment factory worker starting her own micro business

Q. What makes a partnership work? A. If the goals are not the same, there is no way the partnership will work. Similarity of values is also very important. If the goals and values are the same, then a partnership can be built. Among partners, if you can transmit the idea that you have the same value system and the goals are agreed upon, then a more sustainable partnership can be built. When we work with the poor, we make them our partners.

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If the goals are not the same, there is no way the partnership will work....Among partners, if you can transmit the idea that

Q. Are there any regrets in your professional life?

you have the same values A. The only regret that I have is that we should have grown much faster. The first 20 years of BRAC were a learning period. We could have taken certain programs earlier on. We should have gone into education much earlier in our organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life cycle. We should have taken advantage of opportunities earlier. However, we find that we are not too late, but we should have done them earlier. So the regrets are that I am nearly 70 now; if I was 50, I could have looked forward to another 20 years of useful activity. I am regretting that I have very few years to work and that much time has passed but much work still needs to be done.

system and goals are agreed upon...When we work with the poor, we make them our partners

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Life Story Fazle Hasan Abed

Policy and Program Capacity Q. What is secret of success? What lies behind BRAC’s phenomenal success? A. First thing is determination. We were determined to bring about changes in the lives of poor people. The second thing is thinking in national terms. We always had a national goal; we never thought in terms of working in a small area. We thought, all right, if we work with the poorest people in one community, what about other communities? So we felt that whatever we did, we should try and replicate it throughout the nation.

Raising

awareness on HIV/AIDS at a women’s group meeting

The third thing is inspiration. We always thought nationally, worked locally, and looked for inspiration globally. We were inspired by Paolo Freire’s work on the pedagogy of the oppressed, which came out in 1972. It was wonderful to have a thinker who was thinking about poor people and how they could become actors in history and not just passive recipients of other people’s aid. He made us realize that poor people are human beings and can do things for themselves. It is our duty to empower them so they can analyze their own situation, see how exploitation works in society, and see what they need to do to escape these exploitative processes. Finally, one needs to have not only ambition but also the ability to do the work. The organization must be competent to take on national tasks. We got that confidence from the campaign for oral rehydration to reduce diarrhoeal mortality in the 1980s. That involved going to every household in rural Bangladesh, 13 million households, and it took 10 years to do it. Then we became a little more ambitious. We thought that if we could go to every household, then we could cover the whole country with all our programs.

Challenges and the Future Q. What advice would you give to emerging leaders facing similar human challenges as yours? A. I made one decision when I started BRAC, that I would not seek any financial or other resources for myself. I would not go after my own financial fulfilment. For example, I will never build any house. I will educate my children but not leave any property behind. I think a kind of commitment to a single purpose is needed for a leader. If you are continuously thinking in terms of ‘my family’ and ‘myself”, then you are diverting from your goals of helping others. So, in a way, a kind of mental renunciation is necessary. You have to think beyond amassing more fortune for yourself. Secondly, your commitment has to be total. It is not a part-time thing. Your occupation becomes your total preoccupation. So I suppose the advice would be that some amount of renunciation of personal material goals and total absorption in the work you are doing are essential. I just read this article on Mechai* of Thailand. He said that when he came back from Australia, Shell Oil Company gave him a job. But his mother asked him to work for the people. So, he obliged and committed his life to working for the poor. Similarly, I once held a very senior position with Shell Oil Company but gave that up and joined the liberation movement of Bangladesh and then started BRAC. That is something I voluntarily chose for myself. * Dr Mechai Viravaidya, Founder and Chairman of Population and Community Development Association (PDA) of Thailand is another VLP “Life Story” profile. See pages 29-36

Q. What does it take to inspire others to act in a similar way? A. The most important thing is to be able to transmit a vision and value. The way you live and the way you think also affect your leadership. If you

Life Story Fazle Hasan Abed

Bio-data Born in 1936, Fazle Hasan Abed was educated at the Dhaka and Glasgow Universities. An accountant by training, he worked as a senior corporate executive at Shell Oil in Chittagong before giving it up to work for the poor. The Liberation War of 1971 and the occupation of then East Pakistan led him to London where he initiated a campaign Help Bangladesh to raise funds for the war effort. When he returned to a newly independent Bangladesh, the country was in ruins. Mr Abed set up BRAC to help with relief and rehabilitation for millions of returning refugees. Among the numerous national and international awards Mr Abed has received are the Gates Award for Global Health, and the UNDP Mahbub ul Haq Award for Outstanding Contribution to Human Development, both given in 2004. He is also a recipient of Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership and the Olof Palme Award of Sweden. Mr Abed has published extensively, and sits on many Boards, thus sharing his philosophy on development and leadership with other organizations. (For a more detailed bio-data, please check www.brac.net) are not hard-working, then you will not be able to inspire others to be hard-working. A leader’s lifestyle inspires others. So, I wouldn’t say that BRAC would be a hard-working organization if I had not been hard-working myself. Leaders cannot really inspire others by word of mouth. They have to live a life that inspires others.

Leaders Checklist Leadership means:

Q. As a leader, what have you done consciously to make your leadership a sustainable one? A. I think the most important thing about a leader is that he or she must develop other leaders. Gandhi once said, “There goes my people; I must follow them because I am their leader”. Here he is talking about following a particular aspiration of his people. That means he must try to get them to their goals. Gandhi is one person who has created large number of leaders through his actions, thoughts, concept and ideas. I think a leader not only gets others to follow him, but also develops other leaders. So in other words, a leader’s main function is to develop other leaders within his organization. If the leader doesn’t do that, as soon as he departs, the organization falls apart. My conscious effort has been to empower people with me and below me so that they can take decisions. You will see there are lots of people in BRAC who are leaders amongst their own group of people.

Some

kind of mental renunciation is necessary

Your commitment must be total. Leadership is not a part-time thing

Be able to transmit your vision and values

Work

hard and live an exemplary life so that others are inspired

Q. Can you see BRAC without Fazle Hasan Abed? A. I have always thought of BRAC without myself. I am thinking of BRAC 200 years from now. You see someone made a study of 15th century institutions. Five hundred of them were looked at. Only 33 of them have survived like Oxford, Cambridge, and Sorbonne. Twenty-nine are universities; two are churches, one a parliament and one business. So, what are of essence in the institutions that survived? They are selfregulated. Universities, because there is always a demand for education in society and they create leaders. All societies must have leaders. I just hope that BRAC and BRAC University will still go on surviving because they will be able to respond to the emerging needs of the society. I hope BRAC does it.

photo credits: BRAC

leader must develop other leaders

Life Story

Dr Florence Manguyu

Persistence is Key to Advocacy Written by Florence Muindi and Christiane McWest

I ntroduction Pediatrician and Advocate for Women and Children Private practice

long-time advocate for women’s and children’s health, Dr Florence

Wambui Manguyu played a key role at the 1994 United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in

Cairo. She chaired the International Non-Governmental (NGO) Committee that organized the NGO Forum which ran concurrently with the official ICPD meeting. She was one of the keynote speakers at both the NGO Forum and the Intergovernmental Conference, where she addressed issues of human development. The ICPD was a global landmark on policies that

KENYA

impact on human development. Dr Manguyu received an award of recognition, in 2004, from the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) at the ICPD@10 Conference in London. She also played a leading role at the 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, where she served as NGO Regional Coordinator on Health and as a member of the African Regional Organizing Committee. Dr Florence Manguyu is a consultant pediatrician in clinical practice in Nairobi, Kenya. She is an ardent and respected advocate for the health and well-being of women and children around the world. In her home country, she pioneered the drafting of the first comprehensive Act on the Rights of the Child enacted in 2001. She was a member of the national task force that reviewed laws affecting women in Kenya. Dr Manguyu is also a member and past President of the Medical Women’s International Association. She serves on a number of local and international boards on policy issues. She has been an active member of the Kenya Medical Practitioners’ and Dentists’ Board, among other organizations. Dr Manguyu has also been active in many other international forums related to women and children, including the World Health Organization’s Global Commission on Women’s Health. As an inspirational speaker, she has been invited to numerous conferences to deliver addresses and present papers related to population and health issues. Early in her medical career, Dr Manguyu undertook extensive research on the treatment of asthma, intestinal parasites, and tropical diseases. She is currently working with a research team in search of an effective HIV/ AIDS vaccine in East Africa. She contributed to the book, “AIDS in Africa”, and was on the editorial panel of the book, “Women and Health”, produced by the UN/NGO Group on Women and Development. Dr Manguyu has also written numerous papers on women’s and children’s health.

Life Story Dr Florence Manguyu

Vision In addition to being a pediatrician, Dr Florence Manguyu has been very much involved in the broader reproductive health issues. It all started when she got deeply interested in the welfare of children whom she was treating. The welfare of children according to Dr Manguyu, cannot be separated from the welfare of mothers. The two are interdependent. Through treating children, Dr Manguyu realized that children were getting a raw deal from the society and the parents specifically. “How do you explain a situation where a child, looking malnourished, is brought to the clinic by parents driving a Mercedes car and very expensively dressed,” asks Dr Manguyu. “I got tired of treating such children”. She then decided to join the Kenya Medical Women’s Association which is an affiliated member of the global Medical Women’s International Association to be able to advocate for women’s and children’s health.

Vision For all Kenyans to have access to information because information is power and people do make informed choices for their own benefit when they have the right information.

Dr Manguyu’s vision is for all Kenyans to have access to information because information is power and people do make informed choices for their own benefit when they have the right information. She emphasizes that information must be accessible to girls and also women who are married because “primarily, health is an individual responsibility”.

Achievements Dr Manguyu is a woman of many achievements. Aside from the key roles she played at the United Nations conferences in Cairo and Beijing, she initiated and spearheaded the effort that led to the enactment of the Children’s Act in Kenya, and headed the Medical Women’s International Association. She was a member of the WHO Global Commission on Women’s Health. Dr Manguyu is in constant demand as a speaker on women and children’s issues at international conferences and seminars. She also sits (or has sat) on the boards of many national and international organizations.

a) The Children’s Act in Kenya The Children’s Act which was enacted in Kenya in 2001 represents a major personal achievement for Dr Manguyu. After all, she, with others, pioneered the drafting of the first comprehensive bill on the Rights of the Child in Kenya. In this case, she says it took 12 years of persistent lobbying to have this bill become law. It all started when in 1989, as the Head of the Kenya Medical Women’s Association, she was involved in organizing a conference to address the issue of child abuse and neglect. This conference which was officially opened by the then Head of State, raised a lot of awareness as well as criticism as child abuse was considered “foreign” and a very ‘little’ matter for NGOs. Following the conference, Kenya developed its position paper for the UNICEF Summit on the Convention on the Rights of the Child that was held in New York in 1990. She was also instrumental in making Kenya ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Pertinent quotes from Dr Manguyu’s presentations:

“Throughout the world, motherhood is exalted but not much is done to make it safer.....Women should not die in the process of giving life.” 1 “As a woman, I’m not going to get myself pregnant so I can have an abortion. So, why not help a woman not to become pregnant if she doesn’t want to be pregnant. Many times it’s not a choice; it’s a lack of choice.” 2

“Although our President did not attend the UN Summit in New York, I personally took the document brought to Kenya by the UNICEF Director, to the President of Kenya at the State House for his signature,” she recalls. It took 12 long years of lobbying for the bill to be enacted. All the work was done voluntarily. She recalled the many times where the task force members would travel to provinces to ask people what they wanted to see in the draft bill. The draft was then taken through different stages before being presented to Parliament where it was thrown out of the door several times…before finally being passed as a law in 2001.

1. “Who shall live and who shall die: Life chances of women in Africa”, presented at the 2001 Women’s Health Matters Forum and Expo. 2. 2000 Briefing on Maternal and Child Health, Population Resource Center, USA.

Life Story Dr Florence Manguyu

Q&A

With Dr Florence Manguyu

Q What it was like to be heading the Medical Women’s International Association? It was challenging to head the Medical Women’s International Association because the network is very wide; each country is autonomous and network issues have to be dealt with within the laws of specific countries. For example, in some Muslim countries, it was not allowed that a group of more than five women meet (unless they came from the same family), making things difficult for the network to work in such countries. The priorities of a developed country like Canada are completely different from the priorities of a developing country, and a developed contry could find the issues of a developing country very basic and “outdated”. However, basic women’s issues are the same across the countries’ networks: status, gender and power relations.

Q What are women’s strengths in terms of leadership for advocacy and policy dialogue? Women know the issues affecting them and their children, since they live through them. They are the ones who queue at health centers with their children while their work is waiting. Experiencing those issues gives them the strength as they can fight from a position of knowledge and passion. For example, they are, in a way, also medical people because they take care of their families, including the family health. Their weakness is due to their lack of power. Being a pediatrician, there was no way I could sort out children’s problems without sorting out the mothers’ problems as well.

Q As a speaker in demand, what is your overall basic message for your audiences? Mainly women’s and children’s wellbeing and rights. I pioneered the Children’s Act and it took 12 years to achieve the enactment of that Act because of resistance. But many things have been implemented from it and I am happy about that: children’s court; children’s casualty ward; education and many other aspects of children’s rights, but that is not enough as education for all children should be free and compulsory.

Q What are the major challenges for achieving the MDGs especially maternal health, education for all, child mortality and gender equality? Poverty is the biggest challenge. One cannot control HIV without tackling the issue of poverty. Nowadays, treatment is offered but we seem to lose focus on prevention. The Global Fund has proved that there was lack of capacity to manage the poverty issue, and that also touches on the child’s and woman’s health. The other challenges are development in general, and education. Women’s status in the society, if changed, will greatly improve the maternal health and the child welfare.

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Poverty is the biggest challenge. One cannot control HIV without tackling the issue of poverty.

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b) The Cairo Conference It is probably from the time of the Children’s Act that Dr Manguyu was first noticed internationally. She was a member of a committee of 11 persons coordinating participation of NGOs in Cairo. The head of the committee, from Barbados, was unavailable a few months before the UN Conference, and Dr Manguyu was selected to head the NGO Committee and the NGO Forum at the ICPD Cairo Conference. Heading the NGO Forum at the ICPD, she says, was a big challenge, but she received all the support and guidance from the very able committee members. Dr Manguyu also chaired the Task Force for the Reproductive Health NGOs at the African Conference held in Nairobi in July 2002.

Life Story Dr Florence Manguyu

Reproductive Health Dr Manguyu indicates that reproductive health is a challenging issue as it is a very intimate topic. “We cannot talk about RH for women without touching the men. When you fight for RH rights for women, men see this as depriving them of something, and this is where gender issues come in”, she says. “Bring out facts even when people do not want to hear the fact. Be persistent, explain, lobby and do not get tired,” says Dr Manguyu.

Motivation Dr Manguyu’s greatest source of motivation is to give without expecting anything in return, and to have the personal satisfaction to have done something that will benefit or has benefited other people.

Leaders Checklist For aspiring leaders in advocacy and networking The leader should strive to possess the following qualities:

Bio-data

Consultant Pediatrician and International Advocate for Women and Children Personal: Married with four children. Education: Medical degree from Makerere University, Uganda, 1973. Specialization: Pediatrics.

Professional life: Currently in private practice. Consultant and Senior Adviser, Kenya to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Member of WHO Global Commission on Women’s Health. Has taught at universities and worked at Nairobi City Council as a doctor.

Board member of: SOS Children’s Village, and Christian Children’s Fund in Kenya. Was Board member of Population Council, Pathfinder International, PCI, Medical Women’s International Association. Member of International Advisory Committee for: Partners in Population and Development, and the Visionary Leadership Program Personal life Dr Manguyu had a quiet and happy childhood. Her father was working for the East African Post Office and his job took him to different places. Because of this “nomadic life”, she was brought up by her grandparents together with cousins. Her grandfather was an educated man, an aspect which has probably contributed to her considering education as important. She is married to an ophthalmologist, and has four grown-up children. Her husband is her greatest supporter. Thanks to his background, he is her first audience of her speeches as he is able to give technical support, critique and inputs to her work.

photo credits: Dr Manguyu

Be selfless Be down-to-earth and have humility Have joy in making difference at grassroots and personal levels Don’t expect material reward for achievements Respect the people you are serving – the children and women, the community Be able to access the people that make policies Be able to complete the cycle – need to have access at grassroots and to policy makers

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Bring out facts even when people do not want to hear the fact. Be persistent, explain, lobby and do not get tired

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Life Story

Prof Dr Haryono Suyono

Communications, Innovations, and Strong Program Development Written by Prof Jay Satia and Moi Lee Liow

I ntroduction Founder and Chairman Yayasan Dana Sejahtera Mandiri (Damandiri Foundation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Indonesian Institute for Family and Human Development)

INDONESIA

esults speak for themselves. The Indonesian family planning program is an exemplary success story in program innovativeness and results-oriented performance. Its achievements are

remarkable considering the sheer geographical spread of the 17,000island Indonesian archipelago and the great diversity in its peoples and cultures.

The Indonesian program has been a pioneering stalwart in the developing world since family planning programs proliferated in all corners of the globe in the second half of the 20th century. Initiated in 1957 with the founding of the Indonesian Planned Parenthood Association (IPPA), family planning became an official government program in 1970 with the establishment of the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (or BKKBN, going by its Indonesian abbreviation). From then on, its machinery has spread far and wide, putting in place innovative program interventions such as the integrated health and family planning post called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Posyanduâ&#x20AC;?, an extensive and complex management information system, the Family Enumeration and Mapping exercise, and so on. Prof Dr Haryono Suyono is widely credited with the success of the Indonesian family planning program as the most greatest reduction in total fertility rate (in tandem with increase in contraceptive prevalence) occurred between 1980 and 1990, during his 15-year tenure of head of BKKBN. He was also Minister of Population and Minister Coordinator for Social Welfare. A man of slight build spearheading one of the largest family planning programs in the world, he demonstrated a single-mindedness and determination, qualities typical of visionary leaders, that had effectively translated a simple goal into reality with stunning results. Even in his retirement (as BKKBN Chairman and Minister in 1999) he continues to impart his leadership experiences on the human development, social welfare and charity causes he promotes which are helping people through reproductive health, education and training, and promotion and empowerment of economic activity for the poor. He founded and now heads a private foundation called Yayasan Dana Sejahtera Mandiri (or Indonesian Institute for Family and Human Development, in English) which aims to realize human potential and self-reliance. He is on the faculty of the School of Medicine at Airlangga University in Surabaya, Java. A true communicator, Dr Haryono also finds time to host radio programs on health and family.

www.damandiri.or.id 24

Life Story Prof Dr Haryono Suyono

Program Development One salient feature of the Indonesian program has always been the strong and sustained commitment of the top political leadership to BKKBN and its family planning interventions. From President Suharto down to grassroots village chiefs, Dr Haryono was able to keep the family planning agenda at the forefront through constant reminders in the media, political speeches made by the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s president and regional political leaders, and an efficient monitoring and management information system that generated reported data on FP activities. Q. As the top leader of the Indonesian program, tell us some key features which accounted for its success A. For the last 30 years I was in family planning, I maintained very carefully the commitment of the President. Along with the President must come the ministers, especially those with the responsibility to do the planning and financing.

Political support is vital. Dr Haryono with

(current) President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Also this commitment must be translated into operational terms in terms of provision of money, laws and decisions by every level of leadership especially ministers of finance, planning or for regional development like the minister of the interior who is responsible for the coordination of all the governors and chiefs of the regencies. Q. How did this commitment remain alive? A. As BKKBN Chairman, I had to maintain that the President himself spoke about family planning on many occasions. I had to make sure his statements were followed by financial support which should increase year by year to ensure the commitment remained high. That kind of commitment of the top leadership of ministers would then be transmitted by governments and regency on the same terms, with the same connotations, and with local fund support and provision of top-ranking personnel who work with family planning. If a governor, for example, was not following instructions of the President, I made a personal visit and conveyed the message of the President. If necessary, I would ask the President to invite the governor to see him. So I translated this kind of political commitment not only in a sense of public statements but operationally so that everyone at all levels would be committed. In doing so, I brought some pressure on those who might not be so committed. Q. What about monitoring mechanisms? A. We started with simple date like number of FP acceptors, and then users who are continuing in family planning. Eventually we reported more sophisticated data like total fertility rate and so on. You cannot see fertility rate decline in the beginning of program because you only have very few acceptors and impact on fertility is almost none. When your program is already 10 years or 15 years, then you can start reporting in fertility reduction, and eventually you can report the decline in population growth rates, and so on. To maintain commitment and public trust, in the beginning of implementation you have to report rather dynamic statistics, such as additional known family planning acceptors. But not current users. If you start with current users, then reports will be rather flat. Only after a while, you can start reporting current users, then only can you report fertility decline. Not many family planning leaders knew that but I knew because I had been educated in the field as population expert. So I was very careful in reporting indicators to the public, very gradually, not right away. It was public, not just reporting to the President. Every week, every month, when you make speeches, you have something new, and when you compare, it is

Commitment

at provincial level from governors and senior officials

Phases of Program Development To sustain program innovations and momentum, we used the Javanese philosophy of phases of development:

Expansion Maintenance Institutionalization

Life Story Prof Dr Haryono Suyono

progress, not a plateau. You can get a very nice public opinion of what you are doing, and that strengthens the culture of your organization. Leaders need that kind of support. Otherwise, you cannot convince your minister of finance to give you more money or your interior minister to give instructions to the governors. After five or ten years into the program, we began to put in six family planning indicators as indicators of success for each and every governor and regency chief. Q. How did program innovations come about and sustained? A. I saw it as phases of development for the program, according to Javanese philosophy. At the beginning you have program expansion. Then, when something is not moving such as the ability in getting new acceptors, then you have to revise your program into a second phase and move onto the next phase to focus on your current users and increase, maybe, methods used. This is program maintenance phase where you need new indicators. Eventually you have to move to another phase which I call program institutionalization. It doesn’t matter if you do this with the private sector or government clinics.

Community FP workers bring the message home

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Understand the power of the media. Coach, if you need to, the political leaders on how to communicate their messages to the public.

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Organizational Challenges One of the major organizational challenges especially in the early days of his tenure at BKKBN was the tenuous relationship with Ministry of Health (MOH). Another was his leadership style. Yet another was communications over such a large geographical spread like Indonesia. Dr Haryono was very aware of the power of communications and use of the media. Q. What was the relationship between BKKBN and Ministry of Health? A. There were some institutional suspicions between MOH and BKKBN and these were softened by making the Chairman of BKKBN the Minister of Health. But the Chairman then became influenced by his staff who sometimes downplayed the program strength. There was some rivalry between MOH and BKKBN which was not publicized but it was deep-rooted. But for program success we worked together. If we had problems providing family planning services, we would use not only MOH doctors but also doctors from other sectors such as the military. Q. Was there any criticism of your leadership? A. There was a label given to me such as Haryono was someone who occupied other people’s territory and did other people’s work. Some people still remember this kind of thing. But this was not done openly. I was aware of this. But I was trying to push development which was linked to population and available institutional capacity. I introduced the notion of “population-centered development” approach rather than institutional development approach.

Reaching out to women leaders

At least, my staff and regional staff have been understanding. If doctors and midwives are not sufficient based on this approach, then they have to look for resources outside of the institution. Q. You have effectively used media and campaigns to communicate your message. What advice would you give to aspiring leaders?. A. Understand the power of the media. Coach, if you need to, the political leaders on how to communicate their messages to the public. Early on, we introduced the “population-centered development” approach which was a departure from the traditional institution-centered approach. That was an important development which had to be conveyed to the public. When you put people at the center of policies, you have to let them know.

Life Story Prof Dr Haryono Suyono

Q. How can they cultivate these skills? A. Be friends with the media. Be approachable. Be known as a leader who steps in personally to do this. Be seen at all levels of places. Be clear in what you write in your press releases, articles, reports, etc.

Leadership and Influences An important leadership quality he displayed at our interview was his ability to see opportunities where others see obstacles. Q. How and where did you develop your leadership skills? A. My father was a teacher and my mother worked in a small retail shop. I have been socialized in that kind of family which gave me a basic need for more education like my father. I was also socialized in using my hands and spending my time with the people and helping them, like my mother who was giving rice or other provisions to the poor. This influenced me to contribute to the poor community which I continue to do. It gives me pleasure to be able to help others. Q. What qualities do you think make a good leader? A. Firstly, a leader must have conviction and competence in what he is doing. Have some sort of see the future ability and a vision which he must share as widely as possible. He is not running alone as a leader but to have many people sharing the vision with him. He cannot say he is satisfied with what he knows; he must continue learning as if he doesn’t have enough. Leaders have to be alert to anything possible for development that could be emerging. He should have the ability to accept anything. Be open-minded. He cannot close his mind. He has to learn to listen, to accept other people’s opinion. Q. Who are the leaders you admire or model yourself after? A. I admire President Suharto not because he was my own president but because he had the ability to bring people together to participate. His commitment to the family planning program was absolutely vital. I also admire Gandhi very much for his vision and his ability to inspire so many people with his humility and simple ways. Q. You were looked upon as a great leader in FP programs in developing countries. Do you have any regrets? A. No, not many regrets. But I feel that I have not really done enough, in putting forward the whole concept of population development, of putting the people as actors and leaders in development clearly enough. I regret that because the family planning ministry was not really the institution to do that. If we did that, then people would think we were going out of our mandate. I had the opportunity to do that when I was Coordinating Minister of Social Welfare but my term there was too short. If I had more time, I would be able to do that so I was disappointed. I am still dreaming to do that, to put people at the center of development programs. Population has gone from demographic stage to quality of life stage. Population should be the master of development, not the other way round.

On a BKKBN TV program: Use all mass media and always be ready with your message

Leaders Checklist A good leader should strive to possess the following:

Have a vision and share it Have conviction Develop competencies in what you do Do not be satisfied Be eager for learning and knowledge Be alert for emerging issues and challenges Have an open mind Learn to listen and accept other views

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Population has gone from demographic stage to quality of life. Population should be the master of development, not the other way round.

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Life Story Prof Dr Haryono Suyono

Bio-data Dr Haryono Suyono was born in a small town in Java island, the most heavily-populated of the major Indonesian islands. He is one of three sons born to a school teacher and a business woman. He has a PhD degree in demography, sociology and communication from University of Chicago in the US. Before his doctorate studies, he worked with a pilot FP project in Jakarta where his interest and commitment to population began. There were very few people with advanced degrees in population and demography in Indonesia at that time. While doing his doctorate degree in the late 1960s, Dr Haryono saw the opportunity to be a professional leader. He conducted workshops on population while at Chicago, and it was at one of these workshops where he came in contact with the Indonesian government family planning officials. He started his 30-year-plus tenure at BKKBN as a deputy director. While a deputy at BKKBN, he was involved in writing speeches for President Suharto which would inevitably include messages on family planning. He was head of BKKBN for 15 years, during which time the Indonesian program grew by leaps and bounds. He was Minister of Population and Minister Coordinator for Social Welfare, and also Chairman of ICOMP Executive Committee for two terms in the 1990s. He is Founder and Chairman of Yayasan Dana Sejahtera Mandiri, a foundation that promotes self-reliance and human development. He is also on the faculty of the School of Medicine at Airlangga University in Java, and host of radio programs on health and family.

Note: Decentralization of the Indonesian family planning program began in 2000, a process which transferred the mandate of program direction and implementation from central level to the provinces and districts. The current role of BKKBN has since changed dramatically from the days when Dr Haryono was at the helm.

photo credits: Dr Haryono and ICOMP

Life Story

Dr Mechai Viravaidya

Master Mass Media to Mobilize Resources Written by Prof Jay Satia

I ntroduction Founder and Chairman

r Mechai Viravaidya is widely recognized as a leader in family planning, community development and HIV/AIDS. He not only brings passion and inventiveness to his work but he also knows a

Population and Community Development Association

thing or two about using the mass media effectively. A multi-talented man with experience in the corporate sector, performing arts, politics and government, he chooses to spend most of his energies and passion in the non-profit sector.

Sustained Commitment THAILAND

In 1965, upon his return to Thailand from Melbourne University, Dr Mechai quickly received a job offer from Shell Oil Company. His mother advised, “Mechai, if you work for Shell, you will make a lot of money, you will play golf, you will have time off, you will have a good life. But if people like you work only for money, who will help the poor? That’s not what we educated you for. We educated you to help other people.” Heeding his mother’s sage advice, he accepted a position in the evaluation division of the National Economic Development Board (NEDB). To evaluate projects in every sector, he had to travel widely and frequently, which was how he came to understand what development was, how development worked, and all too frequently how it didn’t work. He found development to be an intensely captivating subject. He explored every corner of the Kingdom and came to know the full breadth of Thai people. Dr Mechai soon learned that Thailand was not a homogeneous country, but a potpourri of ethnic groups, religions, cultures, topography and climate. He was most deeply struck by the ubiquitous poverty. In every village he visited, he noted the abundance of children. Dr Mechai realized immediately that all of these children could not be fed, clothed, housed, educated, and eventually employed given the scarcity of available resources. He saw that every additional child further diluted the community’s ability to care for and empower the next generation. Yet no one at the time was doing anything to help communities manage their population. The words of his mother directed Dr Mechai towards his life’s work: empowering the underserved.

www.pda.or.th 29

Life Story Dr Mechai Viravaidya

Population and Community Development Association Founded in 1974, the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) is one of Thailand’s most well established and diverse NGOs. Headquartered in Bangkok, with 19 regional development centers and branch offices all over Thailand, PDA’s programs are based on the belief that local people are best suited to shape and sustain their own development. PDA pioneered grassroots growth based on extensive villager involvement as planners, managers and leaders as well as being beneficiaries. PDA began promoting family planning in urban and rural areas of Thailand more than 30 years ago, when knowledge of and access to such services were scarce. Since then, PDA programs have grown in scope and now encompass integrated rural development, water resource development, local institution building, medical and health services, HIV/AIDS care and awareness activities, income generation and occupational training, and forestry and environmental conservation PDA continues to stay ahead of the curve by responding to the signs of developing social and economic dilemmas with an innovativeness that has marked its achievements through the years. While PDA is pleased to have contributed to improving the standard and quality of life in Thailand, the organization acknowledges that much work remains to be done.

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If you are lucky to have an opportunity, then you should share opportunities with others.

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Q. You have a lifelong commitment to improve the lives of poor. What created this commitment? A. Basically both mother and I felt that if you are lucky to have an opportunity then you should share opportunities with others. I was lucky that my family could afford to educate me in Australia so I thought I should create opportunities for others. Q. How does this commitment remain alive? A. I don’t see it as a sacrifice. If you are careful and minimize failure then you begin to move and can build on success. You have to enjoy what you do. I find it is a great joy and fun, not a sacrifice. Q. Is this commitment widely shared among your staff? (You mentioned that some of your staff say that “Even if you fire us, we will not go.”) A. I let them enjoy their work. They should feel that they are making a difference. Good systems should be in place to attain success. You should be honest and not have your hand in the till.

Communicating the Message

A PDA mobile vasectomy van

While at the NEDB, Dr Mechai became frustrated by how important information about health and family planning was being stifled by the government policies on “moral” communication. In an effort to reach educated development professionals from local universities, government ministries, and international agencies. Dr Mechai accepted an offer from the editor of the Bangkok World to write a regular series of articles on development under the pen name “GNP.” He chose this name as the abbreviation for “Gross National Product” but also because the initials in reverse are stood for “Persona Non Grata”, something he would become if it was discovered that he was the author of these articles. His first weekly article appeared in March 1968.

Life Story Dr Mechai Viravaidya

At about the same time, an English language radio program was looking for a foreigner to host a show. Dr Mechai prepared a Demo tape and sent it to the station, using the pseudonym “Nicola” so they wouldn’t know he was Thai. The station loved the demo and gave him the job. The show, in which Dr Mechai interspersed popular music with funny or sarcastic comments about life in Bangkok, became very popular, especially among students. Later he began adding a little Thai to his commentary to broaden the show’s appeal. In 1968, after two years on the radio, Dr Mechai was invited to perform in an outdoor play at Thammasat University. Having achieved some critical acclaim for his performance at Thammasat he was soon invited to perform on television as a leading actor in a six episode series. Through acting, he came to appreciate the power of mass entertainment, learned how to utilize it and then master it. Q. You have effectively used media and campaigns to communicate your message. What advice would you give to aspiring leaders? A. We need media. So they should get to know media. Get their cooperation. Make friends with them. Do the things that they find interesting. Do not have boring press conferences. Q. How to cultivate these skills? A. Try to get some experience in the media. How do you write for newspaper, what do you do with radio, and so on.

Using Setbacks as Learning Opportunities

Raising awareness on condom use

By 1970, Dr Mechai was becoming increasingly disenchanted with the government. He had little patience for bureaucracies and the petty obeisance they demanded from the employees. For Dr Mechai the shackles government placed upon its employees were stifling his enthusiasm. Demanding an effective platform for change from which he could launch his campaigns for economic progress and social justice for rural poor he left NEDB and ran for public office. In 1972, a Member of Parliament from the Bangkok region passed away and a special by-election was being held to fill the vacant seat. This was Dr Mechai’s chance. In Thailand in the early 1970s, the electoral process was routinely subverted but he was prepared to meet the forces of corruption head on. When the dominant Democratic Party refused him the ticket, he decided to run as an independent. He was warned by Kukrit, an independent politician, “Your campaign will cost you money. Where will you get it?” Dr Mechai replied, “I will ask the people to support my campaign”. This was a novel idea in Thai politics, where funding usually came from more covert sources of dubious legality. During the campaign, Dr Mechai was able to hone many of the communication techniques that he later used for family planning. Two weeks before the election, He was leading in the polls. However, last minute ploys by the political parties eroded his support. When the final votes was tallied, he came in fourth, the highest finish for an independent candidate, behind the nominees from the military and government party. Q. You stood for election in 1972 for a seat in Parliament but did not win. Did you feel that this was a setback for you? A. Yes I lost the election but I did not feel bad. You learn and move on.

Dr Mechai is frequently interviewed by the media. This article is from AsiaWeek magazine, naming him one of Asia’s top 50 leaders in 1997.

Life Story Dr Mechai Viravaidya

Q. What was the learning? A. I learnt about the poor. I found out that they are decent and generous. You should have equal respect for all; respect the poor and the rich. No body has fought an election on 80,000 Bahts. So I learnt how to manage the programs with the cheapest funds of all. Q. What advice will you give to others? A. You can not climb mountains in one step. You need to take several steps. If you can do something, do it. Otherwise you move on. It is a learning curve.

Using

“Superman” to raise HIV/AIDS awareness

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I learnt about the poor. I found out that they are decent and generous. You should have respect for all: respect the poor and the rich.

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Be innovative Innovative interventions and creative thinking are the hallmarks of PDA programs.

Use humor - to attract attention, communicate messages and have fun

Don’t be too specialized - otherwise you become too narrow in your thinking

Always think of cost recovery and selfsufficiency - to ensure sustainability of programs

Always ask questions this will help you look for answers

Setting Unusual Ways When Dr Mechai joined the NEDB, most of key middle-level staff had specialized training in current economic development theories. Dr Mechai, who did not possess the same level of expertise, would use his strong background in commerce and economics to learn on the job. While Dr Mechai’s goal and primary interest was (and remains to this day) the economic and social development of Thailand’s poor, he always viewed family planning as a logical entry point. With neither academic training nor specific experience with public relations and family planning education he began working as a part-time IEC director for the Planned Parenthood Association of Thailand (PPAT) in 1971. At this time, PPAT was a conservative organization that was allowing social and cultural taboos about sex and contraceptives to stifle the organization and impede its effectiveness. As PPAT’s IEC director, Dr Mechai launched a direct assault against the cultural barriers to effective family planning. He used humor as his main weapon in bringing condoms and other contraceptive methods out into the open. He started out by distributing condoms much as one would pass out name cards; he would hand out condoms instead of leaflets. He produced stickers, flyers, posters, and T-shirts featuring brightly colored condoms and catchy slogans like “A condom a day keeps the doctor away”. The conservative members of PPAT were unhappy with his methods and he had to leave the position of Secretary General of PPAT in 1973. However, he received US$250,000 of IPPF funding in 1974 for Community-Based Family Planning Services. When contraceptives became accessible to a group of 24 villages during a pilot program, the community’s response was highly encouraging. Dr Mechai incorporated mechanisms for cost recovery and self-sufficiency that would guarantee the project’s sustainability, a crucial design element in all of his subsequent programs. Q. You have always sought unusual, innovative ways to do things, beginning with family planning. Where does this urge come from? A. Not being over-trained, not too specialized. When you are too specialized then you become too narrow. Say, a specialist doctor would be so specialized that he would not think of the whole body. If you are a generalist, you are more flexible. For instance, we ask doctors to prescribe pills, which is the common practice. We could get people to prescribe pills with only four hours of training. So one should ask questions. Q. Would you say that a specialist, to be a leader should broaden her/his outlook. A. Yes, but it is difficult because a specialist feels that all efforts will be a waste. So a specialist would want to remain a specialist.

Life Story Dr Mechai Viravaidya

Q. What about the risks involved? What nurtures such risk taking? A. You need to be thorough in preparation. You don’t take potluck. You ask many questions. You turn it around. Q. Are there common threads to such unusual ways? A. Do not give up. Look for answers. There are always ways to do new things.

Establishing New Organizations By 1977, Dr Mechai’s Community-Based Family Planning Services (CBFPS) had expanded to 156 districts, urging the transformation into a proper legal entity. In 1976, the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) was established. In 1977, all profit-making activities from clinics to paraphernalia were subsumed under the Population and Development Company (PDC). Following its inception, PDA had about 10,000 volunteers in 16,000 villages covering a third of Thailand’s geography. In 1978, it received a grant from Appropriate Technology International to establish the Community Based Appropriate Technology Development Services (CBATDS), a program focused on community development. In December 1979, nearly 500,000 Khmer refugees had amassed on Thai border after Vietnam occupied Cambodia. PDA received support for refugee relief and established a new bureau called the Community Based Emergency Relief Services (CBERS). In addition to CBERS supplying food to the camp, CBATDS established a small farmers’ fair price program, beginning what would become a paradigm of cooperation between PDA program areas. Realizing that the lack of clean water was a serious impediment to improving health and quality of life in Thailand, PDA launched the family planning and parasite control program in 1976 to treat villagers in its program areas for parasites. In addition, villagers were assisting other villagers in establishing rain water catchment tanks. Villagers provided the labor to install the systems and PDA provided tools, equipment, raw materials, and technical supervision. Between 1980 and 1985, PDA built nearly 9,000 rain water systems. Based on this success, the Community Based Integrated Rural Development (CBIRD) Project was launched to provide investment credit to households. An integrated farm was constructed in each district, which demonstrated the appropriate technologies being introduced through CBIRD. The combination of credit, technical assistance, and better marketing was a powerful stimulus to the district economy. The Asian Center for Population and Community Development (ACPD) was established in 1978 as the international training arm of PDA. The ACPD was founded on the expectation that by sharing PDA’s experiences and innovative solutions, other NGOs will have the opportunity to meet their challenges and strengthen their public health performance using integrated community-based responses. Currently, ACPD is dedicated to providing training courses, study tours, and workshops on many diverse areas. The ACPD believes in training NGOs on how to build sustainable solutions by sharing PDA’s hands-on development approach using appropriate technology and current methods. The courses are based on the successes of PDA and are aimed at strengthening the long-term viability of the NGO sector in Asia and around the globe. Past participants include more than 4,000 people from 50 different countries. Another innovative new program came about when local residents began to ask whether they could buy some of the vegetables stored at the PDA office. A small vegetable stand was opened at which lace panties, Tshirts, key chains, condoms and oral contraceptives were also sold to

A clear message at PDA’s “Cabbages and Condoms” restaurant in Bangkok

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You can not climb mountains in one step. You need to take several steps. If you can do something, do it. Otherwise you move on.

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Life Story Dr Mechai Viravaidya

Leaders Checklist

local residents. Dr Mechai called the shop “Cabbages and Condoms” which later became a restaurant. Today it is acknowledged as one of the finest Thai restaurants in Bangkok.

Leadership means you need to understand:

By 1981, PDA had become the largest private non-profit community development organization in Thailand.

The business you are in,

Q. You have established PDA and many sister organizations. What are the leadership qualities you needed most as these new organizations were created? How did these requirements differ?

what the field is all about

How

the government functions

People

you serve and those you work or partner with

Yourself

A. You need to understand business; what the field is all about. You need to understand government. You need to understand people. Above all, you need to understand self.

Changing Organizational Cultures In December 1982, Dr Mechai was asked to take up a position as Governor of Provincial Water Works Authority. It was a state enterprise with 5300 employees incorporated under the Ministry of Interior in 1979 to provide piped water to municipalities outside of Bangkok. Staff morale was dismal and the Authority was running at a loss. After undertaking a thorough organizational analysis, he fashioned a five-pronged strategy for turning the Authority around: improve staff morale, reduce corruption, increase efficiency, improve relations between the unions and management, and institute management and organizational reforms. By 1985, when Dr Mechai left the Authority, it had registered its first profit and has not had an operating loss in any single year since then. From the high point of 17 staff per 1000 connections, today the number stands at 6 per 1000 connections. One month after leaving the Authority, Dr Mechai was asked to be Deputy Minister of Industry. However, within one year of his appointment, there were general elections and he had to resign. He then became Press Secretary to the Government. Dr Mechai thus spent six years in government from 1982-88. In 1998, Dr Mechai was asked to become Chairman of the Telephone Organization of Thailand, the largest state-owned enterprise in Thailand in terms of revenue, for two years. He used his tenure to promote transparency and good governance in the organization. In 1998, Dr Mechai was also asked to take the position of the Chairman of the Board of Krung Thai Bank, Thailand’s largest state-owned commercial bank. Due to the bank’s poor performance its ownership was transferred to the Financial Institution Development Fund. Unfortunately there were powerful vested interests aligned to impede the reform measures Dr Mechai was mandated to implement. He resigned his position in 1999. Q. You have been involved in many organizational changes beginning with PPAT, Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA), Telephone Organization of Thailand, and Krung Thai Bank. Which ones would you say were the most successful? A. PWA. I was there the longest. I was the CEO so I had implementation authority. We converted loss-making organization to profit-making. We also made major changes in the Telephone Organization of Thailand. I was there also for three years but as Chairman and not as CEO. Q. Which one was the least successful? A. Krung Thai Bank. We planned several reforms. We broke up the company in seven parts. It was like a big ship and difficult to manage. We created seven separate ships. We planned banking for poor. These reforms are now being implemented. The new management found that these reforms were good. So they are implementing.

Life Story Dr Mechai Viravaidya

In PPAT, I wanted FP and development. PPAT was only for FP. It is not enough to just have fewer children. You also need development to improve quality of life. So I moved on and established a separate organization. In PPAT, we made many changes such as training. What we learned in PPAT, we applied in PDA. Q. What lessons can be learnt from these experiences? A. Respect people. I went to every corner of the country. No director or chairman had done that. I met every staff member over three months. I explained to them the need for change and asked them to help us change. You need to get them to buy in.

Using Leadership to Address HIV/AIDS In 1987, with limited funding of its own, PDA mounted a campaign to educate the public about AIDS, distributing audio tapes, video cassettes, books, and pamphlets explaining the modes of HIV transmission and how it could be prevented. PDA staff gave lectures and held discussions at public and private institutions. Despite official denial, Dr Mechai knew that AIDS was a major problem for Thailand. If promiscuous behavior was the norm among Thai men, then once HIV infection reached a critical mass among prostitutes, it would spread rapidly into the general population. However, there were powerful vested interests - brothel owners, police and politicians - who had financial interest in propagating and expanding the sex industry. Dr Mechai took his message to the two most powerful men in the country: the Prime Minister and the Army Chief General. The Prime Minister did not agree to chair the National Committee on AIDS. However, the General considered the proposals and agreed that Army would spearhead the mobilization of a national effort to combat the growing AIDS menace. Army TV and radio channel launched a three-year nationwide education campaign to prevent further spread of HIV. For about a year, Dr Mechai campaigned assiduously for concerted action against HIV/AIDS. He urged businesses to take care of their own workers rather than waiting for the government. He spread to business owners the simple principle: “sick employees can’t do your work and dead customers cannot buy your products.” More than 100 companies enrolled in PDA’s Corporate Education Program on HIV/AIDS. Dr Mechai felt that he needed reliable data to quantify the economic implications of HIV if he wanted to convince the government. He assembled a team of economists and social scientists to estimate the direct and indirect costs. The findings were startling and were presented at The International Congress on AIDS held in Bangkok in 1990. The Prime Minister created a National Advisory Committee and appointed Dr Mechai as chairman. The Committee was charged with responsibility for developing a National Plan for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS. After a political coup, the new government asked Dr Mechai to be the Minister for Tourism, Public Information and Mass Communication in The Prime Minister’s Office. He also asked and got responsibility for coordinating the National AIDS Prevention and Control Program. In 1992, another government took power. A multi-sectoral HIV/AIDS program was launched which was based on many of the activities Dr Mechai had initiated. However, he was now not directly involved. A multi-sectoral National AIDS Committee chaired by the Prime Minister was established. It implemented a massive educational program and instituted the nowfamous 100% condom usage policy for commercial sex workers. A convincing body of evidence indicates that the number of new HIV cases has declined and the incidence of STDs has fallen in Thailand. For that, Dr Mechai Viravaidya can take much of the credit.

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On appealing to the business sector about HIV/AIDS:

Sick employees cannot do your work and dead customers cannot buy your products.

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Life Story Dr Mechai Viravaidya

Bio-data Dr Mechai Viravaidya is the Founder of the Population and Community Development Association, and currently serves as Chairman of the Board. Dr Mechai is a multi-talented leader, with experiences in the corporate and government sectors, the mass media and performing arts (radio, TV), and the political arena. But it is his passion and commitment for helping others particularly with respect to family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention that mark him as a visionary who combines charisma with pragmatism. He is widely recognized as a leader in family planning, community development and HIV/AIDS. He has received many top national and international awards including the United Nations Population Award in 1997, the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 1994, and the IPPF Margaret Sanger Award in 1985. In 2004, he was the Community Co-Chair of the XV International AIDS Conference held in Bangkok, Thailand. (For a detailed bio-data, see www.pda.or.th)

Mechai the Person ----------

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You have to be honest. You have to be yourself. You need to combine the strengths of people. You can even be critical of donors.

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Q. Many words have been used to describe your personality: honesty, interpersonal skills, caring, thoughtful, considerate, imaginative, creative, showman-ship, understanding of people, and confidence. How would you describe your leadership style? A. No change. Not deviating too much from what you are. I never used the term “pride”. I am glad that I did not fail. There are many people who have helped. So when I collect prize or honor, I say that it is the effort of all. I am only a front. Q. Do you have any regrets? A. Regrets? I have never been asked that question. What good will it do even if I had regrets? No, I do not have any regrets. Q. What is your vision? A. For PDA to continue being relevant, an opportunity provider, a broker. It is the ‘interaction’ between people and those with resources. For Thailand, I hope people would have a better life. The ‘haves’ would be more generous and helpful to the have-nots. Q. Are there many ‘Mechais’ in the making? A. You have to get out and find them. You need to promote social entrepreneurs. They have ideas and enthusiasm but need resources. Q. You mean something like Asoka program? A. No, Asoka is like secondary school. We want pre-Asoka, a kindergarten. I would like to do this if we can find the resources. Q. Finally what is your advice to aspiring leaders? A. Dare to stand up for your beliefs. Be wise and not be stupid about them. Say, for family planning, we always say we want to help women have children when they want them. It is a basic human right. But you have to be willing to fight. My theme song for the radio program for seven years was “The Impossible Dream”. Do something complicated. Do not do something simple. If I wanted to do that then I should have been selling Coca Cola.

photo credits: PDA

Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Life Story

Molly Melching

The Power of Conviction

Written by Dr Timothee Gandaho

I ntroduction Founder and Executive Director Tostan SENEGAL

xtraordinary circumstances, special outlook on life, personal strength and timely opportunities can make visionary leaders out of the most unexpected people.

Ms Molly Melching, arriving in Senegal in 1974 as a student of African literature at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar was compelled to stay on because of her love of Africa and her belief in the power of non-formal education in national languages as a tool for change and creating an equitable society. She founded an organization in 1991 that has gone from strength to strength, and is poised to leave an enduring legacy not only for its innovative community empowerment program but also in its efforts to end Female Genital Cutting (FGC) and child marriage, harmful traditional practices still prevalent in many parts of Africa. In the course of her extraordinary adult life, she married a Senegalese, bore a daughter, and made Senegal her home. Working under difficult conditions in remote villages, Molly has come to understand the Senegalese people and culture intimately. Since its inception 15 years ago, Tostan has reached out to more than 2,000 villages in seven African countries, changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Despite the accolades and recognition, Molly has faced many obstacles and challenges, including threats on her life. But, as a true leader, she marches on, committed to her vision and proud of what she has achieved. The most recent international recognition is the 2005 Anna Lindh Award, in honor of Swedenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Foreign Minister who was assassinated in 2003. The award recognized Tostanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innovative and tenacious work in promoting human rights and gender equality.

Vision, Mission and Commitment Q. What or who motivates you the most to work and moves you along? How do you keep this commitment alive?

www.tostan.org

A. I have always admired people who have tried to make a difference in the world. My mother taught me how important it is to volunteer and share with others as she herself did by teaching school for 20 years. My dad was constantly seeking to help others, even in small ways. My professor in Senegal, Cheikh Anta Diop, also greatly encouraged me to

Life Story Molly Melching

work in rural communities, using the African oral tradition to reach people in their own language. He actually inspired me to start this non-formal education program in Wolof, Fulani, Mandinka, and other African languages. I also learned so much from Tostan employees on how to deal with people and improve my leadership ability and skills. Sometimes people say that I have made sacrifices by living in Africa but I see it as just the opposite - I think I have learned and received more than I have given. I think this aspect is important because for me, reciprocal relationships with people are the healthiest. Q. How did it all start and why? What created this commitment?

Receiving the Anna Lindh Award from the late Minister’s husband in Stockholm

A. I think I was very affected by the events of the 60s when I was a young student in America. I was deeply concerned about the war in Vietnam, the racism and discrimination in American society. I have always believed that it is important for every person to contribute to making the world a better place and I particularly admired those who were working in the 60s to promote civil rights at the grassroots level in the States. When I decided to study in Senegal, I was only scheduled to stay for six months at the university, but I immediately felt at home and realized that Africa had much to teach me. I also loved learning Wolof, the language spoken by the majority of Senegalese. And because I was a teacher, I realized that I could perhaps contribute by working with rural women and adolescents who had never been to school. I began by developing a life skills and literacy program with a Senegalese team and the villagers of a small community, Saam Njaay, where I spent three years sharing their joys and pains. This program was successful and soon led to a more structured non-formal education program that was adopted by many other NGOs. In 1988, UNICEF decided to support our team of committed educators and we formed our NGO in 1991. Tostan, which means “Breakthrough” in Wolof, was created to make a difference globally by starting at the grassroots. The program had considerable success in different regions of Senegal, but there was a real revolution at the grassroots level when in 1995 we introduced human rights learning as the foundation for all our modules.

Tostan The mission of Tostan (‘Breakthrough’ in the Wolof language of Senegal) is to contribute to the human dignity of African people through the development and implementation of a non-formal, participatory education program in national languages. Tostan provides learners with the knowledge and skills to become confident, resourceful actors in the social transformation and economic development of their communities. Quality, holistic education and development activities based on principles of human rights provide communities with the tools to direct their own social and economic transformation. The Tostan Community Empowerment Program has led to a grassroots movement, led by villagers themselves, to abandon female genital cutting (FGC) and child marriage, both harmful traditional practices affecting millions of African girls and women. More than 1,600 villages have publicly declared an end to FGC and child marriage. Tostan has received international recognition for its innovative, holistic and participatory program. The most recent was the 2005 Anna Lindh Award for its work on human rights and gender equality. The World Health Organization, Population Reference Bureau, UNICEF and UNESCO have all chosen Tostan’s work as a model for community development. Tostan has garnered wide publicity for its work including two visits by then American First Lady Hillary Clinton in 1997 and 1998 (with President Clinton), and media coverage on radio, TV, newspapers and publications, both within Senegal and countries such as France, Norway, England, USA and Sweden. Tostan was officially incorporated in the USA as a non-profit organization in 1991, with headquarters in Thies, Senegal. Tostan currently works in hundreds of villages in Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Gambia and Somalia and has mainly been funded by UNICEF.

Life Story Molly Melching

Human rights education was essential to giving our participants, particularly women and adolescents, confidence and a stronger voice in the community. We also put an emphasis on the responsibilities related to these human rights. The discussions led to community members committing to change the things it’s possible for them to change: registering children at birth; increasing democratic practices; promoting vaccination, pre- and post-natal consultation and family planning; and ending harmful traditional practices and domestic violence. We included all members of society in this process of social transformation: traditional and religious leaders, local elected officials, men, women and children. We also recognized that in order for sustainable change to occur, many locally connected communities needed to be consulted and participate in finding consensus around important issues. Tostan as an organization has grown and there are presently 67 full time employees and approximately 360 village facilitators. We also have a wonderful volunteer staff of students or professionals who have come from the United States, France, Sweden, Senegal, Nigeria, and Argentina and who spend from three months to one year with us. They have contributed greatly in many areas.

Self-related Competencies

The Tostan family of staff, volunteers and supporters

Leaders Checklist As a leader, you have to:

Be passionate about what

Q. How do you describe your leadership style? A. My leadership style has changed since I first became Director of Tostan. I originally thought of the organization as a family and treated people more as friends than employees. But as Tostan grew and evolved, I realized that this style of leadership would not help Tostan to become a professional organization and evolve to its fullest potential. It was difficult for me to become interested in management aspects of the organization as I prefer the role of creator and visionary, not the management part.

you do

Care about people yet be firm and fair

Stand up for your and the organization’s principles

I now understand that as a leader, I need to do both. People look to me to make sure that rules are followed and tough decisions made. I am more willing to do this now. I also feel that I have learned the importance of delegation and trying to empower people at all levels to take responsibility. I realize it is critical to surround oneself with competent, dedicated people who share a similar vision and work in teams to accomplish objectives. I used to get upset and emotional too quickly because of my passion for the organization, but past experience has taught me that this does not foster a healthy work environment and also can “dis-empower” people. I am committed to this work and rarely take vacations. I spend time on the program but also much time fundraising. I really enjoy what I do - I love the people I work with at Tostan, the village participants, our donors and partners. I am particularly happy when community participants tell me about the positive changes that the program has made in their lives. Q. What do you have as lesson learned on leadership to share with us? A. A really good leader has to be passionate about what she/he is doing and care about people, yet remain firm and fair. One should be able to adjust to different situations, yet stand up for one’s principles and the principles of the organization. A leader should strive to be calm, patient, committed, hard-working, honest, eager to learn new things and also be willing to make changes when necessary. The leader should read constantly, listen to people and share his/her knowledge with others.

Be calm, committed, hard working, honest

eager to learn new things and make changes if necessary

Take

an interest in management and surround yourself with competent and dedicated people

Delegate and encourage others to responsibility

take

Life Story Molly Melching

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The Fulani say that leadership

Organization-related Capabilities Q. What capabilities should one have to lead an organization?

is like cow herding: The shepherd sometimes needs to be in front of the herd, sometimes in back of them, sometimes in the middle. A good shepherd knows when to be where.

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Working with the Community Factors that will strengthen capacity development to ensure success in programs:

A. Running an NGO is not easy! You need to have vision and inspire, yet also have excellent management skills and practices. A good leader needs to put the right people in the right job. It is often more important to find people who are honest, motivated and committed to helping others and then train them for the particular set of skills needed. The leader also needs to constantly make sure that people keep sight of the mission and the vision of the organization. These should be clearly stated to ensure that staff are on board, collaborating and working as a team. Regular meetings are important to make sure everyone is on the same level of knowledge and understanding. The rules need to be followed by everybody including the leader. I also think it is crucial to lead by model and by examples, as well as being simple and modest. However, leading an organization does not only mean having skills for working within the organization. Much of the work I do for example involves interacting with donors and other partners. This is one aspect of the job I really enjoy. I meet with NGO leaders, UN partners, politicians in Africa and the US, as well as with community members, participants, traditional and religious leaders. I attend seminars and make presentations in many countries on the work the villagers are accomplishing to bring about positive change. Q. What will people at Tostan say about you?

Listen carefully - to know communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs, priorities and objectives for the future

Thinking in local terms identify the knowledge and skills they need to move forward

Enabling the process by training people in their own language so that they can be part of the process Empowerment - give them confidence and courage by believing in them and training them

A. People at Tostan will say I have persevered despite everything and am a hard worker who has achieved considerable results. They have seen me confronted with every problem one can imagine and although I may get discouraged from time to time, they know I always bounce back stronger and more determined than ever. They know I love this organization, the staff, but above all the people we serve at the grassroots level. Several years ago, I realized that the leadership was not delegating enough in the organization. Team work was weak and things were too centralized. Although there were rules, people felt that they could get away with things because I, as the Director, was not firm enough and sometimes afraid to follow through on difficult decisions. I also think I was not doing enough training and empowerment for the staff. I then brought in Malick Diagne, the Tostan Deputy Executive Director in 1999, who had worked in America for 20 years and was very good at decentralizing, building teams and in general improving the management skills of the entire staff. Staff members were given training in leadership, management, IT, English. The accounting system was improved. Malick has helped the organization to move forward and accelerate results in the field. We currently have a dedicated, well trained, responsible, and very committed staff of people who are proud of the results they are achieving in the field. He has taught everyone in the organization important lessons on collaboration and leadership.

Community-related Skills Q. What have you learned about working with the community? A. From 1982-85, I lived in the village of Saam Njaay, just outside of Thies, to work with the community on an educational project. There, I learned some of the most important lessons of my life and about working with others in a truly collaborative way. To begin, I realized immediately that it was of utmost importance to listen carefully to people and grasp their needs, priorities and objectives for the future. We first trained people

Life Story Molly Melching

in their own language so that they could work successfully on achieving their goals themselves and know where and how they could find resources needed to make progress. I lived in this village for three years and the Tostan Community Empowerment Program grew out of the initial collaboration with these villagers as we together identified the knowledge and skills they would need to move forward. We used active, engaging methods of learning, particularly for these women who had never been to school, to give them confidence and courage. We developed an integrated educational approach with over 200 sessions on democracy, human rights, problem-solving, hygiene, health, literacy and management skills.

Founding Tostan Q. Tell us about how Tostan started and how it has evolved. A. After two years in Senegal, I joined the Peace Corps on an “Individual Placement Program” and started a learning center for street children in Dakar. My Senegalese colleague and I organized daily cultural and educational activities based on the African oral tradition: songs, legends, theater, poetry, and proverbs. We also initiated the first weekly radio program in national languages in Senegal for children. All this experience gave us a foundation for using “culture for development” and eventually developing an innovative and lively education program for people who had never attended formal school. We then took this approach to the village level. I was also lucky to have the opportunity to study for 10 years with the late, highly revered Professor Cheikh Anta Diop who taught me my greatest lessons on working in Africa – particularly the importance of building on peoples’ strengths rather than on their weaknesses. He often discussed the need for villagers to first feel proud of their African heritage and language. He strongly believed that deep changes in Africa would only occur when all people could actively participate in the construction of their country, not just the elite groups. To achieve this, it is important to educate in national languages and take into account the worldview and vision of marginalized and disadvantaged populations. At Tostan, we translated this idea by using the African oral tradition as a basis for community learning and organizing, reinforcing the importance of dialogue that could lead to consensus for positive social change. The structured Tostan program started in the village of Saam Njaay and then evolved over a 20-year period as we implemented it in many regions throughout Senegal and subsequently in other African countries. The first component of the Tostan Community Empowerment Program is called the Kobi which in the Mandinka language means “to plow the field in preparation for planting”. This includes 48 inter-active sessions on democracy, human rights, problem-solving, hygiene and health and lasts 9-10 months. The emphasis is placed on learning, dialogue, participatory research in the community, and sharing with others who are not in the class. Community leaders, both women and men, young and old, feel comfortable being involved in this portion of the program because there are no reading, writing or math lessons introduced during the Kobi. The second part of the program is called the Aawde (a Fulani word meaning: “to plant the seed”) and can last up to 18 months. This learning program focuses on literacy and management skills for economic empowerment. More than 2,000 communities have been reached through this program in Senegal and Tostan is currently implementing the program in 120 villages in Guinea and 42 communities in Somalia. The major goals of

Non-formal education class for adults

Tostan Community Empowerment Program Aiming to reduce poverty, empower women, reduce maternal and infant mortality, and improve general living conditions: First component is called “Kobi” (“Plow the field to prepare for planing” in Mandinka language). - Has 48 interactive sessions on democracy, human rights, problem-solving, hygiene and health, participatory research and community sharing. (There are no reading, writing or math lessons.) Second component is called “Aawde” (“Plant the seed” in Fulani language) - Can last up to 18 months with emphasis on literacy and management skills for economic empowerment.

Life Story Molly Melching

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But Tostan has realized that passing a law will not end a cultural tradition that is a social convention necessary for good marriage. To make such deep changes, women, men and children must understand and claim their human rights and support one another in ensuring that they

the program are to reduce poverty, empower women, reduce maternal and infant mortality and in general, improve the living conditions of marginalized populations. Human rights education was introduced in the Tostan program in 1995 and led to major social transformation in participating communities. One of the results was the decision to end practices such as FGC and child marriage. Through public declaration for the abandonment of these practices, over 1,600 communities have chosen human rights and health for their daughters. After this movement first started, the then President of Senegal, Abdou Diouf, spoke at a conference on International Human Rights (November 22, 1997) and congratulated the villagers who had made these courageous decisions. He announced that the government would support them by passing a law against FGC. We now also implement adolescent classes in every learning center because obviously, young people need to be on board for such important social transformation. Tostan also produces a weekly radio program to reinforce class themes in six regions of the country.

have the potential to achieve a better world for everyone. We have emphasized empowering women but have always included men in this process their support is crucial for bringing about lasting change.

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Policy and Program Capacity Q. What are the objectives, the major components and activities, the target groups and expansion plan of Tostan? What was the vision? How were you able to make a difference on a global level? A. Tostan emphasizes putting African communities at the center of development. One woman participant in Senegal stated: “The Tostan Program gave us enormous confidence in ourselves and the assurance that we could change things if we wanted to”. Tostan started as a 30-month “Community Empowerment Program” using a holistic, learner-based, participatory approach. The participants use knowledge gained in class sessions to address and overcome concrete problems and organize projects in their communities.During the first year, participants meet at least three times a week for 2-3 hours to learn about and discuss democracy, human rights and responsibilities, problem-solving, hygiene, and good health practices. With this solid foundation in place, participants proceed during the second year of the program to gain literacy, math and project management skills like how to do a feasibility study for initiating income-generating projects. Participants in the training program become development agents. They use the information and problem-solving skills gained in the program to involve others in their community and beyond to bring about change. A cross-section of the community have all benefited - men and women, adults and youth, religious and traditional leaders. They come together to visualize the society they would like to live in and take steps to make it a reality. Q. How did Tostan succeed in encouraging the abandonment of FGC? A. The Community Empower-ment Program did not start out to specifically end FGC. The participants initially brought up the subject themselves during the human rights and responsibilities discussions. Later they gained more information on FGC during the hygiene and health sessions.

Beautiful designs of Senegal

After attending classes on the development of the female body and learning the adverse health effects of FGC, several women in the class of Malicounda Bambara (region of Thies) made the commitment to end the practice in their community. They started by discussing with their husbands, village chief and the community religious leaders. They then made a public declaration to abandon FGC on July 31, 1997. However, because the community made the decision alone, they were criticized by other Bambara communities in the area.

Life Story Molly Melching

Importance of Public Declaration Participants have helped Tostan realize the importance of the public declaration in bringing about widespread, lasting change. These public events allow people to give up age-old traditions such as Female Genital Cutting without harming their daughters’ ability to marry and be accepted by society. The ceremonies, initiated and organized by participants and other community members, also serve to affirm positive traditions and strengthen social cohesion.

Large turnout at a village for Tostan

Public Declarations are taken seriously

One of the Tostan participants from another village, Imam Demba Diawara from Ker Simbara, came to a revolutionary analysis of how to best end a practice that is involves a social convention among intra-marrying groups. He suggested it would be necessary to include closely connected intramarrying communities in such an important decision. He then proceeded to walk to 10 villages over a four month period to initiate public debate on the subject for the first time. After much negotiation, meetings with local doctors, religious and traditional leaders and women’s groups, the villagers decided to collectively abandon FGC on February 14, 1998. Since that declaration, Tostan, in collaboration with Unicef Senegal, has facilitated community education, public discussion and public declarations with media coverage of these joyful events. The movement has accelerated over the past years and there is hope for the first time that FGC could end within a generation in Senegal. Program results have been evaluated by Unicef, the Government of Senegal and the Population Council. The findings of the longer-term Population Council study indicate there was increased awareness of human rights, FGC, gender-based violence, contraceptive methods, and sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, the proportion of women wanting to continue the practice of FGC significantly decreased.

I nter-organizational Partnering Skills

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The Community Empowerment Program did not start out

Q. Who have been your major partners? How did you partner with them? How did you mobilize and allocate resources? A. Unicef Senegal has been our major donor for the past 15 years and has supported our efforts through both successful and difficult times. The Ministry of Social Development of the Government of Senegal originally requested the Tostan program and we have collaborated closely with them also through this whole process. When we first began the partnership, both Unicef and the Government of Senegal were interested in an integrated community-based education program in national languages that would help prepare communities for leading their own development. At that time, we had already had over 5 years of experience with the program and were having very positive results. We always emphasize that the continued Unicef and government support has been key in moving the FGC abandonment movement forward. Other donors such as AJWS, Sida, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wallace Global Fund, the Population Council, the Wallace Research Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation and many individuals have also supported Tostan over the years.

to specifically end FGC. The participants initially brought up the subject themselves during the human rights and responsibilities discussions. Later they gained more information on FGC during the hygiene and health sessions.

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Life Story Molly Melching

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The World Health Organization and UNICEF have chosen the Tostan model as a Best Practice for community development and ending FGC and called for replication of the approach in other African countries.

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Challenges Leaders have to be aware of challenges and have strategies to overcome them.

Initial lack of knowledge - on leadership and organizational management issues

Include everyone’s rights - so as not to face resistance from men in the community

Problems are a natural part of growth - they are ways to avoid bigger problems in future

Build strategic partnerships - with local government authorities and other NGOs

We collaborate with local organizations to implement Tostan’s program in different regions of Senegal and in other African countries. For example, in Sudan, we partnered with Entishar Charity Society; in Burkina Faso with Mwangaza Action; in Guinea, with three local NGOs, ANAH, AJGUIDE and CAM. Our goal is also to train community management committees in each village which often then become legally recognized community-based organizations (CBOs) with official papers. They are autonomous and capable of implementing development projects and receiving direct funding from other donors and micro-credit institutions. We are really proud that they will be able to manage their own projects and continue on even if Tostan is no longer present in their community.

Challenges Q. What are the challenges within the organization, in the community and with partners? A. We have experienced every possible type of problem within the organization, with participants and the communities, and with some partners. Sometimes I am amazed that we have persevered all these years despite the challenges. To be totally honest, I think that many of the problems we’ve had in the organization came from my initial lack of knowledge on leadership and organizational management issues. Luckily, I realized early on that I, as well as other staff members, needed support and training. Over the years, I think we have made great progress but I do think there was resistance to change on the part of many people, including myself! We also had problems with resistance from men in the community when we introduced women’s rights into the program. We made a mistake by not including the men and as soon as we observed their reaction, we changed our program to include everybody’s rights: men, women and children. This helped tremendously and we now have wonderful support from many religious and traditional leaders. This is why it is important to always listen to people and be flexible and open to changing things that may not be working. In the process of ending FGC through public declaration, some religious and cultural leaders lashed out at Tostan and our village participants. This was particularly difficult as the women were deeply hurt by the attacks on them for actions they had taken to improve the health of girls – not to attack tradition. There were even threats on our lives at one point. All that has changed now as more and more people – more than 500,000 – have joined in the movement, including numerous religious leaders. It is getting easier and easier now as the social convention is changing. Also, we have learned how to better work with people. Q. How did you face these challenges? What strategies did you take to face or manage those challenges? A. I have always felt that perseverance is critical to achieving success. I try to keep in mind that problems are a natural part of growth and development; thus, we should see them as ways to avoid bigger problems in future, allowing us to sew up the small rip to avoid the larger tear. Whenever we have had challenges, I have always asked everyone to keep working hard and never let obstacles get us down. Tostan has been around for over 15 years and hopefully will grow and evolve for many more years, improving the quality of our program and the way we implement and manage our projects. Building strategic partnerships with local government authorities and other NGOs has been helpful in overcoming the challenges. But I must confess it has sometimes been very, very difficult. I would probably not have made

Life Story Molly Melching

Bio-data Personal: Grew up in Illinois, USA. Master’s Degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana. Has lived in Senegal since 1974. One daughter. Professional: Went to Senegal as an exchange student at Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar. Stayed on to start a non-formal education program in national languages. Founded Tostan in 1991. Currently serving as Executive Director. Received the University of Illinois Humanitarian Award (1999); the Sargent Shriver Distinguished Humanitarian Award (2001); Sweden’s Anna Lindh Award in recognition of Tostan’s work in human rights and gender equality (2005). it through without the support and continued encouragement of the Tostan staff. They work day and night, convinced that their work in communities can make a difference on a much larger scale. Q. What is your opinion on resource mobilization? How do you mobilize and allocate resources?

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Our donors have also been wonderfully supportive. They have often come through for

A. The most important aspect of resource mobilization is to produce results when you are given funds. When our donors see that the implementation of our program in a community over a 30-month period leads to dramatically increased vaccination rates, increased enrollment of children (particularly girls) in schools, abandonment of Female Genital Cutting and child marriage, cleaner villages, emergence of female leaders and greater participation of women in community affairs, increased organizational capacity and successfully implemented micro-credit projects, they are interested in continuing the funding and also helping us adapt the program to other regions and countries that have requested us to coach them on the program.

us in the most difficult of times. Their confidence and belief in our program has made us work to overcome hardships.

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The cost of program implementation in a community in Senegal is about $10,000 over a 30-month period. It does cost more when we initially enter a new country because start-up costs add to the unit cost. Once facilitators and supervisors are trained, the cost is reduced. Q. How do you see sustainability for Tostan? A. Today things are in place in Tostan. I believe that even if I leave, activities will continue and the organization will continue to evolve and succeed. I am so pleased about this. Before Tostan, I ran the Children’s Center in the Medina in Dakar for six years. When I left, the center unfortunately fell apart, so I feel that I failed. After this experience, I decided that if I created something new, I would not leave until I was certain that systems were in place to allow the organization to continue successfully without my presence being necessary. I now need to ensure that the fundraising will continue without me and we are thinking of different options such as an endowment fund.

Molly Melching (left) being interviewed by the author

Q. Do you have regrets? A. I actually have no regrets. Even though I have been through some pretty hard times, I don’t think I would change anything because the problems helped me in the long run. If I could change anything, it would be the strong emotional reactions I have sometimes because I get so involved in everything. But perhaps this passion is part of what has helped me to keep going and moving forward all these years.

photo credits: Tostan and VLP

Program Leaders

Readersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Guide

As you read through these profiles, please consider the following:

Program Leader

Professor Fred Binka

Leadership for Research and Advocacy Written by Dr Timothee Gandaho

I ntroduction Executive Director

was trained as medical doctor and worked in Ghana for a few years

before leaving for Nigeria where I worked for six years. On my return home, I rejoined the Ministry of Health and was seconded to the

InDepth Network

Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR). I found my calling in communicable diseases; because of my interest in research, I

GHANA

found malaria particularly enriching. The turning point in my career came when I had the opportunity to go for a Masters degree in Public Health in Israel. This was at the recommendation of the then Director of Noguchi Memorial Institute who felt that public health practitioners should be trained in diverse countries with the best public health system. As part of the course I interacted with refugees in the Gaza strip and was surprised to note that the refugees were healthier than Ghanaians back home. This raised many questions in my mind: What made the difference? How come people in refugee camps had health indicators better than those moving freely in normal environments? The answers were simple; They had instituted a system that followed the population of Jerusalem for over 20 years. Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demographic set-up was well organized. With such a rich experience I was ready to build or change the orientation of the team at Noguchi. Sadly, however, I did not stay long enough in Noguchi to effect those changes.

Beginnings Shortly after my return to Ghana I was approached by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to go to Navrongo, the capital town of Kassena Nankani District. I found this very challenging. Navrongo was over 800 kilometers north of Accra and lacking in many basic facilities. I had to think of my family; fortunately my wife was willing to accompany me. So that is how I arrived in Navrongo.

www.indepth-network.org

The idea was to join a colleague from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) who had received a grant from DFID (ODA) to study the effect of Vitamin A on child morbidity. This was of interest to me because while in Israel I had developed an interest in interventions affecting morbidity and mortality in general and thought it was an opportunity to further explore that area of public health. I was particularly keen on how to follow population changes over time. This was of interest to my colleague as well.

Program Leader Prof Fred Binka

Navrongo Research Center From a modest beginning with a few others setting up a research institution in a deprived rural district of northern Ghana from scratch through determination and dedication. The result is the establishment of a modern research center renowned for applied research into emerging public health issues and an institution for building capacity in health research. The research center conducted operational research that focused on finding answers to the myriad of problems facing the communities in one of the most deprived areas of the country. Major research areas that Prof Binka was involved in included Vitamin A supplementation trial looking at the effect of Vitamin A on child morbidity and mortality, and malaria control particularly the trial on bed-nets use. Others were aimed at exploring ways of delivering comprehensive health services in a sustainable fashion through building community infrastructure, mobilizing support and providing basic services such as minor curative care and supply of family planning devices. In a bid to explore and find ways of providing comprehensive community services and study the demographic and epidemiological and social cultural factors contributing to high incidence of disease in these communities, the concept of demographic surveillance was introduced. Mobile community health service and vital registration were put in place to build health database. This lead to the institution of an effective surveillance system for monitoring trends in health. Q. With David Ross?

Bio-data Prof Fred Binka is a Ghanaian trained medical doctor with a Master in Public Health degree and a PhD in Epidemiology. Following his earlier practice as a medical officer and later a public health specialist in the Ghanaian Ministry of Health, he plunged into research. Since then he has been one of the leading names in research in Ghana and in the international research and public health community. Prof Binka is currently Executive Director of InDepth Network, a Ghana-based international network of field sites with continuous demographic evaluations of population and their health in developing countries.

A. Yes, with David Ross and the late Nicola Dollimore. But just when all was set for a take-off, the Director of Medical Services (at MOH) changed his mind, and did not want me to go to Navrongo. Q. After that? A. Yes, he said with my interest in research he wanted me to be responsible for research issues that came to the ministry including research agendas of various units as well as to advise him on the nature of the research. Q. But he offered you the position initially? A. Yes, he was the one who introduced me to the team from London. And I thought it was going to be interesting as such large-scale trials involving a population of over 35,000 people did not happen often. And I felt I was not going to get another opportunity. The first large trial in Ghana was the Danfa project which was conducted several years ago and since then nothing of this magnitude and scope had been carried out in the country. The person who really encouraged me was my director at Noguchi. He said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think you should go. We will miss you but you will learn a lot and contribute to build the public health knowledge in the country.â&#x20AC;? With such an encouragement I went to the director at MOH and said I would go. So I left for Navrongo knowing that I had no support from the ministry.

Policy and Program Capacity Q. That was challenging? A. Certainly. I went and my wife did not work for about a year as the ministry did not do the negotiation for her to work as a journalist at a broadcasting station in the north The second challenge was the lack of trained people to work with in Navrongo area. Most of the field workers were secondary school leavers who could not make it to the university. In fact with a population of one million, only three girls were in the 6th Form (High School Senior) at that time. This posed a problem in gender balance of ambitious field staff recruitment.

Program Leader Prof Fred Binka

Prof Binka (in pink) at a discussion with a group of nurses The other challenges had to do with infrastructure. The road and communication system was very bad. No professional would agree to leave Accra for Navrongo. There was no electricity, no potable water, and schools were of average quality. Starting a family in such an environment was almost suicidal. To communicate with the outside world, the trial, which was called the VAST trial, had an address, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ghana VAST, Post Office Box 57, c/o Burkina Fasoâ&#x20AC;?. We had to go across the border because mail took longer to come from Accra, so people got confused with the use of Burkina Faso address. Being close to the border it was easier because they had better communication facilities. So this was the kind of environment These challenges did not prevent the research team from settling down. Having recruited young but intelligent men locally, we quickly started work. We got things up and running and the success was beyond our expectations. We learned so much from and managed to integrate into the community. So for many years they called me the doctor with the bicycle. Regardless of the numerous challenges, I think it was really an interesting time. What was most interesting was that we had to build structures from scratch to get the project going. Two of us were physicians and one a statistician. We had to do the mapping of communities, look at the population and we did it in such a way that we could undertake a randomized placebo-controlled trial. So I learned how to draw maps from graph sheets and even build water systems. I traveled the length and breath of that district and got to know the people very well. I was head of fieldwork and I had to put this together. In the second year of the trial we approached the ministry for future support for the center after it became apparent that the DFID ODA office had decided not to provide funding beyond the Vitamin A trial. I personally approached DFID pleading that we had a good research team and infrastructure. Their concern was Navrongo was too far with poor transportation and communication system. I had no choice but go to the MOH for support. The ministry agreed that I should stay and develop the center. Q. The same Director who was against your going to Navrongo? A. Yes, he was happy about the report he was getting about our work and was happy I was willing to stay. His only concern was that MOH had no money for any follow-up research activities initiated at the center. Upon official request from the MOH, ODA agreed to donate the equipment and vehicles from the Vitamin A trial to the centre. Looking back, I can tell you today that was the best decision I ever took to go ahead without financial support from the ministry because if we had

Facing Challenges at Navrongo

Remote location - more than 800km from capital city, in one of the most deprived areas of the country Poor infrastructure electricity, water, schools, health services, mail, etc Lack of local resources high poverty and lack of educated local people to recruit and train Difficulty in attracting trained professionals not many want to work for low pay in remote area

Program Leader Prof Fred Binka

money from the ministry we would not have developed the way we did. My hands were further strengthened when I applied the Canadian, IDRC and got a grant in 1991 to undertake a nested case control study looking at the other risk factors for child mortality in that population. Q. For how long?

Prof Binka (in blue) with his project team

A. It was for two years so that gave me some space but this was not enough because this was a case control study that needed only about 10 or 15 staff out of the center staff of 40 to 50 at the time. So I had to go to the WHO for an initial funding of $11,000 from the Directors Initiative Fund, TDR, to study epidemiology of malaria in the district.

Q. How much did you get from the Canadians? A. It was about 200,000 Canadian Dollars. We negotiated with the Canadians to include support for post-graduate training for staff; that increased the grant amount and this was the beginning of some of the successes we achieved. The WHO support was for work in malaria, my area of interest. We investigated malaria epidemiology in the area and this placed our group in a good position to compete for a WHO multicountry Bed-Net trial. When the Vitamin A trial ended in 1991 we changed the name of the center to Navrongo Research Center in conformity with our current goals to broaden the area of research. Q. So how much did you get for the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bed Netâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; trial? A. We developed a consortium of donors because the Bed Net trial cost close to $1 million. The cost of the bed nets alone was about $400,000. The VAST trial looked at only the most vulnerable kids. I decided that we needed to focus on the entire population under the Bed Net trail. We consulted Jim Phillips and his team from the Population Council and with their technical support, we introduced the Demographic Surveillance System (DSS) that monitored the whole population. This was timely as we were looking for something similar. We were visiting all compounds in the district to collect information about the children. The DSS also provided us the opportunity to monitor both men and women, and understand what was happening to the kids and the whole population.

Community-related Skills I visited Matlab (Bangladesh) to review the DSS that was established over 40 years before embarking on establishing a similar system in Ghana. Our major challenges were lack of trained staff and funds for technical assistance. However, we decided to establish the system in Navrongo. Staff were given a two-week basic training in DSS techniques, communication equipment and computers. That is how we built the system. This positioned the center to take advantage of several research funding opportunities. My idea then was to get assistance to develop the population agenda. Drs James Phillips and Macleod provided the technical assistance needed but we did not have funds to engage them fulltime. With the grant from IDRC I started building the social component. I went to the University of Ghana, Legon and recruited two graduate students in social sciences. I contracted a lecturer from the university to train them. Through this we created a social science unit that provided the environment to address social and economic issues associated with DSS and other research initiatives. Q. What was the religion? A. About 65% of the people there practiced traditional religion. Christians form about 35% while Muslims are 3%.

Program Leader Prof Fred Binka

We had the blessings of the local religious leaders because we were contributing to public health in the district. We had no direct support from MOH. We developed research proposals and competed favorably with others all over the world to support our research agenda. This was difficult but with time we developed the expertise for writing grant proposal and winning grants. Due to our geographical location, it was difficult to pay and attract highly trained professionals. I was forced to address human resource issues. Human resource was a problem because people were offered high salaries, higher than mine but refused to move to Navrongo. I was advised to build local capacity, which I thought of but did not know how to set it out. We consequently had to make it one of the center’s objectives Q. They were not committed A. We started by creating a learning environment. We provided a room with electricity at night and all field workers were allowed to come and study. Staff who were willing to teach their colleagues were encouraged to do so for a small allowance. Through this initiative some field workers improved on their school certificate grades and were admitted to the university and majority were admitted to teacher training colleges. We also insisted that the field worker position was not a permanent job, hence field workers had to improve their grades and move on. We also had a policy to engage these students during the vacation to let them earn money for their studies, and provide permanent employment at the center after graduation. We also got support from our partners to provide post-graduate training for our senior scientists. We have trained a bio-statistician, social scientist, health economists, demographers and epidemiologists. Q. Did they start as field workers? A. Some started as graduate research assistants while others were field workers. Most of them have now completed their PhD. Q. What about population and reproductive health issues? A. After the ‘Bed Net’ studies, we agreed to do something about the population which had high infant mortality – about 150 to 200 per thousand, with poor health service, both due to access, human capacity and low motivation. There were only three health centers and a district hospital leading to poor access and service delivery. The Rockefeller Foundation was approached to assist with a pilot study within the context of the population research agenda. The population sciences division agreed to fund only the population and demographic surveillance system. So, we approached USAID which after several visits, agreed to fund the service delivery component. There were big problems as USAID wanted us to focus on community-based distributors (CBDs) to promote health and family planning. We did not want to use CBDs because we were convinced they were not appropriate for our settings. We both wanted to promote health and family planning. However, we wanted to deploy community health nurses from the health centers into the communities assuring long-term sustainability and also eliminating the reliance on “volunteers” at the community level. The nurses had to be mobile to provide health services and family planning had to be part of the package. USAID was not ready to support a mobile system. They were ready to address supply of family planning methods and not health services. We decided to look into reproductive health anyway; the concept was community-based reproductive health including basic health services. USAID was mainly interested in family planning. The Population Council colleagues were on our side and that enabled us to convince USAID to test our approach. They were very helpful holding several meetings and doing presentations.

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Those who wanted to develop their scientific and research career joined the center; those who wanted big salaries went elsewhere.

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Program Leader Prof Fred Binka

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We knew old women who did not attend clinics, made all the

Reproductive health had to be part of IEC at the household level. The nurses were able to win the confidence of the communities. The nurses visited individual compounds regularly as part of the design. Instead of working in communities we worked in compounds. To provide appropriate IEC one cannot sit in facilities.

decisions about health in the family especially for young children. Our goal was to reach and influence these women ... who are usually custodians of the traditional belief system.

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As part of our social science study, we knew old women who did not attend clinics made all the decisions about health in the family especially for the young children. Our goal was to reach and influence these women because information provided at health facility targets the mother of the child and not the mother-in-law who are usually custodians of the traditional belief system. Home visit was a way of reaching the mothers-in-law. To reach the remote population, the husband also had to be motivated. This is how we changed the system. Q. That has really worked and the MOH was happy? A. After I left Q. When did you leave?

Developing Capacity in 3 areas:

Epidemiology

Vital Registration

Community Entry

A. I left in 1998 around 0ctober or November Q. That has really worked. A. When we started setting up other things in 1994-95 we were under pressure to disseminate the results. We opted to do it differently, by developing capacity in three areas, namely, epidemiology, vital registration and community entry in four districts. The approach was to train a core of health staff from the district - the District Director, public health nurse, disease control officer and the person in charge of logistics. It was a twoweek course that allowed them to live in Navrongo, three districts at a time and they went to the field to see what was going on. They studied our service delivery and information system. The course was very successful and at the end of two weeks they were convinced we had developed the right approach to deliver services at the community level. Some of the districts went off and replicated what we were doing. One example was Nkwanta, a deprived district in the Volta region.

Perseverance Q. What made you committed despite the problems? A. First, Navrongoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exclusion from mainstream of the health system and its distance from the capital (more than 800km north of Accra), provided the peace we needed to design, test and modify the system without much interference. We also had overcome the major problem of resources due to the grant we received from Rockefeller and USAID, so we could dream. We had a unique opportunity to make a difference and effect change and to develop something useful for a rural community. People expected us to fail. Navrongo had a large migrant population and it was difficult to implement programs so most people thought we would fail. Second, many people felt that with the departure of colleagues from Europe, the center would slowly die without the funding to sustain the research activity. This was a challenge I took seriously and I was determined to prove them wrong. I used to say to staff at meetings that we could build a great center capable of competing with any in the world and that spurred us to move on. The other reason was that we achieved results with every study we conducted. Third, we were getting support and encouragement. Finally our success in developing human capital, a critical mass of people to undertake research. So many of my colleagues were successful and could write

Program Leader Prof Fred Binka

grants to get money. Many of them blossomed into young determined scientists. We had the team that was multidisciplinary, learning from each other - epidemiologists, computer experts, health economist, social scientist. It was like a school and we learned from each other. Q. Very motivating! A. Yes. We had no working hours. We worked seven days and had no extra pay for weekends. The system was well set up with checks and balances; every body worked. They saw a transformation and development. We created this notion that we were for selfdevelopment; 60-70% improved their lot.

Prof Binka (left) being interviewed by the author

Q. Nobody wanted to leave?

A. They were opportunities for everyone. Yes, some left as others came and we supported each other. They were motivated and salaries were good. We had two sets of staff technicians and statisticians, economists, social scientist, epidemiologists- a spectrum to cover the whole area of work. Go to the ministry our people are there. Many research people passed through the Navrongo development center. They were encouraged, inspired, and now they are inspiring others. Q. What was the age group â&#x20AC;&#x201C; young, old?

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We had no working hours. We worked seven days and had no extra pay for weekends. The system was well set up with

A. All ages but we wanted young people to build and continue the work.

checks and balances; every body worked. They saw a

Q. Community support? A. We had to dialogue with the community. You know, the community always tries to second-guess what you are doing. We had to build confidence and support. They learned from progress we made in the research and from our findings, and that motivated them.

transformation and development. We created this notion that we were for self-development; 60-70% improved their lot.

Q. What was the impact? A. Mortality is going down. Infant mortality was over 150 when we arrived in Navrongo; now it is around 65 per thousand births. Risk factors changed and are coming down because we improved access to health services, treated minor illnesses. Immunization coverage also improved significantly. It was the highest insecticide treated bed-net coverage in the country and the highest overall general heath status of the population. And the people know it. Q. Quite an impact. What about poverty? A. That was the big issue. The land is not fertile and hence most young adults migrated out the district in the dry season. We tried to engage the agricultural sector in order to promote gardening during the dry season around the irrigation project area but we were not successful.

Securing Ownership Q. You must have some challenges A. Big challenges. Initially the problem was of skepticism, we knew where we wanted to go but we made mistakes as we went along. Secondly, our collaborators were not patient, they wanted everything to happen at once. I could not blame them. For instance we succeeded in introducing family planning in this rural setting. Before the end of the first year our partners at USAID wanted us to promote female condoms immediately. It was obvious women in this community had not even started discussing openly the use of family planning and were not ready to use female condoms. Once the partners saw the platform we had created for research they thought it could carry everything on research and that would have spelt

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Program Leader Prof Fred Binka

Leaders Checklist

failure for the team, so we resisted such moves. We were firmly in control of the research agenda. Q. Did they withdraw their money?

I am a leader because:

I like to succeed I like to work in a team and be excited by solving problems holistically

I am decisive but I also consult others

I like to reflect and will accept defeat if I am wrong

I believe leadership is earned and not bestowed

A. No, they threatened to do so but other partners in the coalition prevailed on them. The second major challenge was publications from the research carried out at the center. Our collaborator had to understand that we had to take the lead and publish. It was difficult to get this understanding at the onset but gradually we got the cooperation we needed and many of the scientists developed the skills for writing with support from our scientific collaborators. The third challenge had to do with funding. Some of our collaborators did not want to work together. We know that the more diverse our sources of funding the better our chances of survival. We also learnt the importance of visiting the partners and presenting the results of the scientific work to the larger group in these institutions. Q. Who were your major donors? A. Rockefeller Foundation, WHO, IDRC, USAID, The Population Council New York, Engender Health. We had a number of problems. One of the biggest challenges was getting integrated into the MOH. The district heath service would not allow us to operate at their health facilities. All this time. It is only the last four years that they allow us to go to the pediatric ward. And we never got money from MOH. The reason being that they felt we even had too much. So we operated on the fringes. They never showcased us. Some also wanted to use our resources.

Leadership Style Q. How will you describe your personality? A. Well I like to succeed. I like to work in a team and be excited by solving problems holistically. I am very direct in my approach and l always let my colleagues know that I am not a politician. Q. How will you describe your leadership style? Autocratic? Democratic? A. I am in the middle. I like to take decisions but also consult others. I like to reflect and will accept defeat if I am wrong. People who disagreed with me I make sure they stayed and worked with me. I believe that leadership is earned and not bestowed. Q. Do you have regrets at all? A. Well, sometimes. First, I think the center grew too fast and its success would be the greatest challenge for its survival. Second, I think I left too early. There were a lot of opportunities that could have been developed. Third, I did not understand the politics at MOH, and hence was not able to secure direct funding from government early enough to support the development of the center.

Photo credits: Prof Binka and VLP

Program Leader

Mairo Bello

Everyone is a Source of Ideas Written by Moi Lee Liow

I ntroduction Founder and Director

eaders, more than managers, interest us at a personal level. If we

don’t know them, we want to know about them. Even at arm’s length, we want to know what makes them tick, what is their vision,

Adolescent Health Information Project

how they conceptualize things, how they inspire people, how they speak, what they say, how they ignite passion in others, and so on. Leaders have a mystical aura about them, whatever their station in life. Leadership is a great social equalizer.

NIGERIA

It has often been said that it takes all of five seconds for someone to form an initial – and usually lasting - impression of you. There is something about Mairo Bello’s physical demeanor that makes one stop and let that initial impression sinks in. Even standing quietly in her Nigerian national dress and a scarf over her head, she draws our attention. There is a seriousness about her presence, reflected also in her face, although she often breaks into a big warm smile and laughs easily. She is at once soft and charming, with a glint of steel and toughness apparent in her eyes. She is not one to suffer fools gladly. She admits she is tough, something she attributes to the three years she spent with the police force early in her professional life, and perhaps even from her uneasy childhood living in homes of different aunts and uncles. The VLP team spoke with Mairo Bello in Kano, Nigeria. We take a look at the leader behind the woman — her leadership characteristics and skills – and how she has used (and still does) them to deliver her brand of community leadership.

Vision and Commitment Q. You have a definite idea what AHIP is about, and why. How did this vision come about? A. When I was a kid I saw how my mother suffered. It affected me very much to see her abused in her relationships. I thought about the injustice that women suffered, and still do, at the hands of society. I wanted to set up an organization that would help the younger generation especially young women, to learn about self-esteem, independence, and about reproductive health, in order to protect themselves.

www.ahipnig.org 57

Program Leader Mairo Bello

Q. What does commitment mean to you? A. Commitment means devoting myself totally to a cause, in this case, reproductive health and young people. In fact, since I left the bank to begin full-time work at AHIP in 1992, I can’t remember having done anything for myself at a personal level. It seems every waking hour has been for AHIP! I must say that sometimes I feel very down [about this work] but often times I feel on top of the world.

Self-related Competencies The inside track to knowing a person is often through knowing about their upbringing and formative years. One’s perceptions, sensitivities, and awareness are often formed during this time. Mairo’s formative years exerted a big influence on her, making her strong and independent. She had an absentee father and was basically brought up by various aunts and uncles because her mother wasn’t able to do so, with seven other children to care for. She herself was married at 20 for 11 years; now divorced, she has three grown children. Mairo exudes an air of purpose and street smarts. She is a self-made leader, someone who earned an education both inside and outside a classroom. From her mother, she understands the vulnerability of women, about the effect of a lack of education, and what that can do to a woman’s self-esteem and confidence. And she wants to get them started at an early age which is why AHIP focuses largely on adolescents (both male and female). Q. Tell us about yourself: your upbringing, family life, and children. A. I was born 54 years ago in Garko village, outside of Kano; spent a few early years here but grew up in Lagos with various aunts and uncles. I had formal education up to primary six; then stayed home to look after my 7 younger siblings for six years. Later I joined the police force where I stayed for three years. I was briefly with the Ministry of Finance but left to join a bank where I worked for more than 20 years.

Adolescent Health and Information Project The Adolescent Health and Information Project (AHIP) is a youth-focused NGO established in 1989 but commenced operations in 1992. The major focus areas are: health, socio-economic issues as they related to young people and women. It is a pioneering organization on youth development in northern Nigeria, and has successfully partnered with international and national development agencies. In mid-1980s Mairo Bello and her friends started organizing recreational activities for young people in Kano. After 2-3 years, an assessment was done, and they decided that discussion on health needed to be incorporated into recreation to raise young people’s awareness. But as most young people were more concerned about earning a living than health issues, vocational training was initiated as a means to provide the youths with a skill and to impart knowledge on health.

AHIP Mission: Develop life skills of 30% young people in the northern states by year 2005. Objectives: ● Research into the problems of adolescents especially girls, to improve their position in society through encouraging self-confidence. ● Equipping adolescents with vital information for their progression to adulthood, and issues related to their total wellbeing. ● Providing knowledge and skills to young people in difficult circumstances. ● Encouraging adolescents especially girls, to utilize every opportunity in pursuit of education in all disciplines including vocational training. ● Sensitizing adolescents to their rights in society.

Program Leader Mairo Bello

It was at the bank that I realized the importance of education. I did part-time study in Banking and Public Administration, and I finished a Master’s degree in Psychology in 2002. It was also during this time that I started doing social work with women’s groups, which eventually lead to AHIP. I have two daughters and a son. Both my daughters work part-time with AHIP. I am happy that they are interested in development and helping other people.

Mairo Bello (in white) with new women graduates

Q. How would you describe your leadership style? A. I don’t know how to describe my leadership style but I believe strongly in others, in developing the ideas of the young people. I always like to say: Everyone is a source of ideas. Even people who don’t look too smart know something useful. As a leader, you must see how you can draw these ideas from someone.

AHIP’s energetic approach to training

Believing in Others Successful or effective leadership and programs often start small, usually simple ideas that became catalysts for a vision. From her experiences as a volunteer in social work, Mairo Bello saw that she could help young people. She believed that their energies and talents should be developed productively and at the same time, armed with good information and knowledge about health, especially reproductive health. Setting up AHIP with her friends provided the avenue for her vision.

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I believe strongly in others, in developing the ideas of the young people. I always like to say: Everyone is a source of

Since 1992 AHIP has conducted numerous courses and workshops, and trained thousands of people. The organization has also expanded its programs and activities to include IEC, working with government and religious leaders, disadvantaged women and so on.

ideas. Even people who don’t look too smart know something useful. As a leader, you must

Currently AHIP has about 72 employees, of which 30 are directly doing programs. Among the most popular programs are those for students who become peer educators and counselors, acting as role models for other young people and getting early experience as leaders. AHIP staff are mostly young and enthusiastic, and are given opportunities to conduct training and manage projects under Mairo’s watchful eyes. Q. How did AHIP come about, and what were some of your early challenges? A. After 2-3 years of organizing recreational activities for young people, my friends and I did an assessment of our volunteer work. This was in the late 1980s. We found that adolescents were generally ignorant about their reproductive health but at their age, they were more concerned about their economic future and having fun. An early challenge was how to integrate health knowledge and information with socio-economic issues that would attract young people. AHIP as a vocational center was our answer, also partly to legitimize our activities in the eyes of the community. Later we also introduced basketball as a means to get young people not only to play in a team sport but also to be trained as peer educators. Another challenge was to instill a sense of independence in the young people who used AHIP’s services. We would provide the space, equipment and trainers, but the trainees had to contribute about 50 naira for the upkeep of the equipment and bring their own materials for the course. This strategy had worked well, and we continue to use it to this day.

see how you can draw these ideas from someone.

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Program Leader Mairo Bello

Q. What is your view on leadership development for AHIP?

A. A necessary organizational priority for us is to develop leaders from within. I travel a lot, to attend meetings in other parts of Nigeria or overseas and in my absence, AHIP is in the capable hands of two senior managers. But we need to Channeling the energy of the young people into sports and RH activities develop more young people especially those peer educators whom we have nurtured from their school days. Some of them have joined AHIP as staff members. Q. What have been some of AHIP’s major challenges as an organization? A. Organizationally AHIP has adapted well over the past 14 years we have been in operation. We now have operations in three states but have also expanded our activities to a few more states through partnering with other NGOs. We even have the bank’s confidence in securing a big loan to enlarge our head office premises. Generally I am satisfied but if there is one thing I am unhappy about is the staff turnover. AHIP has 72 staff members, 30 of whom are doing programs. We spend a lot of time and effort to properly train our staff. I suppose it is a reverse compliment that other organizations see AHIP as a source of good personnel.

Courage and Confidence Leaders are at the forefront of changes, either as initiators or as implementers. Does Mairo Bello have courage and confidence? She has this vision that she wants to empower young people and women with knowledge and information in reproductive health as well as skills for income-generation. She is doing this in the religiously conservative and sometimes volatile northern region of Nigeria. For someone who can never be quite sure when her office building might be burned down by extremists, or when an angry mob might descend outside her front door just because AHIP’s work uses the words “reproductive and sexual health” and “adolescents”, Mairo is a very calm and collected person. What motivates her? Basically it is her conviction that it is better to take a risk and do some good than not do it at all. However, she is creative in the way she deals with it; she retains a few employees whose main value is being her ears to the community. During our conversation on a Sunday, her cellular phone rang often; one of her ‘ears’ was updating her on what the group of agitated men gathered in front of AHIP was up to. Like she says, “every madman has his day”. If need be, no doubt she could also deal with any troublemaker herself, given her years in the police force.

* The honorific “Hajiya” is bestowed on a Muslim woman who has completed her religious pilgrimage to Mecca.

AHIP’s head office is in Kano, centrally located within the 19 states of northern Nigeria. This part of the country is predominantly Muslim where Syariah law is in force. It can be hard to reason with conservative extremists, says Mairo, even though she is a “Hajiya”* and has lived in the community for so long. It was in this context that Mairo found that a long-time ally easily turned against her when he decided to join a band of critics for her work in helping to develop the National Sexuality Curriculum. She says that only 9-10 pages out of a 400+-page document are on sexuality but her critics chose to ignore the rest of the curriculum. Sexuality, especially for young people, is a touchy subject. So AHIP has to always think of innovative ways to gain community acceptance and understanding. One of their biggest challenges, she says,

Program Leader Mairo Bello

is to effectively convey the right message to the community that AHIP is promoting leadership development and vocational training as well as information on health. One strategy is to always invite community religious leaders especially young men to their workshops and training courses. Another is to engage the male peer educators as well as male program staff to seek opportunities to talk with young people and the parents in the community about reproductive health issues.

Strategies to address Challenges

Building Alliances AHIP had humble beginnings. It went from simple recreational activities (picnics, birth parties) for young people in a Kano suburb to an official organizational set-up that could reach out to more people in tangible ways. But AHIP cannot do it all. In 2002, AHIP has branch offices in three states – Kano, Bauchi and Jigawa – with a fourth on the way. But by building alliances and partnerships with NGOs in seven states in the north, AHIP was able to expand their coverage even more. There are also many training workshops with heads of local government bodies.

Communications The Mairo Bello we met is a very astute, confident and forthright woman. She is very clear not only about AHIP’s mission and goals, but also how they can effectively communicate with their stakeholders. She is also a very good public speaker and trainer. She is bold and brassy, and won’t hesitate to publicly correct anyone who conveys wrong or inaccurate information especially about sexuality and gender relations. She uses modern communication tools such as the Internet and cellular phones, both of which AHIP uses extensively. In fact, almost all AHIP staff is equipped with a cell phone. Mairo herself carries at least two cell phones. “If somebody is looking at AHIP negatively, I want to know”, and she knows it easily and quickly because her cell phones ring very often, like one Sunday when her staff thought trouble could be brewing from demonstrators grouped in front of AHIP’s office in Maiduguri Road, Kano.

Community religious leaders - Invite them to activities Young men - Engage them as peer educators and program staff Attracting young people - Integrate socio-economic and livelihood issues with health Promote leadership development and vocational training Reach out to parents and young people - Seek opportunities to talk with them so they can understand your work

Organization and Community Her 20-plus years in the banking industry have given Mairo an appreciation of the professionalism of the corporate sector which she is keen to impart on AHIP. AHIP functions as a professional organization that has grown into quite a large NGO with branch offices in three states and 70 or more staff. It is governed by a Board of Directors and a Board of Trustees, all of whom are respected men and women leaders from the community. Mairo says that it was a conscious decision to choose both Christian and Muslim leaders as well as men and women in these two governing bodies. From observation, AHIP seems to be wellorganized and managed with the usual organizational elements of financial control, monitoring and evaluation, human resource development, and training competencies.

Reaching out to religious leaders in northern Nigeria is essential

Mairo Bello with an ulama

Program Leader Mairo Bello

AHIP has been able to recruit (and train) many talented and enthusiastic young people but Mairo says she is unhappy about staff turnover, bane of all organizations. Apparently AHIP staff are considered well trained and competent by other NGOs. Although sustainability is a constant challenge, Mairo says that through concerted efforts in building credibility and trust with donor agencies, AHIP so far has been successful in securing funding for their growing programs. Q. How has AHIP build alliances both in terms of program activities and fundraising? Is partnering important for an organization like AHIP?

Bio-data Personal: Born in village of Garko (outside of Kano) in 1952. Eldest of 8 siblings. Brought up in Lagos and Kano, mostly by aunts and uncles. Married at 20 for 11 years. Has two grown-up daughters and a son. Professional: Was in police force for 3 years, followed by a job at Ministry of Finance. Later joined a bank and was there for 20 years. Founded AHIP in 1989 and now serves as Director. Is a Packard Fellow under the International Family Planning Leadership Program at University of Santa Cruz, USA. Formal education to primary 6. While at bank, did parttime studies in Banking, Public Administration, and Sociology. Completed a Mas ters degree

course in Psychology recently.

A. When you work in the community, you have to work with the community, simple as that. AHIP’s strategy has always been to build alliances with our targeted stakeholders, including government agencies and other NGOs. For example, to expand our coverage, we work in partnership with NGOs in seven northern states to help them monitor and evaluate youth program activities in reproductive health. Building credibility as an organization and as leaders is crucial over the long run. Even organizationally, AHIP’s 10-person Board of Directors and 4-person Board of Trustees comprise men and women leaders, both Muslim and Christian, in the community – religious bodies, local government agencies, universities. As for fund raising, AHIP received its first overseas funding in 1994, from the International Women’s Health Coalition. Later Pathfinder International provided assistance with capacity building for AHIP. We are fortunate to have funding support from foundations and donors such as Packard Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Novib, DFID, Global Fund for Women, and so on. It is important that we always strive to improve the quality of our work, and that will show through donor support. Q. One tried and tested method of helping the community is through microcredit programs especially to women. Does AHIP use this method? What lessons have you learned from working with the community? A. I know micro-credit programs have been successful in many countries but from my experience, in the Nigerian context, giving cash to the poor is not encouraged. Because of our socio-economic set-up and our financial institutions at the grassroots level, cash often comes to no long-term use as it is immediately spent on other things for the household or for the person. At AHIP, we emphasize training and skills development instead, hence our vocational center and workshops on advocacy, legal rights and leadership. At a personal level, I have learned a few bitter lessons about friendships. At one time, I thought I had the support of one community leader whose friendship I cultivated over many years. Suddenly one day he turned against me and AHIP because he joined a community group in criticizing my involvement with developing the National Sexuality Curriculum. We have a saying, “Don’t beat the load the donkey is carrying”. Now I think one can have no permanent friends in this field. Q: What do you see as the major challenges in the future for reproductive health? And for yourself?

photo credits: AHIP and VLP

A. I believe HIV/AIDS and developing leadership will be two critical areas for sustainability of reproductive health programs. We have to be prepared for the impact of HIV/AIDS on our health system especially reproductive health.I have personally devoted so much energy and time to AHIP and I am proud of what we have done, but I am ready to take a rest. As leaders we must know when to stop, and I want to take a back seat soon. I want to do some travelling for pleasure, in particular to Asia and India, places I don’t know very well. So that’s my personal goal.

Program Leader

Pooven Moodley

Leadership for Advocacy

Written by George Kahuthia

I ntroduction Co-Founder and Regional Director

ooven Moodley was born in 1970 in Mandini, about 100 kilometres

north of Durban in South Africa.

Mandini is a small town built

around a paper-manufacturing factory and during the seventies

Africa Alive!

was characterized by racial divides. Pooven attended a local primary school, which was located in a forest, for his early education. He later studied law

SOUTH AFRICA

at the University of Natal. Pooven’s early life was organized around sports, spirituality and service. As a young boy he spent time swimming in the Tugela River which flows across Mandini. He was an ardent soccer player, a sport he continued into his university days. Right from his early days in life, Pooven got initiated into mobilizing people and as he puts it, “to motivate people to make a contribution.” Initially, it started with organizing young people for sports, concerts and charitable activities. During this period that he was growing up, it was the height of political unrest and black consciousness movements where racial issues were central. As a young person, Pooven felt the calling and got involved. Pooven’s interest and involvement in politics, advocacy and lobbying started right within the family he grew up in. His late elder brother who was a radical activist with the African National Congress (ANC) inspired him. Discussions in the family were characterized by heavy debates about political issues in the country. As early as grade eight, Pooven gave talks on alternatives political systems for South Africa and participated in school boycotts against the government. This involvement intensified during his days at the University of Natal, where he was elected a Representative of the Student Council and various political structures including the Black Students Society. During his tenure at this council, he was intensely involved in the successful negotiations to merge the formerly exclusive white student council with the Black Students Council. The struggle was not only about transforming structures but shifting consciousness. There were regular periods when Pooven was forced to go ‘underground’ as the security forces were involved in ‘eliminating activists’. Activists being threatened and killed was the order of the day. Outside the University, Pooven rallied other young men to organize around the ANC. Events were characterized by protest marches and demonstrations against the government.

www.africaalive.org 63

Program Leader Pooven Moodley

Employment Life After law school, Pooven was employed in a private law firm. After one year, he quit the firm feeling that his life was not being fulfilled. “My passion was to be involved in human rights issues.” In 1993, he joined the Legal Resources Center in Port Elizabeth. The Legal Resource Centre is a human rights law firm which takes on precedent-setting cases and does pro bono work for the poor. Majority of cases at the Legal Resources Centre related to people who had been shot, tortured or abused by the police and people who had been forced out of their land. Listening to stories and testimonies of clients was a very emotionally engaging process which, for Pooven, was a “sensitization time.” It was also later revealed that one of his colleagues at the firm was an apartheid spy. She spied on the staff and other ANC members. Her information led to the killing of many activists in the Eastern Cape. Pooven’s work life has meant him spending the past ten years in various African countries which involved working with governments, parliaments and communities. The work varied from the informal settlements in Nairobi to the United Nations in New York and the World Economic Forum. Pooven has done work for various international development organizations including Oxfam, United Nations agencies, Johns Hopkins University and the Futures Group.

I nvolvement in Human Rights Activities Pooven has played a key role in initiating and getting involved in human rights activities. These involved issues relating to the marginalized communities in South Africa. Pooven started getting involved in HIV/AIDS issues, while representing clients who were discriminated against because they were HIV positive. He was involved in the establishment of the AIDS Legal Network in South Africa. The idea of this Network was to get the legal profession involved in three ways: Take cases to court on behalf of HIV positive people

Get policies in place (in relation to HIV/AIDS) Train people to know what their rights are and know when their rights are being breached

L obbying and Advocacy The National AIDS Convention of South Africa (NACOSA) was formed to response to the HIV/AIDS issue in South Africa. It was a milestone as the ANC started discussions with the previous government.

Giant puppets to raise awareness

Pooven was appointed to the position of National Lobbyist in 1996. The key task was advocacy and lobbying directed at Parliament and Parliamentarians and Cabinet members. This was just after the post-apartheid era, when the new Government was faced with the challenge of dismantling discriminatory structures (of governance and service delivery) created under the apartheid regime. It was also the time when the new Members of Parliament were “defining and shaping what their role would be.” This was, therefore, an opportune time of working with the MPs “in order to use HIV/AIDS Popular music group “Bishop” at the Africa Alive! AIDS Youth rally

Program Leader Pooven Moodley

as an issue which illustrated their role. This was also a challenging period because prevalence of HIV among the South African population was low and therefore HIV/AIDS issues were not a major priority of the Government. The first challenge was to mobilize all the structures of Government to play a defined strategic role in dealing with HIV/AIDS. This involved, first, getting each department to understand why they needed a program, and second, getting them to develop and implement one. The following structures and individuals were identified as targets of the lobbying and advocacy campaign: the Presidency; Cabinet; Parliamentary Portfolio Committees; individual Members of Parliament; political parties; and Commissions (e.g. Human Rights Commission, Gender Commission, and Youth Law Commission). Pooven has lobbied leaders across the continent.

Appearing on Japanese TV

Strategies for Lobbying As a national lobbyist, Pooven strategized to get the President of South Africa to chair a committee on AIDS at the Cabinet Level. This strategy would make the Ministers accountable to the President (in terms of HIV/ AIDS issues). This would trigger a cascade effect since the Ministers would put pressure on their ministries and departments to initiate programmes. The strategy therefore was to “play one against the other.” Pooven recalls that the greatest challenge was getting the President to chair the Committee. This required lobbying people in the President’s Office, the Cabinet, ANC National Executive Committee and the business sector. Initially when the campaign started, the lobbyists focused on Nelson Mandela. However, it was clear that Mandela was soon handing over power. “Therefore we strategically targeted Thabo Mbeki whom we knew was taking over the presidential responsibilties.” Some activities involved lobbying the President through his wife, lobbying the business sector, and then individual MPs. A key strategy in this work was to take every opportunity to reach the right people by going to where they were to be found, and talking to them. For instance, Pooven would take an opportunity to talk to Nelson Mandela during his morning walk. Though there was a barrier protecting the President’s homestead, he, nonetheless, was able to pass key messages talking through the barrier. Pooven would research all the ministers’ schedules and would ‘know where to find them’.

Advocacy Initiatives with Parliament The first activity was a presentation organized for MPs. Out of 490 only 14 people turned up, and all were from the Health Committee of Parliament. The challenge was to move the agenda from the health docket to a multisectoral level. This was accomplished through the launch of an All-party Parliamentary Group on AIDS. Pooven took advantage of a two-hour flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town to brief the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Health Committee about the launch of the All-party Parliamentary Group on AIDS. During these discussions, Pooven not only secured the chairperson’s endorsement of the launch, but also got a go-ahead to organize the launch with resources from the committee. The launch was a great success and this was a “major victory for the AIDS community.” Lobbying involved getting close to the ministers and MPs and slowly changing perspectives and attitudes. There were several victories including all ministries developing comprehensive HIV/AIDS programs and key pieces of legislation passed to protect people living with HIV/AIDS.

Strategies for Advocacy and Lobbying Get political commitment - Invite top political leaders to chair committees or head projects

Target Parliament, Commissions, business sector - Engage them, feed them information and facts, get them to support or endorse something Attract young people Use creative and fun ways to attract attention and increase participation Use all media and performing artistes - To create awareness and for fundraising through concerts, sales of records, TV programs, etc Be prepared to speak out at forums and public events

Program Leader Pooven Moodley

Advice to Leaders Great

leaders swim upstream and against all odds to change the status quo.

true to your cause irrespective of how difficult the road ahead is.

Have

a vision, and the commitment, to ensure the ‘art of the possible’

Advocacy for Youth and Africa Alive! While still working at NACOSA, Pooven was selected as a National Youth Commissioner in the Office of the President. The objectives of the Commissioner were to put a youth policy in place, and to get the government to respond to youth issues. Exposure in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, Uganda and Nigeria through the international development agencies broadened Pooven’s perspectives of how different countries respond to HIV/AIDS and youth issues. During a conference in Zimbabwe in 1998, Africa Alive! was initiated, and Pooven was later appointed the Regional Director. His job involved providing technical support to national chapters of Africa Alive to develop their technical capabilities to address youth issues, and in fundraising. During his tenure at Africa Alive!, Pooven mobilized musicians and artists as role models for young people. Through music and concerts, participation in major conferences and events (United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, World Economic Forum, SADC, NEPAD, HIV/AIDS Conferences in Durban, Barcelona etc. Africa Alive! was able to address key issues of youth reproductive health including HIV and AIDS. This involved working with MTV and Bono’s group, Artists against AIDS Worldwide.

The Future Pooven would like to See Pooven would like a situation where 10 to 20 years down the line, the HIV/ AIDS pandemic will be referred to in “one line — similar to the way we now refer to the plague.” HIV is just a reflection of deeper social issues in the world today. Pooven also yearns for a time when he would be “working with people in more fundamental ways getting to the root of understanding.” This means “people getting in touch with themselves, and becoming more in tune with the universe.” Pooven wants to be part of a movement in which the “global culture can influence people positively.”

Eye-catching and dynamic design used by Africa Alive!

Photo credits: various websites

Program Leader

Dr Samir Chaudhuri

Credibility is the Pillar of Leadership Written by Moi Lee Liow

I ntroduction Founder and Director

efore there can be followers, there must be credibility. Leaders can prosper or perish on the strength of their credibility. Indeed, research by Kouzes and Posner has found that people want leaders

Child in Need Institute

who “hold to an ethic of service and are genuinely respectful of the intelligence and contributions of their constituencies. They also want leaders who will put principles ahead of politics and other people before self-

INDIA

interest”*. Dr Samir Chaudhuri’s belief in credibility has guided and served him well over the years. He says credibility is the pillar of leadership. We spoke with Dr Samir Chaudhuri in Ranchi, Jharkhand state, India, at a VLP workshop. The Jharkhand Unit of his organization is the VLP national anchor institute for India. We take a look at the leader behind the man – his vision, his beliefs, his leadership characteristics and skills – and how he has used them to set up a reputed national-level NGO to serve the community.

The Beginning How to alleviate child malnutrition provides a classic case study of rootcause analysis. After completing his research on the state of child malnutrition for 3,000 families while a post-graduate student at Delhi in the early 1960s, Dr Samir N Chaudhuri, Director of Child in Need Institute, became absolutely convinced that the root cause was not a medical problem but a socio-economic one. Among the parameters of his research were status of women, income levels, and household dynamics, perhaps somewhat innovative at that time when the focus was on medical or clinical solutions to malnutrition. Seeing malnutrition as the most common disease affecting children, Dr Chaudhuri constantly sought opportunities to put his medical knowledge and skills as a pediatrician to good use after graduation. Back in Kolkata in 1970 after his post-graduate studies in New Delhi, he devoted most mornings to volunteer work with Mother Teresa’s convent as well as Muslim and Hindu charities. It was only in the evenings that he earned a living as a private general practitioner.

www.cini-india.org

* Kouzes, J M and B Z Posner, 1993. “Credibility. How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it”. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, pp xvii.

Program Leader Dr Samir Chaudhuri

CINI Child in Need Institute (CINI) was set up by Dr Samir N Chaudhuri to alleviate child malnutrition. After conducting extensive research on this subject as a medical student, Dr Chaudhuri became convinced that malnutrition had its cause in socio-economic conditions, not medical, and he wanted to do something about it. After a decade of volunteer work with Mother Teresa’s convent in Kolkata, an opportunity dropped on his laps. A nun he was working closely with received a grant of US$74,000 from a US-based organization, the Catholic Relief Services. This grant proved to be the springboard for setting up CINI. Today, CINI operates on an annual budget of US$4 million, employs more than 450 staff and has received the ‘Regional Resource Center’ (RRC) status from the Government of India. This status indicated maturity, credibility and organizational clout to CINI’s reputation.

CINI head office in Kolkata

Bio-data Personal: Grew up in Myanmar and lived there till 1962 when family returned to Kolkata. Professional life: Founder and Director of Child In Need Institute (CINI) Currently based in Italy where he spearheads CINI’s fundraising campaigns in Europe and US as President of CINI International. Past National President of the Voluntary Health Association of India. Education: Medical degree from University of Rangoon, Myanmar. M.D. in Pediatrics from All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.

Operating out of a charming compound in the village of Amgachia, one hour outside Kolkata, the CINI headquarters is a hive of activities every day, including providing a feeding station and a small hospital at its premises. With child nutrition at the core of its programs, there are other activities for mother and child health services, training programs, community outreach services, policy and advocacy as well as fundraising programs. As of 2006, CINI comprises a head office and 12 other units, all in West Bengal state except for offices in states of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and a liaison office in New Delhi.

Rationale for CINI By the early 1970s, he felt he was ready to put his personal vision to reality – to implement a multi-disciplinary approach to alleviate child malnutrition with research and training through a specialized organization. There was also a secondary but no less important, objective, and that was to use the results of such research to feed into the policymaking process especially at national level. Thirty or so years later, he has eased up on his operational responsibilities with CINI, having established a well-organized multi-disciplinary team, and is now focusing on fundraising, awareness-raising, and international and government liaison work.

Self-related Competencies Dr Chaudhuri has the quiet gentle demeanor of someone who is confident that his vision and his beliefs are solid because he knows that they have, in turn, improved the lives of the poor in exactly the way that he had envisaged. If you talked with him, it would be easy to see that his humility, sincerity and commitment are indeed his strengths. Because of his leadership and other personal qualities, Dr Chaudhuri was chosen to serve two years in the 1990s, as the national president for the Voluntary Health Association of India, an important umbrella body overseeing 10,000 health NGOs throughout the country. When asked what are the important skills or qualities a leader should have, Dr Chaudhuri replied without hesitation – Credibility first! And how does one acquire that? He believes through working with and listening to the community, show your commitment and sincerity, develop empathy

Program Leader Dr Samir Chaudhuri

CINI Life Cycle Approach For its work on reproductive health, CINI has adopted the Life Cycle Approach (LCA) to address pressing issues such as low birth weight, malnutrition and a variety of reproductive and sexual health problems. The LCA strategy aims to break the intergeneration cycle of poverty, malnutrition and ill health, and targets critical stages of the life cycle, that is, pregnancy, 0-2 years and adolescence. The three thematic divisions -- women’s health, child health and development, and adolescent health -- strive to continuously improve the package through pilot initiatives. Through the LCA cell or unit, CINI’s mission of sustainable health and nutrition development of women and children is met through: * research and policy analysis * development of innovative program approaches and tools * technical support and capacity building of NGOs in implementation of LCA programs * documentation, information dissemination and advocacy

Selected CINI Milestones 1975-77 * CINI registered as a society * Nutrition rehabilitation center opened 1978-80 * Projects on mother and child health started in 2 districts in W Bengal, and training of Anganwadi workers started * School welfare program began 1981-83 * Mahila Mandals formed * MCH research in collaboration with NFI 1984-88 * CINI received 1985 National Award for outstanding work in child welfare * Awareness programs on girl child started 1989-93 * Asha unit set up for urban programs; also for street and girl children, and child spacing * Received Feinstein Hunger Award 1994-98 * Regional Center for Training and Counselling on AIDS set up with support from NACO * CINI recognized as collaborative institute for TOT and RCH program monitoring in 7 north east states. 1999-2003 * Adolescent Resource Center established * Formation of LCA cell * Setting up of Bandhan, HIV/AIDS cell Source: CINI Annual Reports

source: CINI annual report 2003

in your work, and above all, be professional in what you do. He also believes leaders must know how to inspire others though this is not an easy skill to acquire.

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“

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The root cause of child malnutrition is not a medical

Community-related Skills

problem but a socioeconomic one.

According to Dr Chaudhuri, the first real opportunity to do a ‘proper’ project came out of the blue, like a gift from heaven. A nun who knew him well through his regular volunteer work at Mother Teresa’s convent, approached him in 1974 with a grant of US$50,000 offered by Catholic Relief Services. With this grant, he set up a program in a couple of slum areas in Kolkata, taking this opportunity to test his vision of integrating into the project activities a training component. He believes that providing food to the malnourished is only a band-aid kind of short-term solution.

What is more important – and sustainable - is to train the project beneficiaries how to recognize the nutritional value in common everyday food items and to provide a balanced meal. For this, CINI has made recruitment of local people and training of local community health workers an important part of all its projects.

Multi-disciplinary approach - Child malnutrition is a result of many different factors

Research findings - Find ways to feed this into the policymaking process especially at national level

Serving the people Listen to them and earn their respect and trust

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Strategies to address Challenges

Partnering Skills The land for the CINI head office, comprising five large double-storey buildings in a nice compound in Amgachia village about 1 hour’s drive from Kolkata city, came from a generous private donor with much goodwill and faith in Dr Chaudhuri’s vision and leadership. There have been many donors, supporters and partners over the years.

”

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Program Leader Dr Samir Chaudhuri

Leaders Checklist Skills and Qualities of Leaders:

Earn your credibility Work with and listen to the community

Show

your commitment and sincerity

Develop empathy in your

What has been Achieved? Dr Chaudhuri can be justifiably proud of the many achievements of CINI. The organization started – thanks to a Catholic nun and CRS – with a grant of US$50,000 in 1974 for a small project in couple of Kolkata slums. Today the annual budget for CINI is about US$4 million with a staff strength of over 450 people. CINI is a NGO with nationallevel status in India, with an additional organizational function as a focal point RRC for east India. While its traditional activities of training on nutrition and health continue, CINI has also set up a policy and fundraising section about 6 years ago. This is very much part of the greater vision Dr Chaudhuri has for CINI. The deputy director heads the CINI government liaison office in New Delhi. For international liaison and fundraising activities, Dr Chaudhuri has himself worked hard to establish connections for CINI in Italy, Germany and UK.

work

Be professional in what you do

Learn how to inspire others

The fruits of his labor have come after a long time, a process Dr Chaudhuri believes is inevitable in his field. Credibility cannot be built overnight. He remembers that for the first 10 years, no government officer wanted to listen to him. Now, through proven results in the field as well as solid research and training, CINI has a voice in national advocacy. It is widely acknowledged that CINI has contributed significantly to the field of malnutrition in India including influencing national policies. Part of his vision still remains … for the learnings from pilot projects in child health and reproductive health from NGOs like CINI to be fed more effectively into the official policymaking process.

Photo credits: VLP

Program Leader

Prof Souleymane Mboup

Hard Work and Belief in Ourselves Written by Dr Timothee Gandaho

I ntroduction Head

started in 1985 but got a lot of motivation from the discovery of HIV.

At that time the virus was not yet known in Africa. The first case was

National Office of HIV/AIDS Surveillance Center SENEGAL

in central Africa in 1983 and later in Senegal in 1986. I was working

as a microbiologist on sexually transmitted disease (STD) among sex workers with Dr Ebra Ndoye. We conducted a survey on HIV in Senegal and found that HIV/AIDS prevalence was very low in Senegal. However, we found a virus with different profile and sent it to France for confirmation and it came out to be HIV-2. We sent more samples to USA and it was confirmed that it is HIV-2. a virus completely different from the known HIV-1. We then started a program against HIV/AIDS in Senegal. A National Council for HIV/AIDS Prevention was set up for the first time in 1985-86 even before UNAIDS was created. Since then I came to know many problems faced by the West African region, mainly through research. I had political support from the government and this allowed me to take many initiatives and launched a lot of programs. I worked at two levels. I worked for the inter-Ministerial Convention for Research on HIV/AIDS in collaboration with Harvard University, INSERM of France and University of Senegal. I also participate in a research and monitoring/evaluation of HIV/AIDS prevention program in Senegal. I am member of the African Network for the Fight against HIV/AIDS since 1989. I am heading the Center and Laboratory for Bacteriology-Virology of the University Hospital Le Dantec in Dakar, Senegal. I do research, teaching and dissemination of research results. My center has 60 staff with 20 medical doctors and biologist-pharmacologists, 15 lab technicians as well as 40 researchers. The center is a reference laboratory for the country.

Motivation and Commitment Q. What motivate you the most for your work and moves you along? What created this commitment? How do you keep this commitment alive? A. My motivation is from the conviction that we Africans can do something to solve our problems. We can conduct sound research and gain credibility with our work. We also have the capacity to compete at international level.

Program Leader Prof Souleymane Mboup

National Office of HIV/AIDS Surveillance Center The development and maintenance of a surveillance system was the most important components of the control of the spread of HIV/AIDS. Conducting surveys in the general population focusing on data collection on HIV/AIDS, the identification of the determining factors that explain the spread of the epidemic was crucial. This in combination with monitoring the target risk groups such as sex workers, truck drivers, mobile workers, migrants groups, military and others strengthened the behavior surveillance and the biological surveillance as the key components of our program. The epidemiological surveys were the major sources of information to plan appropriate intervention in all sectors of the country as part of the National HIV/AIDS control program. All sectors were requested to mobilize a better response to the spread of HIV/AIDS in a national multi-sectoral strategy against the disease. It was made compulsory for all these sectors to use data and information from our center for better coordination of interventions and better use of existing resources. Objectives of the center: Measure the yearly prevalence of HIV infection and syphilis in the targeted surveillance groups: pregnant women, sex workers, hospitalized patients, patients with tuberculosis Assess the evolving pattern of the HIV infection, HIV-1 and HIV-2, and syphilis among pregnant women and sex workers Disseminate the information generated at regional, national and international levels in order to reinforce the strategy aiming at preventing or controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The analysis of the results has shown that the HIV/AIDS prevalence in Senegal has been stable since 199697. The prevalence is low among young pregnant women. The prevalence among the high-risk groups of the surveillance program had stabilized. We found the surveillance system to be a better and sound tool for controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa region.

Bio-data Professional: Trained as an Army doctor with specializations in Bacteriology, Virology and Microbiology. Head of the National Office of HIV/AIDS Surveillance Center at the National Laboratory for Bacteriology and Virology of the University Hospital Le Dantec, Dakar Senegal. Professor at University of Cheikh Anta Diop. Also works with the African Network of HIV/AIDS covering 22 member countries. Co-discoverer of HIV-2 which is predominantly found in West Africa and India.

I wanted to demonstrate that not everything is negative in Africa and with few resources we can set up programs to make a difference. I started alone with two assistants but we were able to build the capacity of a lot of people who in turn have worked to make a difference and bring about changes. I received many offers for other positions but declined all of them even though this has affected my childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education. Despite the numerous offers to go for international positions, I prefer to stay in Senegal to build an independent and sustainable institution with sound results and produce publications. I must confess that if I wanted I would have had a job giving me 20 times more in terms of salary compared to what I am receiving now from the center. I rejected these offers and do not regret that I stayed with the center. We are at the center of many health problems in Senegal. We would like to be a model reference center in the African region in the field of research. Our research results at national and international levels are the most motivating factors. People are interested in our work and what we have achieved. Disseminating our results is a great motivating factor for us. Today, I do not want to leave the center and let it die. People are getting more and more interested in the center and for me, we are making progress. At many conferences our center is cited as an example.

The HIV/AIDS Prevention Program Q. What are the objectives, the major components, activities and target groups of the work at the center? What is the vision? How were you able to make a difference at the global level? A. The vision is to transform the center into an international institution to promote research in a South-South and North-South collaboration framework with the possibility to offer grants to young researchers from all over the world. Researchers will come with samples from their country

Program Leader Prof Souleymane Mboup

to work with my team of researchers. I would like to strengthen research capacity of young researchers and I see my center as a center for development of young researchers. I also like multi-center research projects with a number of researchers. Q. What makes the Senegalese program for HIV/AIDS prevention so successful? A. In Senegal the first cases of AIDS were declared by World Health Organization in 1986. The two types of virus were identified in the general population to be HIV-1 and then HIV-2. The prevalence of HIV-2 was globally higher than the prevalence of HIV-1. But since 1996 the pattern has reversed. The major transmission mode is heterosexual. One important factor of success of the Senegalese program is continuity of leadership. For many years leadership had remained the same even when political leadership changed. The program leaders have been the same for the past 20 years and we are all not interested and not involved in politics. We are professors of the university and will remain so as long as we want. So far we are 99% Senegalese at the center We are not receiving funding from Senegalese government. Our funds are generated from caring for hospital patients and also from the national and international funds due to the credibility of the center.

Prof Mboup (left) being interviewed by the author

Leaders Checklist Skills and Qualities of Leaders:

Exchange

of ideas and

knowledge

Setting up a monitoring system of STD with epidemiological research, monitoring of HIV/AIDS prevalence, identification of prevention strategies and proposals of solutions to deal with them are our main strategies that has worked.

Leadership

Lead

by example. Be friendly and interested in staff well being. Keep them motivated

Have integrity at all levels

Q. How do you describe your leadership style? A. I like the exchange of ideas and knowledge, leading by example. I am very confident and delegate responsibilities to maximize the work. I value human relationship and friendship, integrity at all levels, in office and at home, and acting without personal interest. In the center I have created family relationship and friendship and the team works as a family.

Act without personal interest Be strict and careful with

Every morning I make sure I greet all my staff at their post especially when I come back from a trip. I listen to people and their problems and needs. I strongly believe in people and in values, hard work, family and religion; I am a very religious person. I am very tolerant, open-minded and realistic.

Let your results speak for

I am very strict with myself and my family when it comes to work. I have high financial integrity. My duty is to lead and manage the research team at the center. Q. What do you have as lessons learned on leadership to share with us? A. Work hard, do not get discouraged. Do not rush in decision making. I believe hard work always pays. Be honest, rigorous in management and in scientific research. Make no mistake in fund management to ensure that you have the trust of donors and partners. Manage your budget according to existing rules and avoid being tempted. Be sincere with high integrity and credibility. Sometimes events force you to react. The more results you have the more people want to have. The most important resource is human resources. I make sure my staff are motivated. I make request on their behalf but never for myself. Before making any commitment I make sure I have the resources to comply with the commitment.

fund management

you

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;

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On why Senegal has a 0.5% HIV prevalence*:

African leaders need to listen and trust their scientists... This is part of the secret of Senegalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success in combating HIV. ----------

â&#x20AC;?

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* Prof Mboup was speaking at the 13th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa, held in Nairobi, Kenya, September 2003

Program Leader Prof Souleymane Mboup

Challenges Demonstrate that not everything is negative in Africa Use few resources in setting up a program to make a difference. We want to be an independent and sustainable research and reference center in the African region.

Build capacity of people who in turn can work to make a difference and bring about changes. Mobilize resource for the research center. Convince donors to invest in research. Have sufficient funding to face the challenges and to work the way we like. We have no financial support from Senegalese government who provides us just political support. We have to raise funds for the survival of the center.

Keep the staff and ensure a minimum salary with our research projects. We have to live on research projects funding and subsidies. We have lost very intelligent and capable researchers for lack of financial support. Due to lack of sufficient funding we cannot offer decent salary to staff to maintain them in the center.

Work in harmony with all partners with different requests and agenda Obtain long-term funding for the center and stable support from donors. Much of our funding is in US dollars which sometimes fluctuates a lot and we could ‘lose’ money as a result.

Donors prefer research funds to be managed in collaboration with institution in the North. Undertake publication of research results in English which is preferred to French. We are weak in publication because of English language. We do all the work but our partners take all the credibility by taking the results and writing articles in English for publication.

Staff say Prof Mboup is:

“Diplomat,

team builder, constant, has a family spirit, he makes us feel in a family”

“Good

in problem solving, listen to his staff, rarely angry with his staff”

“Good sense of humor, he is simple, modest, does not show that he is the boss”

“He motivate people to work

Q. How have you addressed the challenges? What strategies did you take to face or manage those challenges? A. We are taking all kind of risks to face challenges. We have recruited many staff to meet the demand and now we are faced with paying salary to those staff. Sometimes we are saddled with arrears in salary payment, and then we have to face the risk of dealing with law suits filed by staff. Initiating new actions is also taking risks since we are not sure of getting the expected results. By accepting to live on a small salary I am taking a risk for myself and for my family especially my children who need good education to ensure a good future and career. But you cannot bring any change or make a difference without taking risks. I love taking risks to deal with challenges.

What of the Future?

and is a great researcher”

Q. How do you see sustainability for your center?

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A. After 18 years of experience with the center we are yet to have a sustainable organization where everything is working as expected. I am still fighting for sustainability. Sometimes we undertake an evaluation to see weaknesses and strengths and also what did not work. We have noticed some weaknesses and I do not mind receiving criticism. It helps to change direction or to adjust the work and look for ways forward.

“

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One important factor for the success of the Senegalese program is continuity of leadership.

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”

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Q. Do you have regrets? A. I have relied heavily on some collaborators in the past and they let me down. I have built the capacity of many collaborators to work in the center but I lost many of them. I have trained people to take some responsibilities but this did not happen because of their behavior. I strongly believe people can make their career with research.

Photo credits: VLP

Program Successes Abebech Gobena Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Care and Development Association

Mary Joy Aid through Development

Bina Insani

Paricharja

Gashe Abera Forum for Mola EnvironAfrican ment and Women Development Educationalists Association Youth-2-Youth German Foundation for World Population

Youth Activists Organization

Kabiro Kawangware Health Care Trust

Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council

Organizations which have benefited from strong internal leadership and which have developed innovative approaches for action

Readersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Guide

As you read through these profiles, please consider the following:

Program Success

Abebech Gobena Children’s Care and Development Organization

Commitment is Everything

Written by Dr Teshome Shibre

Background Founder and General Manager

bebech Gobena Children’s Care and Development Organization*

(AGOHELD) was originally founded as “Abebech Gobena Orphanage and School (AGOS)” in 1980 G.C as one of the pioneering NGOs in

Abebech Gobena ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia. The project was initiated during the period of the Communist revolution, which was at its climax in the country at that time. The dogged persistence of Mrs Abebech Gobena, the founder, in the face of enormous difficulties in getting contacts and sponsors from abroad and within the country, have proved her extraordinary quality of perseverance. Mrs Abebech’s activity of charity started with two children whom she brought from the drought and famine affected area, as she was coming home from a pilgrimage to “Gishen Mariam” in 1980. It seems that the human tragedy she witnessed there completely changed her perceptions as she continued helping those children who lost their parents. The number of children under her care grew to 21 by the end of the year and has continued growing logarithmically ever since. The primary focus of her activities during the early years was to provide food, shelter and clothes for the orphans with the long-term strategy of making them self-dependent through incomegeneration activities. Mission: Fostering the needy children; reunify with their families once their relatives are identified; help the orphans and other destitute women to acquire skills; and undertake both rural and urban integrated development programs. Vision: Making the children economically productive and socially responsible citizens by satisfying their needs and protecting their rights so that they become self-supportive and contribute to fulfill their responsible role in the society.

www.ethionet.et/~agos

* AGOHELD is known as Abebech Gobena Yehitsanat Kibikabena Limat Drigit in Amharic, the Ethiopian language 77

Program Success

AGOHELD

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“

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Commitment is everything. My vision would have gone nowhere without commitment.

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”

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I ntroduction A growing body of evidence indicates that the social and economic impact of orphaned children is large and increasing and that a sustained, comprehensive and integrated effort to deal with the problem in developing countries requires major support. We take a look at the commitment, perseverance & leadership of a hard working woman Mrs Abebech Gobena, the founder and general manager of the Abebech Gobena Children’s Care and Development Organization (AGOHELD) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Vision, Mission and Commitment AGOHELD Achievements

Shift

from residential institutional care to familyand community-based care

Activities

now support 1.3 million members from marginalized communities

elementary schools and kindergarten

4 clinics and health posts 5 water development works

Q. What is your educational background? How important do you think is the contribution of formal education in running such activities as a leader? A. I personally have great respect for education and modern civilization and that is why I spend so much on schools. The nation-wide non-formal adult literacy campaign after 1977 has opened one more new chapter in my life and following that I have attained grade 5. But obviously, natural gift and talent are very important factors too. Q. What does your family life look like and how does it influence your vision and activities? A. After I came to Addis Ababa, I was remarried for 20 years but had no children. I would say we were successful in our business and had much wealth. Fostering children is not an easy task. I faced problems and paid a price for that as my husband and all my relatives opposed my vision. In fact, the idea of taking my first two children from the dead bodies of their parents and all that followed were taken as a strange thing. I was considered insane and none of my feelings were shared by other members of the family and relatives. Abandoning my decent married life, I moved with the children into a small poultry house where I by myself continued the humanitarian work for six years without any assistance.

Environmental

Q. What does commitment mean to you in your leadership?

Agricultural activities

A. Commitment is everything to me. The first thing I did to start with was to commit myself fully. My vision would have gone nowhere without commitment.

protection and habitat improvements

Relief, savings and credit

I had no idea as to how to proceed but I was sure that the only way forward was to work hard with my children in order to be self-supportive. During those six years, I sold all my gold ornaments. I tore all my dresses and re-sew them up into the size of the children. I didn’t have any sewing machine during those days. I stayed 24 hours a day and seven days a week with them. I engaged myself in making and selling Ethiopian traditional beer (tella), honey wine or tej, traditional wheat bread, roasted wheat cereal (qolo), Ethiopian traditional tef bread or enjera, and spices, etc some of which we are still supplying to the big hotels including WabeShebele Hotel, Ghion Hotel and Sheraton Addis. It was only after six years that few individuals, groups and organizations started to recognize my efforts and assist me in various ways. That was when my activities were transformed into an organization.

Program Achievements Q. What are the things you think you have achieved during the past 26 years?

Nutrition training for young women

A. Currently, AGOHELD hosts about 12,000 orphans and destitute/ vulnerable children as of 2006. In its 20-plus years of existence and experience as an NGO, AGOHELD has gone through important phases

Program Success

AGOHELD

Personal Story Abebech Gobena was born in 1938 G.C in Fitche, about 120km north of Addis Ababa. She recounts a lot of sad experiences from her childhood such as the death of her father (killed by Italians in 1939) and her arranged marriage at the age of 11. Her grandparents took care of her. Although she was well known in the family for her kind-heartedness, Abebech made a difficult decision to run away from her husband within a month of her marriage. She ended up in Addis Ababa after three days, walking during the daytime and passing the nights sleeping on trees. After one more long night on the street, in a completely strange environment, a family welcomed her. As time went by, she was favored by different people and got employment in homes and factories. Among her last employers were seven coffee-exporting companies.

in promoting child-care and support. In its efforts to consolidate the achievements and alleviate the constraints AGOHELD has collaborated with different organizations and donors. It has also made a major shift from a residential institutional care to orphaned children to family- and community-based care through the adoption and implementation of child-family reunification, and re-integration programs through vocational training, and community-based child support program. The efforts have now been transferred into a big institution that has largely involved rural and urban integrated development activities supporting about 1.3 million (as of 2006) members of marginalized segments of society. Accordingly, construction of nine elementary schools and kindergarten, four clinics and health posts, five water development works, a number of environmental protection and agricultural activities, habitat improvements, relief, saving and credit activities have been accomplished.

Leadership Style Q. What should the role of a successful leader be in such an organization? Or rather how do you describe your leadership? A. I do not know how to go about answering these questions because I am not that educated as compared to some of the leaders that a lot of people know. Let me start by answering the last question. I believe in commitment and hard work and these are the qualities I expect to see in a successful leader. I know these are not the only things but I give them a high priority. There must also be a well-established system. A good leader designs lasting systems which should be open and transparent. I believe transparency is something many organizations lack today. Sense of belongingness is also very important. To add one more, a good leader should also be a visionary who starts implementing his vision with a simple, available and appropriate means. That was what I did. My organization is also trying to develop such leaders and managers at different levels from within itself. We now have 203 permanent employees and over 80 temporary staff. I believe all are responsible workers with a high sense of accountability in their duties, committed to their work and have a sense of belongingness. In addition to these I have no other interest apart from helping the needy and I believe the same of my staff. I live with the children in the same crowded compound. I eat the same meals with them. I have no different position except for giving guidance and expect no different treatment in any way. Knowing this, I strongly rely on my co-workers.

Leaders Checklist A good leader should strive to be or possess the following: have a vision and Must implement it with simple, available and appropriate means have commitment Must and work hard put in place a well Must established system a lasting system Design that is transparent and open a sense of Encourage belonging - be with those you serve leaders Develop different levels

Program Success

AGOHELD

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“

Partnering Skills

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Increasing poverty and the

Q. Do you have partners at present? In what ways have the partners assisted you?

increasing number of orphaned children as a result of HIV/AIDS are among the leading problems.

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”

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A. From the orphanage that I started in 1980 we have now moved in to an official organizational set-up so that we could be more available to needy people. Currently we are collaborating with a number of national and international agencies and donors such as Men For Men, Plan Ethiopia, Path Finder International, Pact Ethiopia, Christian Relief Development Association (CRDA), UNICEF, World Food Program (WFP), Catholic Relief Service (CRS), National AIDS Secretariat (Ethiopia), MINF (Sweden), and different embassies. We are not involved very much in collaborative projects. We usually write proposals for different projects and look for donors. We believe we have made a good impression and are liked by our donors.

Facing Challenges Q. What were the major challenges you encountered? A. It is a bit strange to say we encountered very little problem after running such a program for more than 20 years. But this is true. May be I should mention few things here. Some years back there were threats to the organization and myself, which were created by some local political leaders. But whenever I was released from a prison, I pretended as if I was coming home from a duty in the city, and I never lost hope. This has now come to an end. With regard to the overall picture of the situation of the country, there is still an increasing demand for residential and home-based childcare. Increasing poverty and the increasing number of orphaned children as a result of HIV/AIDS are among the leading problems. The impact of the illness on the health system and the economy of the country are incalculable. For various reasons, drought and famine are still problems in many parts of the country.

Mrs Abebech (center) with children at a traditional Ethiopian ceremony

The need to facilitate the establishment of vocational centers and community development programs, shortage of funds to run various integrated programs, difficulties to get medical supplies for the clinics, and lack of financial and skilled manpower to implement sustainable projects are all major issues.

Major Awards and Certificates of Merit 1. Medal and Certificate of Merit from Addis Ababa University on the occasion of its Golden Jubilee. 2. The Second Annual World Food Program International Women’s Day Award Honors. 3. Cup & Certificate of Merit from The United Nations Association of Ethiopia, Family Federation for World Peace and United Nations Volunteers Program. 4. Certificate from Ethiopian Social Rehabilitation and Development Fund (ESRDF) for Successful Implementation of Project 5. Certificate in Recognition of Contribution to The Silver Jubilee Anniversary of CRDA. 6. Cup & Certificate of Participation from Environmental Protection Authority. 7. Group Spain Award in support of humanitarian action. 8. Certificate from Women’s Affairs Sub-sector in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in recognition of contribution in the efforts of promoting Ethiopian women’s right in social, economic & political endeavors. 9. Certificate & Cup for Regional Winner Central Africa for Exemplary & inspirational work in the interest of sustainable development for Africa.

Photo credits: AGOHELD

Program Success

Bina Insani

Courage to Meet a Challenge Written by Moi Lee Liow

B ackground Founder

ayasan Sumberdaya Manusiawi or, more popularly known as Bina Insani, was founded by Mrs Johanna Pattiasina in 1982 in the city

Johanna Pattiasina INDONESIA

of Pematang Siantar to address the many health and social

development concerns of a very underserved community in the northern part of Sumatra, one of Indonesia’s largest islands. The Batak people of northern Sumatra are farmers with low socio-economic status. They live in areas where safe water and electricity supply is limited. Health services are basically for primary health care, family planning (FP) and maternal child health (MCH) services which can be accessed at the Posyandu (community-level health post) or the Puskesmas (health center). Unlike in some other parts of Indonesia, there were no NGOs available to help the Bataks improve their living conditions. The traditional patriarchial system impacts strongly on the lives of the Bataks especially the status of women and the pressure to produce sons. However, with their low social status, it is taboo for women to discuss anything related to sexuality with their husbands. This and the lack of access to information led to widespread ignorance about sexuality, reproduction and reproductive health (RH). While the founder’s overall objective was empowerment of the community for the long term, the low status of the Batak women sparked off Bina Insani’s first activity – organizing discussion groups to explore issues like nutrition, child care and husband-wife relationships. Since then, Bina Insani has introduced and sustained a variety of community-oriented activities such as day care centers, safe water supply, reproductive health education, credit, aquaculture, civil rights education, and community mobilization. The organization also has the quarterly Suara Insani (“Voice of Insani” in English) magazine as a means to inform and raise awareness of the people on issues that directly affect them.

I ntroduction

www.binainsani.org

The choice of a name for an organization can be a reflection of the founder’s goals or intention or even leadership style. Yayasan Sumberdaya Manusiawi or popularly known as Bina Insani, means a foundation of the people’s resources and efforts in Bahasa Indonesia. It was an organization borne of a vision to encourage self-help and be self-reliant. The prevailing socioeconomic and health conditions at the time of Bina Insani’s founding also attest to the ability of the founder to recognize the opportunity for her to do good for the Batak people.

Program Success

Bina Insani

Self-related Competencies The late Mrs Johanna Pattiasina was very clear why she founded Bina Insani and what the focus of the organization would be when she said, “The way to help the community is not through welfare but through empowerment of the people.” Hence her vision was to set up a foundation that encouraged people to make use of their own resources and efforts to help improve their own quality of life. While there had been some efforts by church groups to help the Bataks, they were more welfare-oriented in nature. But Mrs Pattiasina believed that empowerment was the key to sustainability.

Johanna Pattiasina

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“

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An outsider, she had married a Batak, and thus observed the traditions, customs and practices of her adopted community through different eyes. She knew welfare was not the answer to help the Bataks but empowerment was. Her strength and commitment had been tested many times since 1982, but her perseverence and belief in her cause, her staff and her followers were to sustain her and her organization.

Community-related Skills

In the Batak community, focusing on women alone is not sufficient. The men must be targeted too because they have RH needs and further more, they contribute to the RH problems of women.

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”

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The early days of Bina Insani were very difficult. Mrs Pattiasina solicited the assistance of six men from different professional backgrounds but who had access to certain facilities and transportation. Despite limited resources and assistance, they persevered and various activities on health, clean water, child care, education, livelihood, and so on were gradually introduced. Giving ownership to the community was important, and Bina Insani encouraged the formation of project groups that worked on their own on selected issues like safe water, credit, trade, and environmental conservation. By selecting their own office bearers, each group selfmanaged itself and was responsible for the outcome of their efforts. By giving the people the initiative and responsibility to do something for themselves, they would soon take the opportunity to address problems that were ignored before like safe water.

Special Srategies Needed According to Mrs Pattiasani, RH was a major concern for both men and women, particularly in terms of their lack of communication at a husbandwife level as well as the women’s personal lack of knowledge and access to information. However, there was a two-pronged challenge: (1) Sexuality and RH was not a subject to be discussed openly, and (2) Getting to the women directly was not easy.

Bringing the community together to discuss reproductive health

Program Success

Bina Insani

Mrs Pattiasina knew special strategies for this conservative society were needed. She devised a strategy to get to the women and RH through community development. By getting the community involved on general issues important to all of them like sanitation, child care, and so on, Bina Insani could weave in discussions on general health and RH, thus easing and opening up communication channels. Bina Insani used the workshop methodology as an avenue to initiate communications on RH matters and also to impart updated information. The first workshops, started in 1994, were for women and later, workshops for men were introduced, often at the requests of the women themselves.

Partnering Skills

Clean water project involving partners and community

The close collaboration with the Indonesian Planned Parenthood Association (IPPA) began in the late 1980s. Linkages were also established wth the public health outlets such as Posyandu and Puskesmas for MCH services. With youth, Bina Insani worked closely with Centra Mitra Remaja to organize RH workshops for young people The Consumer Organization of Indonesia and the Ford Foundation provided technical assistance towards capacity building as well as RH information. For the credit program, Mrs Pattiasani initiated some activities on account of her position as the North Sumatra Regional Coordinator at Bank Indonesia. Batak men were able to have access to credit to do small businesses and trade.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;

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The community did not realize the importance of safe water supply and we did not want to impose supply on the community until they saw the need for safe water.

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What has been Achieved?

â&#x20AC;?

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Bina Insani was responsive to community needs. It had done this in a way that was innovative and resourceful, and which encouraged the involvement and ownership of the community, mostly using their own resources and efforts. There were positive signs of change although they were happening slowly. For their work on RH, the combination of workshops, follow-up activities and sessions in the villages had sensitized men to be more responsible and better informed. The future challenge was to reach out to even more Batak men to encourage this behavioral change.

Elements of Program

Achievements

Day care centers Safe water supply Reproductive health education Credit Aquaculture Civil rights education Networking through newsletter Community mobilization and motivation

Overcoming cultural/social sensitivity Initiating discussions on RH Reaching out to men Encouraging husband-wife communications on RH and sexuality Breaking taboos Encouraging behavioral change Setting an example

Photo credits: Bina Insani

Program Success

Forum for African Women Educationalists

Realizing Potential of Women through Education Written by Florence Muindi and Dr Florence Nyamu

B ackground Founder and First Executive Director

he Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) was founded in 1992. It has its headquarters in Nairobi and national chapters in 32 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

FAWE is a membership

organization for senior women policymakers in the education sector

Dr Eddah Gachukia KENYA

including cabinet ministers, vice chancellors of universities and colleges, researchers and activists. The overarching goal of FAWE is for its membership to offer mutual support, assistance and collaboration in developing national capability to accelerate the participation of girls in education at all levels in line with the Education for All (EFA) goals. FAWE together with its partners, works at the continental, national and local levels, to create positive societal attitudes, policies and practices that promote equity for girls in terms of access to, retention and performance and a good quality education. FAWEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concern focuses on influencing the transformation of education systems to achieve gender equity through the pursuit of four main strategic objectives:

Influencing policy formulation, planning and implementation in favor of increasing access improving retention and performance of girls.

Building public awareness and consensus on the social and economic advantages of girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; education.

Demonstrating through interventions on the ground, how to achieve increased access, improved retention and better performance.

Influencing replication and mainstreaming of Best Practices from the demonstrative interventions into broader national education policy and practice. This profile looks at the first executive director, her commitment to the education of girls and the founding of FAWE.

www.fawe.org 84

Program Success

FAWE

Early Influences Dr Eddah Gachukia’s father, the late Mr Nelson Kahiu, was a man with a vision and was keen to see his children including the daughters go to school. In the Kikuyu tradition, the second daughter is named after the father’s mother-in-law, a position with a lot of respect. Thus, Dr. Gachukia’s father referred to her as “in-law”. A caring father, Mr Kahiu would take time to help her with her homework when he was home weekends from Nairobi (where he worked). One day, he told her, “Waceke, you know, you can get so much education that one day you can be called, “Dr Nelson”. Dr Gachukia would go on to pass her examinations with flying colors. Her father was definitely a great motivator.

Encouraging girls to do well at education

Her mother, Judith Wanjiku, taught her how to read and write, made clothes for her and generally disciplined her. She died when Dr Gachukia was 6. She and her siblings were separated after that; she and her sister went to her maternal grandmother’s home until her father remarried. This was a turning point in her life.

Education Apart from her parents, Dr Gachukia had good teachers who encouraged and influenced her throughout her schooling. In primary 5, her teacher James Waweru captured her imagination and she performed well enough to go to Loreto, a well-regarded Catholic boarding school. Later, she again did well enough to be admitted to the African Girls’ High School (now Alliance Girls’ High School), one of the top secondary schools for girls in Kenya today and the only one at the time (1951). Here she met Mrs Welch, the English teacher, who encouraged the girls to read a lot. Books like Biggles and the British Illustrated News stimulated intelligence and challenged the search for more knowledge.

Personal Story Dr Eddah Gachukia is currently the Academic Director at the Riara Group of Schools in Nairobi, an organization that promotes a holistic philosophy of education. She is a former Chairperson of Moi University Council (200306), and Member of FAWE Executive Committee from which she retired in July 2005. She was Chairperson of the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK) and attended the major conferences on women in Mexico (1975), Copenhagen (1979), Nairobi (1985) and Beijing (1995). She also participated in the 1990 World Conference on Education for All (WCEFA). She has also served as a Board member of the Center for African Family Studies (CAFS) and the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) for several years. Dr Gachukia had taught in several high schools and finally at the University of Nairobi for many years. Her interest in curriculum development led her to the University of Nairobi for post-graduate studies. She enjoyed teaching but had, over the years, become involved in women’s movement. In 1960 she formed a branch of the Maendeleo ya Wanawake, a nationwide women’s movement which, literally translated, means “Progress for Women.” While studying at Leeds University in the United Kingdom (1963-64), she got the opportunity to address international meetings on issues relating to women’s development in Kenya and Africa. At the East African women’s seminar (1962) she had met renowned women such as Bibi Titi Mohamed of Tanzania and Margaret Kenyatta of Kenya as well as important politicians such as the late Tom Mboya, whose clear articulation of women’s issues in development and their participation in politics further contributed to her personal understanding. By the time she returned to Kenya in 1965, she had developed a sound perspective of what could be done to address women’s causes, especially education. She got an opportunity to work briefly with UNESCO when her husband opened the Kenyan embassy in Paris. During this time, Maendeleo elected her as a vice-chairperson in absentia in 1996. She became well-known and, in 1974, was nominated as a Member of Parliament, specifically to represent women’s interests. For about 10 years, Dr Gachukia, MP, visited every part of Kenya addressing women’s issues and concerns. 85

Program Success

FAWE

Leaders Checklist

Challenges in Leadership

Clarity of vision, goals and objectives

Family support Be consistent

in the message you pass as a leader

adaptable to the changing environment

Adopt a culture of hard work; read all documents in preparation for meetings

Do not focus on political

utterances - discuss ideas

Never give up - if a strategy does not work, pause and try another strategy

High school was a pleasant experience for Dr Gachukia, and proved to be a fertile ground for networking. Many of the girls from different schools and regions of Kenya such as Kaaga in Meru, Tumutumu in Nyeri, Ng’iya in Siaya and Butere in western province are now holding key positions in government.

Developing Awareness for Activism It was at the African Girls’ High School that Dr Gachukia became politically motivated. This was the time of the trial of Jomo Kenyatta, who later became the founding president of the Republic of Kenya. Dr Gachukia tried to get and read all information relating to this trial. She felt compelled to start the Kiambu Youth Association (KYA). But life during the emergency was hard though she learned new experiences and survival tactics. In 1954, four girls from a senior class were admitted to Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, one of the top universities in Africa. Dr Gachukia remembered walking bare-foot to the Kikuyu train station to escort these girls for their special train to take them to Kampala, and thought what a ‘romantic’ experience that was. Makerere University became a dream for Dr Gachukia. She must go there and she worked towards it. From her year, only two girls made it to Makerere, Dr Gachukia and Charity Baaru. The most brilliant girl in their class, Winifred Nyoike who went on to train as a nurse later became the first matron of Kenyatta National Hospital. In Dr Gachukia’s view, Mrs Nyoike should have studied medicine and became a doctor because in those days, nursing was not considered a prestigious career.

Founding of FAWE Dr Gachukia had slowly and surely gained a lot of knowledge and experience about education and women’s issues. The Zimbabwean Minister of Education, Honorable Fay Chung had met with other women ministers to form a network to promote girls’ education. This group of ministers requested Dr Gachukia to prepare a concept paper which received good feedback. The first Executive Committee meeting of FAWE was held at the Bellagio Conference Center, courtesy of the Rockefeller Foundation. At this meeting, the participants appointed Dr Gachukia as the executive director and agreed on an agenda. FAWE was registered as a Pan-African NGO in Kenya in June 1993.

Vision for Young People Dr Gachukia believes that if young people want to live in a better world, they have to become participants in that world. Young people are living in a very challenging environment - threatened by HIV/AIDS, high rates of unemployment, high rates of school dropout and conflicts in some African countries. The challenge is for the young people to rise to the challenge and recreate the culture of integrity, doing an honest job and get away from attraction to quick money for less work

Program Success

FAWE

Challenges at FAWE

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“

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FAWE adopted a scientific As the first executive director, Dr Gachukia had to start from scratch. Her first challenge was to establish a physical infrastructure for FAWE such as office space, equipment and personnel. Fortunately several donor partners were interested in girls’ education and FAWE had a clear mandate and framework. Once FAWE was established, it is Dr Gachukia’s view that their dream for women’s education agenda today widely accepted by African governments was realized within the first five years of her tenure. The secretariat did the networking between the members, the donor partners and the governments in the respective countries where FAWE branches had been established. This success was due to the fact that FAWE adopted a scientific strategy using statistics on girls’ education to convince even male ministers that girls’ education was vital for development. Strategy is the key to success. During her tenure as executive director, FAWE managed to sensitize governments to internally review the education policies for gender responsiveness and empowered female and male ministers of education as well as NGOs to lobby for girls’ education.

strategy using statistics on girls’ education to convince even male ministers that girls’ education was vital for development.

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The creation of a network of FAWE national chapters which started with four in 1995, is a milestone in the networking agenda for gender issues. There were 32 chapters by 2002. FAWE members were encouraged to initiate the creation of national chapters in their countries as a way of translating the regional agenda for girls’ education to unique activities and programs at the country level.

I nvolvement in Other Sectors Dr Gachukia has held several leadership positions including as Vicechairperson of Maendeleo ya Wanawake, a Member of Parliament, leader of the Kenyan women’s delegation to the 1985 Women’s Conference in Nairobi, leader of the Task Force on Free Primary Education (2003), Board member of United States International University (USIU), Uchumi (Kenyan supermarket chain), Nation Newspapers Ltd, Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR), the Water Services Trust Fund Board (WSTF) and lately, the Chair of the Moi University Council. At the social level, Dr Gachukia is a Trustee of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), the Kenya National Council of Social Services, the Starehe Girls’ Center, the Collaborative Center for Gender and Development and has served as a consultant to many organizations including UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA and the World Bank.

Using story-telling as an educational tool

Photo credits: Dr Gachukia

Committed to encouraging young girls to excel

Program Success

Gashe Abera Mola Environment and Development Association

Be Creative and Innovative to Stand Out Written by Dr Abera Kumie

B ackground Founder Sileshi Demissie

ashe Abera Mola Environment and Development Association (GAMEDA) came about through an artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s passion. Sileshi Demissieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision was to see that public sites, streets, inner sites

of the community in and around Addis Ababa were clean, healthy, and

ETHIOPIA

safe for living and recreation. Vision and Mission To bring behavioral and attitudinal changes by impacting the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of the community residents towards their immediate environment. Goals and Objectives

Create awareness about the need for a clean and healthy environment. Bring attitudinal changes of residents on caring for the environment. Create job opportunities for youth who are potential sources of encouragement and creativity.

Demonstrate practical ways that enable the learning process on how to change and improve the environment.

Involve youth in the problem-solving effort for the environment. Enable the youth to be self-reliant through self-employment and engagement by caring for the environment.

Demonstrate that local resources can be used to change the living environment.

Create models of management systems and approaches that can sustain a good environment.

Beautification of public sites through demonstrations using artistic endeavors.

Program Success

GAMEDA

I ntroduction Sileshi says, “It was [eight] years ago, about 1998, when I was sponsored by USA Embassy in recognition of ‘Arts in America’ to show my musical works in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Kenya, but I did not have anything in my mind to formulate my mission”. Having left his home land over 20 years ago, he chose to go to Ethiopia to demonstrate his abilities in artistic performances. While he was there to perform, he saw that Addis Ababa, the place of his birth, was full of waste, dirt, air pollution. He observed also that a lot of youth were unemployed and doing nothing, and parks and other public sites were dirty and disorganized. In general, the environment was not conducive for living as well as for recreation. In addition, his mind was wounded because of the deep-rooted poverty: a lot of beggars on the street, homeless people struggling for survival, and emerging issues related to HIV/AIDS. This was a revelation and motivated him to do something using his talents as a musician and performer to contribute to the alleviation of poverty and improvement of the environmental situation of Addis Ababa. This is how the vision of GAMEDA came about.

Sileshi

Demissie at the Ras Mekonen beautification project in Addis Ababa

Strategies Initially he had a hard time reaching out to people about the alarming situation in Addis Ababa. He realized that he could use his artistic abilities to create personalities that could be easily understood by people. He used his childhood memories to create the character of “Gashe Abera Mola” who was known to be a respected elder, having great concern for the community, a person who liked clean surroundings and was full of patience and understanding. “Gashe Abera Mola” was also experienced in settling disputes and misunderstandings in a traditional way between different people in spite of age and social differences. Sileshi used Gashe Abera Mola’s characteristics to demonstrate the need for caring for the environment through his musical performances. During his first trip back to Ethiopia in 1998, Sileshi traveled to many regions of his country to introduce this creation at his performances. Returning to the US where he has settled, he started to develop ways to link the thoughts of “Gashe Abera Mola” to public awareness and practices. He developed a “Music Youth and Environment” program to work with high school youth. During his second trip in Ethiopia in 2000, he worked for one year continuously under strict schedule, from Mondays through Saturdays, with 13,000-16,000 youth to reinforce his messages about caring the environment. He strongly believed that repeated messages through musical shows and entertainment outlets brought changes to the attitudes of these youth towards their environment. Schools, universities, well-known hotels, and other venues were used for this awareness creation. In addition to musical shows, the ideas of “Gashe Abera Mola” about the relationship between environment and health, were used through theatrical shows, role plays, folk stories, audio-video shows and sports. Sileshi later started a practical demonstration how to improve or change a disorganized public site into a place that every citizen could enjoy. His first pilot work in 2001 was on the “Ras Mekonen”, a public site found at one side of “Piassa”, a big square in the center of Addis Ababa city. His effort immediately got the attention of the youth with whom he had worked for one year. They were encouraged to replicate his work spontaneously in their respective community. Their response was, “Gashe Abera’s tears will not be in vain”. When he heard that during a TV show, Sileshi was unable to control his emotions. He was passionate about doing something about the deteriorating environment and prevailing poverty. After the initiation

The Ras Mekonen Terrace has paintings by young artists

Gashe Abera Mola a folkloric character created by Sileshi, has these personality traits: * respected elder * great concern for community * likes clean environment * has patience and understanding * good at settling disputes in traditional ways

Program Success

GAMEDA

Personal Story Artist Sileshi Demissie, who is known as “Gashe Abera Mola”, grew up in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, during the time of military dictatorship. He fled to France in 1976 in fear of the mass massacre promoted (known as ‘Red Terror’) by the regime on students’ movement. After 2 years in France, he left for Pennsylvania, USA, where he first joined an English language school, and later enrolled at the Burlington College in Vermont to study music and arts education. His artistic concentration was on traditional and classical guitar and other traditional instruments.The award of a scholarship enabled him to complete his education at Burlington. He started to teach a course in music and traditional instructions at Burlington, and also began doing public concerts using traditional African musical instruments in New York and other cities in 1981-83. During this time he was beginning to be recognized by the media. From here, he got further opportunities to perform to a wider international audience including Europe and Africa.

Sileshi Demissie is a recent recipient of the “Volunteer of the Year” Award given by the United Nations Volunteer and United Nations Association of Ethiopia on behalf of the Volunteer Inter-Agency Group

of awareness creation, he believed that mobilizing youth as agents of change was a breakthrough. His idea spread to many other regions of Ethiopia.

F ormulating Organizational Vision and Mission Once the awareness raising and information dissemination were initiated, Sileshi began to formulate a vision and mission for GAMEDA. (a) Organizational activities Entertainment was considered as the main tool for the development of attitudinal change. KAP tools were used to demonstrate caring for the environment, pilot projects, dramas, folk stories, innovative efforts/ creativity, sport shows, and poems. Demonstration sites are found in the center of the city traditionally known as “Arada” or “Piassa”, “Istifanos Orthodox Church”, “Bole”, “Olympia”, street islands, and street medians. Most of the time creativity was centered on how to recycle or reuse discarded community waste like changing them to soil conditioners and fuel sources. As Sileshi says, “there is no waste as such but when the mind wastes, you waste every thing”. (b) Targets No targets as such were specifically formulated by the project. Their role was to create “environmental models” and organizational efforts that would indicate the possibility of caring for the environment. Efforts related to techniques or workable strategies of mass mobilization, experience sharing, screening learning tools on how to initiate environmental work and demonstrations were some of the assets that were expected to transfer this appropriate strategy/technology to future efforts. Environmental models or pilot demonstration sites were mainly linked to city parks and recreational sites while city beautifications were linked to street islands and medians.

Efforts of high school kids have created a

Partnering & Resource Mobilization

beautiful garden in the city

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There is no waste as such; when the mind wastes, you waste everything.

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GAMEDA has many links with NGOs and embassies which were the main sources of funding, Government organizations were mainly involved in the extension of community mobilization. Youth were attached to their respective youth organizations and local authorities at the grassroots (kebele). The embassies of USA, Netherlands, Austria, and Sweden were mentioned as front-liners in the financial support meant for demonstration of pilot projects. Government institutions like the Health Bureau, the Environmental Protection Bureau, the Education Bureau and City Council were mainly involved in mobilization of young people. Government institutions were initially resistant to the idea of “Gashe Abera Mola” in the first two years.

Program Success

GAMEDA

Sileshi stressed that the kind of support made so far was not yet consistent and adequate. The project developed its own nurseries to grow flowers and plants that were used for the beautification of pilot parks, street islands, and road medians. Youths in most cases were mobilized for their labour contribution. Reports and visiting the pilot sites were the main mechanisms used for feedback from and to respective partners.

Major Achievements in first five years (1998-2003)

Objective of public awareness creation about caring for the environment was met. This was demonstrated by efforts made to replicate the ideas of “Gashe Abera Mola” in different parts of communities found in Addis Ababa, and in many regional cities of Ethiopia, including the most remote ones like Gambela. The potential and possibilities for modifying, improving, and changing the environment were best demonstrated in Addis Ababa. The City Administration had recognized and acknowledged the effort in a public meeting. Opportunities to youth on how they could spend their leisure time productively on environment were also demonstrated. Employment opportunities were also explored in connection with caring the environment and its development. The “Gashe Abera Mola” project demonstrations have received the attention of writers, poets, playwrights and artists. They have contributed further to the strengthening of awareness about the environment through their respective media like painting, stories, plays, and so on. The “Gashe Abera Mola” project was a cause for the formulation of “Clean and Green Addis”, a movement that addressed the environmental problems of Addis Ababa and sought to improve it with innovative interventions using the artistic media. Government bodies, financial institutions like the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and Africa Insurance Company, transport companies like Ethiopian Air Lines, other private companies, members of civil societies like owners of hotels, and NGOs, have been actively involved in these activities since 2002.

Factors for Success Sileshi had good reason to use his own profession enriched with appropriate strategies to reach the community. He said that some of his friends came to Ethiopia to invest in projects related to environment and development. However, the presence of money (US dollars) and well-done proposals did not lead to successful projects, and the investors returned to the US with grievance. He considered this failure as a lesson for improving his future strategy to alleviate the adverse burdens of the environment. His profession and artistic performances were the vanguards of his success, more specifically: 1. The personalities and images of “Gashe Abera Mola” that he created, 2. The artistically-performed shows with many attractions aimed at bringing concerns in understanding the environment through visual demonstrations have helped attain the major objectives. He believed that music, shows and other entertainment are rich enough to influence people about harmful practices.

Challenges: Institutional and Personal GAMEDA has faced the following challenges: 1. Strong resistance to the idea of “Gashe Abera Mola” project from both the government and citizens, and civil society for the first two years, when the idea about caring for the environment was initiated in 1998. The government and community residents were very suspicious about the idea, including questioning if the return of the musician and performer Sileshi Demissie after 20 years was linked to politics or his

Recent partnerships

“Trees for Cities” project - British NGO had partnership to green the environment in four cities around the world. One of these was Addis Ababa where the local partner was GAMEDA. An innovative income-generating activity was the public toilet project in Addis Ababa, which was sponsored by Total Ethiopia, the petroleum company. As these toilets were fee-paying facilities, this project gave many residents opportunities for selfemployment.

Program Success

GAMEDA

Leaders Checklist Aspiring leaders should:

Learn

the community’s

needs

Learn all possible problem-

solving mechanisms from the community

Listen to others and have mutual respect understanding

and

Be able to negotiate and discuss

Have internal strength of

character and personal commitment to overcome unfavorable conditions

Practice a democratic type

own benefits. They were raising questions like, ‘Why did he come back?”. There were times when he was instructed by the kebele officers to abandon his effort. 2. Damaging rumors were circulated to cause conflicts in his projects. Associating his effort with politics was one such rumor. The bureaucratic and political intrigue was difficult to use as entry points for the initiation of project activities. When asked what kept him motivated and committed, and his ways of solving challenges, Silesho compared his style of community approach with that of used by his former colleagues who were resourceful. The main difference was in understanding the community problems as his own and that he believed he was entitled to share his contribution to the alleviation of the problems using his own abilities and resources as an entry point. He stressed that art is a part of life; art talks and reflects the community problems, and also art can show the potential of problem-solving mechanisms with minimal outside help. The ability of not losing hope; bearing and controlling problems that came from all walks of life; strong internal feelings; desires and commitment to attain vision; willingness to contribute knowledge, experiences; and practices in solving environmental degradation are some of the character traits of Sileshi Demissie that helped him resist the opposition of the community. He expressed his commitment as, “I have gone far beyond community awareness. I should not be drawn in an ocean because of the resistance, and I could not in any way give up, except going forward”. Many of his friends used to tell him that he must have special type of body cells that ‘resist’ the difficult situations.

of leadership

What of the Future? ----------

“

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”

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I have gone far beyond community awareness. I should not be drawn in an ocean because of resistance, and I could not in any way give up, except in going forward.

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Sileshi was planning to call a convention soon with the objective of integrating and mobilizing resources of all stakeholders on environment. Government institutions, NGOs, civil society organizations, embassies, and traditional leaders were expected to participate. Sustaining the efforts of “Gashe Abera Mola” through the identification of responsibilities and accountabilities vis-à-vis the environment would be the central theme of the convention. Pilot projects would be inaugurated during this event. Sileshi also had plans to be involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS, a disease devastating the lives of many young people and adults in Ethiopia.

Old tires turned into rubbish bins

Message on sculpture: Keep your area clean

Photo credits: various websites

Program Success

Kabiro Kawangware Health Care Trust Project

“Tujijenge” Let Us Build Ourselves Written by Moi Lee Liow

B ackground Founder

abiro Kawangware Health Care Trust Project in Nairobi, Kenya,

first began as a health project and a project component of the

Lucia Wahid

Kabiro Human Development Program (KHDP). The project served

urban slum residents in Kabiro. The KHDP, established in 1975, started as

KENYA

an avenue to organize the women of the community as a group with the aim of empowering them by giving them access to health care, education and income-generating opportunities. An initial activity was to make baskets as a means of generating an income, followed by a literacy program. The health project was added in 1979; later a polytechnic institute was set up to train young people. Among the key reproductive health (RH) services offer by the Kabiro project are: (1) a static clinic and community-based program for family planning (FP) and RH; and (2) peer educators and youth counsellors for adolescent reproductive health (ARH). The project offered an integrated package covering all aspects of human development like health, youth development, environmental sanitation, drug addiction and substance abuse, and so on. Such an approach addressed the many concerns typical of urban slums such as poverty, unreliable employment, abysmal living conditions, and so on. The project has learned that to work effectively with urban slum residents, there must be community ownership to increase acceptability in addition to awareness raising and clear objectives. The Kabiro project was a pioneer for instituting an innovative approach to addressing RH and other human development issues in urban slums.

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Ukianza kushona kikapu, lazima uhkikishe kimeisha na unabeba mizigo nayo (If you start weaving a basket, you must make sure you complete it in order to use it as a carrying luggage)

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”

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Program Success

Kabiro

Mrs Lucia Wahid ----------

“

A dream came true for Mrs Lucia ----------

We have never forgotten our past when we started as a poor women’s group. Team spirit and togetherness and equal share in everything are the essence of our success

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”

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Leaders Checklist Clear goal and strong determination among women’s groups -- impact on community

Clear line of authority and no conflict of interest

Involve the youth To work with slums -need an integrated package covering all aspects of human development

I ntroduction What leaders say often distinguishes them from the followers. Leaders use words that reflect their mindset – that of a person with a vision who wants to make a difference. In this profile, a single Swahili word, Tujijenge (“let us build ourselves”) provides many clues to Mrs Lucia Wahid, founder of the Kabiro Kawangware Health Care Trust Project. Mrs Lucia cut a grandmotherly figure with her gentle ways and soft voice, but behind that simple countenance was a visionary and strong-willed community leader, an astute observer of local politics and an effective mobilizer of resources. A real agent of change.

Self-related Competencies Mrs Lucia had a simple vision, and that was to improve the lives of the residents, especially the women, in the Kabiro urban slum where she lived. But she also believed that to do so, the residents must also realize that they had to help themselves. What spurred Mrs Lucia to do something? According to an ICOMP case study, she was very encouraged by what she personally witnessed at a 1975 women’s group meeting where the District Officer of Nairobi addressed the participants. The passion and commitment of these women in advocating for their cause impressed her, and set her in motion to organize a women’s group in her own community. That was the beginning of KHDP. Mrs Lucia herself was an illiterate slum resident, but, according to various accounts, was considered slightly ‘better-off’ than most of her fellow residents. In a way, perhaps her ‘better-off’ position gave her a sense of duty and responsibility to improve the lives of those who shared the same living environment. She was also a leader who knew her own weaknesses. The only concession her lack of education gave was the appointment of someone who was academically qualified to head the first women’s group but Mrs Lucia continued providing guidance through her other positions as vice-chairperson of the trust and head of the education program. Mrs Lucia lived by the concept of Tujijenge because she believed that if something was to be achieved, it must not only be completed but it must also serve a useful function.

CBD workers -- involve residents in initiation and implementation

Program Success

Kabiro

Community-related Skills Mrs Lucia realized that the people in Kabiro had many problems, the most basic of these were health and education. From organizing the women initially for income-generating activities like making baskets, she went on to set up a community primary school, then a clinic and later a polytechnic training institute. She was also astute about youth. For example, a Kenyan TV celebrity, Yousuf Ali, graduate of the Kabiro Primary School, had been called up to be a role model for the young people of the urban slums. However, ARH could be a contentious area because of the sensitivity of parents towards the issue of sexuality and the young even when teen pregnancies were rampant. In this regard, Mrs Lucia put emphasis on peer educators and youth counsellors to empower youth and equip them with necessary RH information and motivation.

Working to improve their community

That Kabiro had expanded to the extent it had – covering women, youth, men, health, education, environmental sanitation, drug addiction, and so on – is a tribute to her vision. But most of all, her approach was to give the community ownership of Kabiro’s activities. This had worked to the extent that the residents were willing to pay for services and even give some donations.

Partnering Skills A variety of donors had provided funds or worked with the Kabiro project, attesting to Mrs Lucia’s competency with creating partnerships. To establish FP/RH services at the clinic as well as the CBD program, initial assistance (including training and hiring of nurses) was received from the Family Planning International Assistance (FPIA).

Mother and child health facility

Later partners included United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), and also the Japanese embassy in Nairobi for office equipment, drugs and a vehicle. The Ministry of Health also came in with free supply of some FP commodities (pills, condoms, IUDs). Collaborations with other partners included regular meetings with the National Council for Population and Development (NCPD), other government departments and NGOs that worked with urban slum communities. The Kabiro project was sustained financially by donors, user fees and donations from well-wishers. Major donors were Pathfinder International, FPIA and PATH-Kenya.

Advice to Project Professionals

Advice to Community

Put more efforts into improving the project

Work efficiently, be hardworking and committed to your work. We have been able to realise some of our goals because we could deliver the best possible results with minimal resources. Make your friends understand that their support is crucial in achieving the overall goal of community development and simultaneously, demonstrate that you are giving your best in accomplishing your task and discharging your responsibility.

Program Success

Kabiro

What of the Future? This was what Mrs Lucia had to say: “Even if donors phase out, activities will remain. God will help. We have come to this stage from a position when we had nothing of our own, except self-determination, commitment, sincerity and the desire to help ourselves build healthy, educated and worthy members of the society. We have built a base. Now it is up to the community to continue this progress. The community should work hard. Since we could build from scratch, our successors should be able to expand the clinical activities.”

Community celebration

Elements of Program Kabiro Human Development Program (est 1975) ● Women’s networking and advocacy ● Youth development ● Health / clinic ● Education Kabiro Institute of Technical Training (KITT) Kabiro Primary School Health Care Program ● FP/RH Services - Static clinic - CBD program ● Adolescents - Peer educators - Youth counselors

Indicators and Achievements Indicators of success: ● Social recognition ● Appreciation from community ● Schools invited Kabiro to give talks ● Contraceptives - timely delivery and proper inventory control ● Continued support from donors Achievements Community ownership ● Environmental sanitation ● Address drug addiction and substance abuse ● Family planning ●

Photo credits: Kabiro

Program Success

Mary Joy Aid through Development

Nurture Community for Positive Change Written by Dr Abera Kumie

B ackground Founder and Executive Director

ary Joy Aid through Development (MJATD) is a registered nonreligious and non-political humanitarian non-governmental organization founded in 1992 by Sr. Zebider Zewdie. MJATD

Sr Zebider Zewdie ETHIOPIA

started project activities formally in 1994 in the Addis Ababa area to address the socio-economic problems of the poor households in nine kebeles* of woreda 25 (known locally as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ascoâ&#x20AC;?) and one kebele in woreda 8 with the aim of providing basic health care services to the most disadvantaged groups in the community with focus on children and mothers. MJATD also operates in Awassa town in southern part of Ethiopia. After two years, the program was redesigned with three components to address poverty-related issues: (1) Health and Environmental Sanitation, (2) Education & Social Promotion, and (3) Micro-Credit Schemes in the target areas. This was then renamed the Integrated Urban Community Based Development Program (see Box 1). A participatory approach was utilized to formulate the first five-year plan of action (1994-98), involving individuals, traditional community leaders of Idris*, youth representatives, and local authorities in the diagnosis of multi-faceted community problems and priority setting. Reproductive health service and adolescent health were entry points for the development of the Medical Center and Street Children Relief & Rehabilitation Programs. HIV/AIDS Care and Support services and sanitation activities were gradually integrated into the above. Program reviews are routinely made by MJATD as are external evaluations. Woreda 25, with a total population of about 100,000, is located in northwest Addis Ababa. Despite high poverty and many socio-economic needs, the area was not well served by NGOs. Brick, soap, and shoe factories were major economic activities in earlier times; now petty trading and daily labor employment are the sources of income for most residents. Mission: To reduce the socio-economic vulnerability of children, mothers, families and communities within its area of operation through the application of an integrated development approach based on genuine community participation. Vision: A Poverty-free Society

www.maryjoyethiopia.org

* A woreda is a district, kebele is the lowest administrative unit; idris is a local community institute.

Program Success

Mary Joy

I ntroduction

Organizational Goals and Objectives

* Promote primary health care services in target

community * Improve the economic status of poor households in the target community and enable them to fulfill the basic needs of their children and family members. * Ensure the continuation of educational opportunities and access to primary education among school age children. * Contribute to reduction of youth unemployment and child prostitution by enabling youth and sex workers to acquire vocational skills and supporting them to engage in micro-credit scheme. * Improve status of environmental sanitation

MJATD has a constitution that governs its overall functions. The constitution allows it to be guided by a General Assembly and Executive Board, while the Executive Director is elected by the General Assembly. MJATD has currently 65 workers, of whom four-fifths are technical personnel. It has three management units encompassing 15 operational units. Mary Joy is a member of CRDA, COFAP and has good relationship with communities, governmental bodies and other NGOs.

Organizational Leadership To nurture its relationship with the community, MJATD has provided leadership in upholding transparency and accountability through its partnership and collaborations. It has a systematic approach to convening regular meetings not only on project expenditures but also partnership modalities and governance structures.

* Promote the rights of children through awareness creation and establishment of a child rights committee and clubs.

MJATD Values Equality of all people irrespective of religion, sex, health status and other creeds Self-reliance Mutual respect between and among stakeholders. Participation of communities

(a) Partnership, transparency and governance MJATD has a strong partnership with a number of partners: local community institutions (37 Idrises operating in 10 kebeles), five government bodies, two foreign embassies, and more than 15 NGOs. This partnership was established with the purpose of funding projects, acquiring technical supports, capacity building, and administering legal matters. Being transparent is the main strategy used by MJATD to strengthen and maximize the benefits from these partners. MJATD has an established practice to convene a donors meeting annually where detailed activity reports on project expenditures would be discussed. Consensus is reached on problems and future course of actions. Timely audited reports would be submitted to donors. These actions are believed to enhance affirmative action towards trust and accountability. Community members, through their representatives in the General Assembly, participate in decision-making and purchasing of costly construction materials. The number of collaborating local community institutions (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Idrisâ&#x20AC;?) has reached 60 from the original 37 when MJATD started. A quarterly meeting of the General Assembly and a monthly meeting with executive body are the main forums through which community partnership is ensured.

Organizational Leadership Making These Possible:

Participatory approach

1. 2.

Transparency

3. 4.

Management and Members of

the Board

Commitment and Strength

Staff Motivation and

Dedication

Addressing community felt needs. Use of grassroots organizations as an entrance to community-based developments. The integrated approach in addressing related social issues. Working with the community: needs assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of program activities. The right choice of the target groups who are disadvantaged in social and economical services. The organization of facility-based services that is accessible and affordable to the population. The extension of outreach services to the community (home-based care and support). Organizational integrity in maintaining ethics of counseling.

Program Success

Mary Joy

Personal Story

Founder and Executive Director

Sister Zebider Zewdie is the founder of Mary Joy Aid through Development. Born and educated in the Southern Nations of Ethiopia, she started her career in nursing. She has acquired a BA degree in management and was pursuing a second degree in a similar field. The community-based organizational approach has nurtured her with these fields of studies. She worked in various health institutions, health centers and hospitals in both rural and urban areas of Ethiopia. She had a strong personal mission to work with the people and for the people. Working with the community, the potential ability to convince and change other leaders, transparency and willingness in acknowledging weaknesses are some of her leadership qualities. These qualities enabled her to have the opportunity of incepting Mary Joy. Her conflict management approach helped her to succeed in getting a plot of housing unit to start MJATD. This is the brief story: she had noticed conflict with some members of the community who wanted housing on the property where the medical center was established. The case was taken to the local authority which encouraged the beneficiaries to express their opinion on the conflict. Community representatives strongly argued with the conflict makers that they were totally wrong in bringing the case. The conflict was resolved positively on her side. Her role was being facilitator of the conflict resolution mechanism, and getting the space to start MJATD.

(b) Resource mobilization MJATD is mobilizing resources through a variety of ways, like financial contributions to build two kindergartens (while community contributed land, fencing and labor), charging nominal fees for its medical center and volunteer counseling and testing (VCT) services. A quarterly meeting with the community is a forum where inconveniencies are addressed and mutual understanding in the delivery of services is maintained. (c) Staff dedication For staff members, organizational professionalism is a strong factor that encourages their loyalty and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;attachmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to MJATD. For example, the process of conflict resolution uses scientific and acceptable methods. Transparency, mediation, and advocacy through participatory approach are main tools for conflict management. Another important factor is personal development and capacity-building through various type of training (leadership, life skills, conflict management, and so on). MJATD is proud to make its staff members more marketable by improving their skills and capacities although one side effect is staff turnover. Staff members are also motivated by recognition given by the organization and the trust and respect given by communities. A number of awards from local authorities and community leaders to MJATD helped to foster staff pride and belonging. (d) Communication and Information Management Regular and pre-planned meetings with the community as well as receptiveness to the public, government officials and the media helped MJATD to be transparent and open. Visitors to MJATD offices are always welcome, enabling experience sharing and dissemination of information. MJATD also keeps good records and reports. There is one mini library where proposals, evaluation reports, audio and video records, and other references are kept.

Program Services and Target Groups A wider scaled-up socio-economic problems of the target area dictated the provision of multi-based services that are integrated towards the alleviation of deep-rooted poverty. Main services include: 1. Outpatient service, mainly curative to all who requires the service. Treatment and follow-ups are the main services. Payment is nominal and affordable.

Training

to equip young people with skills for employment

Program Success

Mary Joy

2. MCH service: ante-natal, delivery, and post-natal care to the target mothers. Service is nearly free. 3. Immunization service to children under one year of age. 4. Counseling services on HIV (VCT services): pre- and post-test counseling, testing. Confidentiality, privacy, and voluntarism are used as main tools for the promotion of effective counseling. Cost of service is marginal.

Family health program

5. Capacity building by training and skills upgrading. This is mainly to community members (home-base care-takers, voluntary service providers). 6. Management of different clubs: anti-HIV/AIDS clubs, Youth’s rights promotion clubs, circus and drama clubs for youths in target area. 7. Library service to school children. 8. Home-based care and support

Program Achievements Nutrition training program

MJATD is now in its 14th year of service. The following achievements were possible only because it had good partnership with the community, government, and donor community. 1. HIV/AIDS prevention includes VCT service, IEC, and community mobilization through “Anti-HIV/AIDS” clubs. MJATD serves as a home base for “Tesfa Goh” (Hope of Dawn), a formal association of HIV/ AIDS patients organized to fight the epidemic. 2. Care and support includes services like home-based care for the bedridden, life skills training, self-care, and credit support.

Challenges

MJATD has struggled with a number of ‘threats’. Some of the major challenges are:

Strategies Used Convincing the donor community about the

1. Low awareness of the community about development-oriented community services. Previously participation was low because of lack of awareness and bad perceptions about NGOs. 2. Policy environment on NGOs: The policy implementation environment is precarious. Even when NGOs are involved in long-term development efforts, the agreements made with DPPC (Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission) result in one-year licenses. This gives rise to insecurity and lack of encouragement. 3. Absence of feedback: Even quarterly reports are submitted to government bodies according to the agreement made, there is little or no response. 4. Dependency of foreign fundraising: This is always a risk to sustainable development. The possibility of maximizing internal resources is ignored or its legal provision is delayed by the government. 5. Project fund utilization problems: Earmarked fund utilization is becoming a problem for NGOs in general. The provision of integrated community-based services on a piecemeal basis is really a barrier for a community development. The alternative by a pool system in terms of priority issues should be explored by funding agencies.

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best options of fund use at donor meetings and through intensive communication.

Working with the community in various forums

Working in close partnership with local authorities

Program Success

Box 1

Mary Joy

Integrated Urban Community-Based Development Program

Health & Environment * Construction of VIP latrines * Public water distribution points * Availability of basic sanitary facilities like waste and garbage disposal, etc * Health education and activities: - MCH services, - HIV/AIDS control and prevention - Education and home-based care

Education & Social Promotion * Educational support and school fee and skills-training schemes to children and youth who are at risk. * Tutorial support for academically-weak students. * Sensitizing and educating community members about child abuse and on children rights * Provision of literacy education to children who are unable to join formal schooling. * Provision of leisure and recreational facilities for children

Micro-Credit Program * Provision of credit to targeted youth and women for incomegeneration activities. * Improving women’s loan utilization capacity. * Enhancement of management capacities of saving and credit co-operatives. * Improving the life of HIVinfected individuals by involving them in income-generation activities.

3. Building strong community participation: Recognition for MJATD was received from the World Bank for its efforts in fostering this. 4. Improving social infrastructure in the community: The construction of reading blocks (library) for youth and two kindergarten has enhanced an educational opportunity for disadvantaged children. 5. Changing the behaviors of local traditional institutions: previously it was common practice of Idris to extend social assistance even when a member had died. Now 25 “Idris” have committed to change their bylaws to address the needs of members while they are alive or when they are sick. 6. Medical care service: the underserved population groups can always visit MJATD medical center when necessary. There are now more than 60,000 such visits per year.

HIV/AIDS Awareness campaign

Photo credits: MJATD

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Child sponsorship program

Program Success

Paricharja

Nurturing a Call for Action

Written by Moi Lee Liow

B ackground Founder

stablished in 1993 by a young medical doctor with an obsession to put his knowledge to help others, Paricharja has been nurtured

Dr Parwez Salman Choudhury BANGLADESH

into a network of five health centers with 15 outposts in and around

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. Two new service centers have recently been set up in the slum areas of Begun Bari and Kamrangir Char. The outposts were set up to bring services to dock workers and truckers near the river port as well as slum dwellers. With the dense population in Dhaka and mobility of its people, there was a serious lack of accessible and affordable dermatology and STD services. While at university, Dr Parwez Choudhury had an obsession to meet this need through use of his medical knowledge and clinical skills. From a small clinic operating out of his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s house, he provided simple services in tending to those afflicted with skin problems or STDs. As his clients were mainly the poor, it was struggle keeping his clinic afloat financially. Luckily he managed to get funding support from various donors which helped him to slowly build up his clinic and expand its services.

I ntroduction It was just a simple wish in the mind of a medical student to set up a small center to provide affordable service. Dr Parwez Choudhury was training to be a dermatologist at Dhaka University in the late 1980s and early 1990s; he was a student activist with a love for cricket. He said he was good at organizing things at university so he thought he put those skills plus his medical knowledge to good use. Dr Parwez chose Ranpura, a densely populated industrial area of Dhaka, to start Paricharja which was registered with the Ministry of Social Welfare in March 1993. He had practically no resources aside from the goodwill and generosity of his father who let him use a section of his house for clinic space. His family members and relatives became important sources for funds in the first two years. As Dr Parwez intended, the good name of Paricharja spread through word of mouth, something his family members and supporters helped with. Today Paricharja is a self-sustaining chain of five health centers plus 15 outposts for truckers and dockyard workers. Dr Parwezâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategy is to make each center and outpost responsible for its own economic survival.

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Program Success

Paricharja

At its head office in Mohammadpur is a full-service medical laboratory which provides revenue-generating testing services to other clinics and doctors as well. It has 54 staff in total with 2 specialists and 10 medical officers.

Self-related Competencies Dr Parwez appears to be a quiet unassuming man, gentle and soft-spoken. But get him talking about Paricharja, his eyes lit up and his gestures become more expressive and animated. Paricharja, which means “Nurture” in Bengali, is an outreach Dermatology and STD specialist clinic he established single-handedly 13 years ago. After half an hour or so, Dr Parwez opens up and freely admits that he is a man obsessed, and his wife quickly nods her head in agreement. He quickly acknowledges the debt he owes his wife for her resolute support so that he could concentrate on making Paricharja, his dream, a reality. Yes, obsession underscores commitment and hard work, and a diehard belief in oneself. Perseverance is another word that comes to mind when talking with Dr Parwez. He realizes that he has sacrificed quite a bit of financial security by giving up private practice but what drives him is the satisfaction of knowing he has built something from scratch, something that benefits the community.

Partnering Skills

Dr Parwez and his supportive wife, Mrs Choudhury

Leaders Checklist

Know what you want to do

Paricharja started to attract outside funding in 1995, beginning with CIDA which provided support for training for diagnostic medical officers. Later, Medecins sans Frontiers, Human Development Foundation, University of Alabama Birmingham and Ashoka provided support for a variety of training. Dr Parwez also received a Fellowship with the University of Alabama Birmingham while Ashoka provided support for entrepreneurship for three years. A recent project for garment workers has just been completed that was funded by ActionAid Bangladesh

and go after it.

Be prepared to work really hard

Community-related Skills Dr Parwez firmly believes in the power of ‘word of mouth’. In this regard, he has relied on his family and friends as well as his clients to spread the ‘name’ of Paricharja. Certainly, word has got around because there are always clients coming into his clinic. He has reached out to the community by providing a valuable service where the needs are, such as establishing a health output near the river port in Dhaka.

Challenges Like other heads of NGOs, Dr Parwez says that his greatest challenge as a program leader is dealing with the problem of staff turnover, in particular medical personnel. With the prospect of earning good income from ‘chambering’ (private practice), doctors are generally not too enthusiastic about working for NGOs. Dr Parwez himself has sacrificed quite a lot of personal financial wellbeing from missing out on private practice but, for him, personal satisfaction from the knowledge that he has successfully built something from nothing. Dr Parwez’s basic objective was to make specialist dermatologist services

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Be prepared for disappointments Provide a service with professionalism and sincerity, and the clients will come to you It is possible that dreams can be realized with a clear vision and perseverance

Program Success

Paricharja

What has been achieved? accessible and affordable. This he has clearly achieved through sheer persistence and faith in his vision or, as he says, his obsession. Paricharja continues to expand to this day, not only in terms of locations but also in terms of services. At the main office in Mohammadpur, the clinic has begun to provide laboratory test services as an income-generation project. Dr Parwez’s hope is that all the clinics will become individually self-

What of the Future? sustaining, if not profitable. Currently, revenue at some clinics is used to subsidize the deficit clinics although overall, the organization is barely self-sustaining. Credibility in the community has been established; people are willing to come to our clinics even if they have to pay. They know that, for a nominal sum, they can get good quality service.

Elements of Program Health care program: ● 5 health centers ● 15 outposts ● clinical services in STDs and dermatology

Dr Parwez explaining the health and laboratory services at Paricharja’s center in Mohammadpur

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“

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Credibility in the community has been established; people are willing to come to our clinics even if they have to pay. For a nominal fee, they can get good quality service.

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”

Well-equipped laboratory ● Wide range of testing services ● Fee-paying testing services for other clinics ● Good record-keeping

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Indicators and Achievements Indicators of success: ● Donor support ● Willingness of clients to pay a fee fo services ● Increasing number of clients for laboratory test services ● Awareness raising ● Professionalism in service delivery Achievements ● Community acceptance and support ● Providing the poor with a vital health service ● Being able to attract like-minded committed medical and clinical personnel

Photo credits: VLP

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Program Success

Youth-2-Youth: German Foundation for World Population

A Model for Youth Leadership Written by Dr Mesfin Addisse

Background Program Manager

he German Foundation for World Population (Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevolkerung - DSW) is a German-based non-profit voluntary

Tirsit Grishaw

foundation addressing sexual and reproductive health (SRH),

environment and development issues in developing countries. DSW started

ETHIOPIA

its involvement in Ethiopia in 1994 by supporting youth and youth- serving NGOs addressing HIV/AIDS and SRH issues among young people. DSW opened its first country office in Ethiopia in 1998 and got registered as an international NGO to operate in the country in 2000. Currently, the country office is implementing a nationwide program called “Youth-to-Youth” (Y2Y) in collaboration with 10 partner organizations and more than 225 youth clubs located throughout the country. Y2Y is a comprehensive program that aims to bring attitudinal and behavioral change among young people towards a healthy sexual life. It was in Ethiopia that DSW developed its Y2Y model which is now being replicated in other countries including Kenya, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa. The Y2Y model is supported by guidelines and training manuals to control its standard and allows country offices and /or other partner organizations to adopt the program based on their local context to address the SRH needs and rights of young people in their specific country or locality. Y2Y deals with the age group which constitutes a large segment of the population and the future of the nation - young people between 10 and 24 years of age. It is leading young Ethiopians to a better future not only through teaching of safe sexual practices but also through the concept of self-help initiative to address issues of concern and volunteerism towards the common goal of having quality life and development. To maximize the benefit achieved and expand its activities throughout the country, Y2Y uses “replication and mushrooming of youth clubs/initiatives” by young people themselves throughout the country. DSW strongly believes that young people are the main actors, not merely beneficiaries of the Y2Y program.

www.dsw-online.de 105

Program Success

Y2Y-DSW

I ntroduction Y2Y* addresses the SRH needs and rights of young people between 10 and 24 years of age through a network of youth clubs and initiatives. As a result these young people will have access to quality SRH information and services.

Mission

To contribute to the dignity of young people’s lives throughout the world as the implementation of activities outlined in the 1994 ICPD Program of Action.

Main Components of Y2Y Y2Y is designed to be a comprehensive program, with a phased implementation strategy, aimed at promoting and sustaining positive behavioral change among young people. Although the specific implementation of activities varies from country to country, Y2Y has the following main components:

Objectives

●

To provide and replicate quality, effective and sustainable RH information and services to young people to bring about attitudinal and behavioral change towards a healthy sexual life.

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Target groups Mainly out-of-school youth who are 10-24 years of age.

● ●

Intensive IEC amongst young people (Peer education) Mass awareness-raising programs - Mass IEC - (Edutainment) RH service provision through referral arrangements Production and distribution of youth-friendly IEC materials Social marketing of condoms and pills Capacity building of youth clubs Advocacy at all levels Networking amongst youth clubs Sports and games Income-generating schemes Monitoring and evaluation

S trategies for Activities The implementation strategy is based on close collaboration of three major stakeholders: DSW country office, partner NGOs and youth clubs. DSW country office develops manuals, checklists and guidelines to assure the quality of information and services; provides financial, material and technical support to partner NGOs and youth clubs; establishes network among partner organizations and youth clubs; organizes and conducts trainings; and undertakes regular monitoring and evaluation of its programs. Partner NGOs play an intermediary role between DSW and youth clubs. They work directly with DSW and youth clubs signing agreements with both sides. The main role of partner NGOs include providing financial, material support they secure from DSW to youth clubs; provide technical back up to youth clubs; facilitate conductive environment to youth clubs by working closely with concerned bodies such as local government structures and others; closely monitor and evaluate the activities of youth clubs and compile reports from youth clubs and submit to DSW country office.

* The former Adolescent and Reproductive Health Initiative (ARHI) is now known as the Youth-to-Youth (Y2Y) program.

However, the youth clubs directly implement the Y2Y program as per the agreement reached between DSW and partner NGO, and the partner NGO and youth club. Therefore, youth clubs conduct intensive and mass IEC; provide SRH services through referral and social marketing of condoms; replicate standard RH information and services by replicating youth clubs; sensitize and mobilize the community to win their support; advocate for the realization of their RH needs and rights including the eradication of harmful traditional practices that affect their wellbeing; attract young people through sports and games; and closely monitor and report their activities.

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Program Success

Y2Y-DSW

Organizational Profile

GERMAN FOUNDATION FOR WORLD POPULATION

The Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevolkerung (DSW) or German Foundation for World Population in English, is a private non-profit voluntary foundation founded in 1991 by two entrepreneurs from Hanover. The DSW mission: DSW is committed towards a sustainable development of world population. It supports measures in developing countries which ● Empower women and their role in society ● Improve quality of life of young people ● Limit the spread of HIV/AIDS ● Support a humane slowing of population growth In developing countries DSW raises awareness on the challenges presented by world population growth and HIV/AIDS and advocates for the improvement of the global reproductive health situation among decision makers and opinion formers in developed countries, Europe and Germany, in order to mobilize resources.

P rogram Achievements The main achievements of Y2Y in Ethiopia include: ● National recognition of the “Y2Y” model which is being used by other development actors and agents in Ethiopia including the government, international NGOs such as Save the Children USA, PACT, Pathfinder International, World Food Program (WFP), Ethiopian Red Cross, and many others. ● Able to reach more than 3.5 million young people with SRH information and services. ● More than 110 youth clubs have been able to reach at an advanced club level (A level). ● More than 10 youth clubs that started as youth clubs under Y2Y are now local youth NGOs directly working with donor agencies including Pathfinder International, Save the Children Sweden.

Enhancing RH Knowledge & Skills of Youth The main activities undertaken to enhance SRH knowledge and skills of young people are intensive and mass IEC. The intensive IEC (peer education) is the core component of Y2Y. DSW has developed a peer education learning cascade to facilitate and control the quality of the intensive IEC-peer learning process, and achieve a better impact. The cascade is supported by a standardized participatory training manual developed for young people on SRH issues. According to the training cascade, core facilitators recruited from either partner NGOs or advanced clubs are trained by DSW at a central level on facilitation techniques to train peer educator trainers for clubs. As a result, core facilitators are responsible to train Peer Educator Trainers (PETs) from different clubs, provide back-up for them, and follow-up peer education process within the partner organization and/or clubs. Nevertheless, PETs are responsible to train Peer Educators (PEs) for each club, provide backstopping to peer educators and reporting of the peer learning activities in their respective clubs. The PEs are the ones responsible to organize and facilitate the actual peer teaching by organizing their own Peer Learning Groups (PLGs), which consists of 5-7 members. The PEs are also responsible in disseminating accurate and up-to-date SRH information to peers, referring peers for RH services and promoting condoms.

107

A youth club performance

Program Success

Y2Y-DSW

In addition, clubs have to conduct more IEC through a combined education and entertainment program (‘edutainment’) to create mass awareness among young people and the community at large. As a result of these two strategies Y2Y has achieved the following: ● ● ●

An Ethiopian celebrity motivates the youth

●

More than 24 CFs and 508 PETs have been trained More than 2,480 PEs have been trained More than 1,518,582 young people have been reached through the intensive peer-to– peer learning arrangement in more than 20,000 PLGs More than 3.5 million young people have been reached through the mass ‘edutainment’ program More than 80% of adolescents know about STDs including HIV/AIDS and how to prevent them. Reproductive health knowledge has considerably increased among young people who have gone through club activities. 4970 copies of the adolescent reproductive health training manual has been printed and distributed to clubs

P rint, Audio-visual and IEC Materials

Young people join in activities for environment and sanitation

DSW has established an information center that develops, produces and disseminates various IEC materials including audio-video cassettes and radio features. The center provides these youth-friendly IEC materials to partner organizations and youth clubs under Y2Y. The major achievements through the info center include: ●

●

More than 1,200,000 copies of leaflets, in both the Amharic and Oromiffa languages, were printed, reprinted and distributed. More than 1 million copies of Y2Y newspaper have been printed and distributed (monthly) to youth clubs. More than 30,000 copies of posters in both Amharic and Oromiffa, in 2 issues have been printed and distributed. 260 audiocassettes on 3 issues and 41 videocassettes have been recorded and distributed to youth clubs More than 189 radio programs (80 on FM station for Addis Ababa and the surrounding areas and 100 on the national radio) have been broadcasted.

The involvement of clubs in contributing articles, recording songs in cassettes, preparing posters to the info center and distributing materials that they receive from the center is very encouraging.

I ncome-generating and RH Activity Clubs Y2Y involves an income-generating intervention to sustain youth club activities and motivate young people. This intervention is mainly undertaken by advanced-level clubs. It requires undertaking needs and potential assessment studies on feasible income-generating activities (IGAs) for advanced-level clubs, train club leaders on matters related to IGA project identification and implementation, develop IGA guidelines and install a revolving-fund grant for selected clubs to run their IGA projects. The results are: ● ●

●

Guidelines for IGA implementation have been prepared and used. 55 clubs have received financial and material support to start clubbased IGA. 55 club representatives for IGA were trained in identification and appraisal of income-generating projects. Projects like musical bands, barber shops, farming, public showers and tutorial classes have been identified and supported.

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Program Success

Y2Y-DSW

Activities for young people under Y2Y

Networking and Communications The “Youth to Youth” newspaper is used as a forum for networking between various clubs in different parts of the country. Each club has a planned budget for conducting two experience-sharing visits annually. Clubs have greatly credited this program for enabling them to enrich their experience by learning from other clubs. Increasingly, youth clubs are establishing local networks and working more closely to avoid duplication of effort, maximize their impact and share resources.

Collaboration and Cooperation This activity includes identification and establishment of networks with institutions relevant for the promotion of self-help initiatives addressing, SRH, conducting advocacy and IEC to create awareness. As a result the grassroots government administrative units (kebeles) have provided work places. Several NGOs, particularly those working on HIV/AIDS, have offered training opportunities to the clubs. Advanced SRH clubs are represented in different committees in their respective communities. Thirty five advanced-level clubs have been registered at provincial or regional administrative levels and have secured legal status. Most youth SRH clubs have received materials such as IEC materials, books, stationery supplies, and furniture from local government, NGOs, community-based organizations and from the business community.

Access to RH Services The main activities in this area include establishing and strengthening of counseling services including telephone hotline counseling, support of recreational activities of clubs, promote referral services, carry out condom social marketing through clubs, and so on. The outcomes are: ● ●

●

Y2Y has introduced 5 hotline counseling centers in 5 major towns Y2Y has concluded contractual agreements with two non-governmental RH service providers (Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia and Marie Stoops International) to provide SRH services in 22 towns and with governmental health services where NGOs were not available. DSW has signed an agreement with DKT-Ethiopia, a firm which is dealing with social marketing of condoms to provide condoms to youth clubs. More than 10,000 people have accessed information and counseling from the hotline services, About 30,000 young people have received SRH services including STI treatment, VCT services, pregnancy test and counseling.

The monitoring reports from partners and clubs show more than 75% of the RH service users are very much satisfied

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Program Success

Y2Y-DSW

Challenges Inadequate support from concerned bodies Limited funding

● ●

●

In describing DSW’s partnering skills and the devotion to work with partners, Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said, “Partnerships are of utmost importance to the implementation of the 1994 ICPD Program of Action on Population and Development. In DSW, UNFPA has found a first-rate NGO and a most effective and reliable partner”.

Turnover of core facilitators, club leaders and peer educators due to voluntary nature of service

Since its establishment in Ethiopia, DSW has been working closely with indigenous NGOs. Currently 11 local NGOs and 225 youth clubs are working closely in the implementation of Y2Y objectives.

Monitoring and building the capacity of partner organizations for quality project planning

Aspirations of clubs to grow to youth NGOs gets less cooperation from local NGOs

The local partner NGOs (intermediaries) are supporting 228 grassroots youth clubs throughout the country in implementing programs for young people to effect attitudinal and behavioral changes towards safe sex practices. They play the intermediary role of being between the clubs and the country office. The partners signed agreements with the clubs and DSW. They control the financial support of the clubs. They play the role of creating conducive environment for clubs by financing, coordinating, monitoring and evaluation and reporting.

Lesser involvement of women in youth club leadership

Increased need request for Y2Y model could not be addressed due to limitations like funding

DSW Ethiopia gets funding support from: ●

Partnering

Assistance from Partners

Strategies for Challenges DSW believes in discussing all problems arising out of implementation. It has constant contact with the clubs through the partners and this ease of communication helps manage common problems. Besides, advocacy activities have been introduced to win the support of concerned bodies including government agencies, parents, community-based organizations and others for the youth clubs and their programs. In addition training has been provided on a regular basis to address turnover of young people through the DSW/Bonita Training Center that is established at Debrezeit for building capacity of the youth clubs and their members. Future plans for Y2Y: ● To increase the advocacy program ● To reach out to the rural youth ● Increase the role of young women in youth club leadership ● Increase the use of national radio for information dissemination

The World Bank The European Commission The German Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Private companies such as Bonita, Daimler Chrysler and TUI HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office in Ethiopia (HAPCO) Private individuals

Photo credits: DSW Ethiopia

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Program Success

Youth Activists Organization

Channeling Youthful Energy to Leadership Written by Moi Lee Liow

B ackground Co-Founder

he Youth Activists Organization (YAO) was founded In Zambia in 1995 by a group of high school friends who wanted to make a

Holo Hachonda IV

difference to address the many problems affecting youths. With no

guarantee of a good job, money or a secure future, aspirations for Zambian

ZAMBIA

youth were not particularly high. This group of friends wanted to inject some hope and direction wherever they could. YAO started with awareness-raising activities in schools focusing on civil rights and responsibilities among young people because of the national Presidential and Parliamentary elections at that time. They had developed some skills in outreach work through their involvement with the World Life Conservation Society. But it was an invitation from a church in 1997 to organise a reproductive health workshop for youths that proved to be a critical turning point for YAO. This workshop experience gave them an opportunity to get more organized, and serious about sustainability. Its objectives and activities are: Specific Objectives: • Increase young people’s knowledge of SRH including HIV/AIDS • Provide updated and accurate information • Bridge the gap between parent-child communication at household level • Encourage youth to seek youth-friendly health services • Promote safe sex practices and improve skills in condom use • Equip young people with life skills (decision-making, goal-setting, selfesteem, negotiation, communication) • Improve quality of existing peer education programs • Equip trained peer educators, community-based organizers (CBOs) and neighborhood health committees (NHCs). Activities: • SRH, STD/HIV/AIDS and FP awareness programs in church • Outreach to secondary schools (Enter-Educate approach) • Training of Trainers (TOT) workshops • Community SRH Football Camp

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Program Success

YAO

YAO Activities Activities designed to involve young people and create opportunities for SRH and HIV/ AIDS programs

Football matches

Drama groups

Radio and talk shows

Mobile video shows

Schools

Training workshops

I ntroduction Most young people graduating from high school find themselves at a crossroads. They have so many decisions to be made about their future (Further studies? A job? Explore the world?). The world is their oyster. In Zambia in 1995, a group of high school friends decided that there were too many problems in their country affecting the youth (socio-economic, political, health, environmental, etc) that they ‘had to’ do something, anything. In fact, they were willing to try anything. With no guarantee of a good job, money or a secure future, aspirations for Zambian youth were not particularly high. This group of friends wanted to inject some hope and direction wherever they could. They called themselves ‘Youth Activists Organization’ (YAO). YAO started with awareness-raising activities in schools focusing on civil rights and responsibilities among young people because the national Presidential and Parliamentary elections were scheduled in 1996. They found they were quite good at this because they had developed some skills in outreach work through their involvement with the World Life Conservation Society. But it was an invitation from a church in 1997 to organize a reproductive health (RH) workshop for youth that proved to be a critical turning point for YAO. This workshop experience gave them an opportunity to get more organized, and serious about sustainability. Since 1997, YAO has concentrated on RH and HIV/AIDS activities as a way to empower youth in Zambia. Over time, YAO has learned to build on not only their members’ individual leadership skills but also their experience from working with communities and project partners. The “Community Sexual and Reproductive Health Football Camp”, initiatied in 1998, was its most ambitious project at that time. From its multi-faceted agenda using football matches, drama groups, radio and talk shows, mobile video shows, schools, training workshops to raise awareness on RH and HIV/AIDS, it was a very effective and exemplary youth-oriented endeavor. Due to their vulnerability in contracting HIV/AIDS and possibly infecting others, YAO made it a specific objective to target young men in their activities. This was the basis behind the Football Camp idea. Due to their tenacity, creativity and a strong desire to make a difference, the YAO members are true activists and leaders of today and the future.

Self-related Competencies The founders of the YAO already had some pioneering and leadership spirit in them well before they founded the organization. Through their involvement with the World Life Conservation Society in high school they got some experience in doing outreach work. This experience proved to be the springboard to further training in other leadership skills including communication and facilitation skills. Being activists, YAO members actively sought out partners to work with even though initially, due to their age and lack of experience, it was hard going trying to get sponsorships and support, both financially and in kind. Luckily, as they proved their mettle, these came through for them through the Johns Hopkins University/Center for Communication Programs (JHU/ CCP) office, Planned Parenthood of Zambia, and so on. They also found ways to gain the trust of community leaders and government officials, which was essential to any effective implementation of youth activities on the ground.

Promoting SRH information and services

For strengthening self-related competencies, YAO believed that training was essential to developing leaders at all levels, particularly youth leaders. In this regard, it developed training modules out of the outreach and skills workshops it had been involved with.

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YAO

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Community-related Skills The variety of activities and the creativity with which these activities were implemented give credence to the talents and community-related skills of YAO members. Although there was resistance initially from the ‘gatekeepers’ or community leaders such as parents, community opinion leaders, headmasters, health center staff, church leaders, and so on, who wanted to control the type of messages on RH targeted at young people. However, YAO learned to overcome this type of resistance by involving gatekeepers in the design and implementation of their activities. In this way, community priorities and concerns could be integrated in project activities, and the gatekeepers realized that these youth were working for the betterment of the community as a whole. This approach was found to be very effective when implementing the Football Camp project.

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Holo Hachonda IV on leadership:

Leaders can play a role in breaking the culture of silence and taboos... demonstrate that openly talking about HIV/AIDS and related issues is a mandate of all individuals

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To YAO, one of the biggest challenges was to try to please all the different types of leaders in the community as each one wanted to be recognized in their own right. However, most of these gatekeepers or community leaders might not be equipped with the skills or knowledge to take appropriate leadership roles in addressing social and health issues.

Partnering Skills

Among YAO partners were:

YAO had been successful in partnering with many organizations to implement its activities. These partners provided support either financially or in terms of materials, or in kind. For example, the Zambia Family Planning Services (ZFPS) provided ‘office’ space for YAO, while JHU/CCP field office supported YAO through the provision of transport for daily operations. Other partners have provided opportunities for YAO members to expand their exposure through attending local and international HIV/AIDS seminars, conferences or workshops, or provided them with access to computers and internet services.

Planned Parenthood

Association of Zambia

Family Life Movement of Zambia

Center for Development and Population Activities

Society for Family Health (for radio program)

What of the Future?

Family Health Trust (for HIV/

The Football Camp project indicated that mobilizing the communities could work if youth leaders could select their partners and win over their elders. As the project had a multi-faceted approach, involving not only many activities – football matches, RH and HIV/AIDS awareness raising, leadership skills training workshops, counseling, outreach to school children, and so on – it was also one that needed the cooperation and participation of many partners. It was not an easy juggling act but one that YAO leaders proved they could do. But what of the future?

Ubwato ne Nkafi Theatre

AIDS clubs at schools)

According to one of YAO founder members, the most important quality of leadership was open-mindedness as he believed that only then could new programs that were otherwise seen as culturally and traditionally challenging and inappropriate could be successfully implemented. This was the thinking that would serve youth leaders well as they try to make their mark in RH programs.

Two of YAO football teams

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Group

Zambia Football Coaches Association

Zambia National Information Services

Peace Corps Zambia 30 Schools in 6 districts

Program Success

YAO

Q&A

Holo Hachonda IV, Co-founder of YAO

Q. What were/are the key leadership challenges? Since the program was rural/community based, its success was very much dependant on how the community perceived and received it and this was where the local leaders such the Chiefs, head men/women, religious leaders and other local institution leaders came in. They were key to mobilizing community support and endorsing the program. They could also be the failing point of the program if not effectively involved in planning and design stage of the program. YAO had been successful in mobilizing leadership support for their Community Camps through their partnership with Peace Corps Volunteers who stayed in the community. The biggest challenge was pleasing all the different types of leaders as each one wanted to be recognized in their own right. Most leaders were also not equipped with the skills to take appropriate leadership roles in addressing social and health issues. An example was a Member of Parliament in Zambia openly stating at a sitting that PLWHAs should be quarantined (concentration camps) to prevent the further spread of the virus. Obviously the man had no clue about HIV/AIDS and the required response. We as policy implementers had failed to effectively target leaders with awareness and skills-building interventions.

Q. What can our leaders do? Leaders can play a role in breaking the culture of silence and taboos and can demonstrate that openly talking about HIV/AIDS related issues is a mandate of all individuals. It is about time that the leadership in the fight against AIDS is localized. This is particularly important that resources are to mobilized at multi-sectoral and community levels. Leaders are ideally placed to impact public opinion that can influence the way constituencies see and respond to issues All levels of leadership, be it social or political, such as Presidents, Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament, administrators, local chiefs, and religious leaders need to be involved and allowed to make their own particular contribution in the fight against HIV/AIDS. National political leadership has the prime responsibility for initiating and promoting change by effectively utilizing the authority invested in them by the masses: 1. National institutions can be used to achieve high levels of mobilization both at institutional and community levels, salaried civil servants, for example, can be a great source if systems are adequately put in place. 2. Policy formulation and obtaining policy consensus by announcing the policy initiative to the public. 3. Ensure that policy is effectively implemented by maintaining legislation, administrative commitments or other specific forms of sanction to back up the policies 4. Can be key in promoting the integration of HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs with other sectoral activities including private, government and non-governmental organizations. 5. Mainstreaming HIV/AIDS prevention and care into normal bureaucratic activities such as national planning and budgeting Religious leaders have the power to encourage social responses to HIV/AIDS such as caring for the sick and orphans, social inclusion of PLWHAs and reducing stigma. Community leaders such as local political leaders, administrators and chiefs can be key in the day to day struggle at household level encouraging care and support of PLWHAs and orphans. Cultural and social figures can be role models and opinion formers and can be effective messengers and agents of positive attitudes and behavioral change

Q. What leadership competencies and skills are required to get YAO moving and, now, sustaining it? More programs that specifically target leaders need to be supported and training manuals developed where they do not exist. National programs targeting all levels of leadership especially those at policy formulation levels, be it in Parliament or at community level as these are the gate-keepers, thus hold the key to our successful implementation of programs.

Q. What do you see as the main leadership qualities that are required? The most important quality of leadership is open-mindedness as only then can new ideas surface and innovative programs be successfully implemented. Photo credits: YAO and Holo Hachonda IV

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Program Success

Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council

Supportive Policy Environment Enhances Performance Written by Dr Josephine Banda Moyo

Former Executive Director

B ackground

lthough the family planning (FP) program in Zimbabwe began in

the 1950s, it was only after the country’s independence in 1980

Dr Alex Zinanga

when the program became active and started getting results from

its interventions. By the mid-1990s it was able to achieve universal

ZIMBABWE

knowledge of modern contraception with prevalence of 48% and total fertility rate of 4.31. Recent figures for these indicators are respectively 53.5% and 4.232. This profile looks at the leadership experience of the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) during the tenure of Dr Alex Zinanga as Executive Director, and how a favorable policy environment impacted on performance and program results.

I ntroduction The ZNFPC had a working environment that encouraged innovation and work beyond the comfort zones. The formidable team included longserving mid-level personnel at both the provincial and national levels with clear definition of roles. While the six mid-level managers at national level concentrated on advancing the technical and programmatic issues, the eight provincial heads complemented this by ensuring an effective and efficient administrative, personnel, financial and institutional management that exhibited characteristics of a working decentralization system. With such a top team, the political challenges of a newly independent country (1980) were easily overcome. The FP program had to counteract the belief that it was intended to reduce the population of the native Zimbabweans thereby weakening their influence. A visiting professor from San Diego commenting on the FP environment in Zimbabwe, told Dr Zinanga, “My friend, you are like a diver swimming among sharks. Make sure you do not bleed because the sharks will have you for breakfast.”

1. Zinanga, A, 1996. “Multi-media campaign to enhance male involvement”. In Men and Reproductive Health, Innovations series, Vol.4, 1996. ICOMP. 2. UNFPA, 2005. Country Profiles

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Program Success

ZNFPC

Program Strengths Strong political support Strong community-based distribution program

Training program Decentralized clinic-based service delivery

Strong community linkages Effective referral and commodity logistics system

Challenges for Leadership & Program

The need to utilize local

financial, human and a whole lot of resources to get things done

There

exists a lot of untapped potential in Zimbabwe that has to be mobilized

Supportive Political Environment was Key Once the benefits of FP in promoting healthy mothers and children were realized, the independent government of the day became very supportive and allowed the program to take serous risks. This support from the government grew stronger in the 1990s when Dr Timothy J Stamps became the Minister of Health resulting in the elimination of all ‘battles’ in this area. The environment for the FP program was so positive from the mid-1980s onwards that the program integrated positive elements and workable approaches. These included creating a good monitoring and evaluation culture while research was continuously carried out to address community felt needs vis-à-vis culture, male involvement, taboos and misconceptions. This extremely positive environment resulted in the inflow of external resources with support from American, European and Japanese donors, the United Nations and private foundations. A lot of technical assistance also followed the flow of funds. The Government of Zimbabwe committed itself to financing the entire personnel, administration, logistics and infrastructure development for the FP program, leaving external assistance for program activities and commodity procurement.

Strong Community Program Other essential elements were the strong Community-based Distribution (CBD) program which formed the backbone of the FP program in Zimbabwe; a training program whose fellows extended beyond the boundaries of Zimbabwe; and a clinic-based service delivery program decentralized to district levels. The strong community linkages achieved by the program were characterized by local providers in farming communities, depots holders in villages and outlets within mining organizations and community pharmacies. In addition, there were effective referral and commodity logistics systems.

Assuming Leadership at ZNFPC

Many

With the departure of Dr Norbert Mugwagwa in the early 1990s, and also Dr Boyene, Dr Zinanga assumed the leadership of the ZNFPC as Executive Director. He was quick to realize that the gap created by him moving up the ladder needed to be filled expeditiously after a careful selection that involved its Board. Anyone coming into a senior position at the ZNFPC had to be energetic, passionate, innovative and with the appropriate technical background.

The Board consisted of individuals from government, parastatals, the private sector and the religious leaders under the chairmanship of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health.

programs remain artificial by missing the opportunities to address real community needs There is a lack of optimum use of developing country expertise

Communities

are not convinced of their worth and wealth to raise sufficient community resources to make a difference

Staff attrition at the mid-level managers at both national and provincial levels was little or non-existent. This provided a stable environment and a strong base for the continuity of programs.

Challenges “How do we maximize the skills and resources available in the South? We look to the outside more than we look inside. It is alright to do so but we need not ignore the inside. A lot of untapped potential exists inside but we suffer from poverty of the mind. We need a critical mass to overcome this. If you want to run fast, run alone but if you want to run far, run with others,” says Dr Zinanga.

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Program Success

ZNFPC

Personal Profile Early Influences When Dr Alex Zinanga was undergoing his training in the late 1970s and early 1980s, preventive medicine was not seen as a glamorous career as opposed to curative medicine In fact, Dr Standish White, an orthopedic surgeon, told him that it was a waste of talent. So he went on to specialize in ‘Ear, Nose and Throat’ on being seconded from Obstetrics and Gynecology. It was Dr Tom Chimbira, an obstetrician who finally had an influence on his career decision. Dr Chimbira was recruiting young professionals to work in reproductive health (RH), and approached him with an offer. Dr Zinanga became sufficiently interested in RH research and joined the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) in 1981. Dr Chimbira later left the Council to go back to the university as an academician. Another person who was an influence was Dr Esther Boyene, a Ghanaian lady with profound negotiation skills who was extremely influential. Dr Boyene also happened to be the twin sister of the then First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Besides working closely with Dr Boyene, Dr Zinanga’s inspiration grew through reading books and literature. Of note was a book titled, “Family Planning in the 1960s”. His perception to health systems changed with the realization that prevention was a neglected area. Dr Zinanga’s passion for FP and later, RH intensified after being awarded a scholarship to study public health at San Diego State University in the USA. It is there that he encountered well known ‘actors’ in this field such as Professor Helen Wallace, then Head of the Maternal and Child Health program at San Diego. Prof Wallace, who had previously come from University of California Berkeley, exposed him to rich experiences in international RH concepts. She was good at identifying people from various countries and prepared them well for leadership challenges. Additionally, there was Mr Samuel Whisk who initiated indicators such as “Couple Year Protection” (CYP) and who had profound involvement in FP programs in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan during the 1960s; he taught him many practical approaches in the field. One of these was establishing life-long networks and contacts in the field for continued learning. With the exposure in the USA, Dr Zinanga moved back to Zimbabwe with the aim of accelerating the FP program in the country. He came to appreciate the impact of an effective work culture and top teams on program performance. From a medical officer job at the ZNFPC, Dr Zinanga was quickly appointed to be in charge of the national programs under the leadership of Dr Norbert Mugwagwa, an excellent manager of institutions and people.

Family background Alex Zinanga is the last child in a family of three boys and three girls. His father considered education to be extremely important especially for boys. Unfortunately, Alex’s father died when he was only 15 years of age and so he was raised by his oldest brother in the family. He benefited from a bursary system provided by the Roman Catholic schools. He considered himself as a very lucky man. He said, “I looked at my teachers and the people around me and asked myself if I couldn’t do better. I believed that my future was in my hands!” He is also a highly motivated character. He says, “Very few things discouraged me and I do not look at issues as problems but opportunities.” For instance, he adds, “When I wanted to go to the USA to visit the Management Sciences for Health but was refused Cabinet Authority by the Secretary for Health, I convinced myself that we needed to be sustainable. Besides, I thought, the worst thing that he could do to me is for the Secretary to say ‘NO’ and nothing else!”

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Program Success

ZNFPC

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I looked at... the people around me and asked myself if I couldn’t do better. I believe that my future was in my hands

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Dr Zinanga has traveled wide and far, met with a number of Heads of States and other world leaders but still wonders whether what we are doing is benefiting the ordinary person. He moved away from the ZNFPC in the late nineties in pursuit of answers to a number of concerns, a lot of which lie in the changing of technical leaders’ mind set with regards to the use of local resources and experiences to better the life of their communities. People’s needs are diverse and thus require a holistic approach by mobilizing as much expertise as possible. Within this principle Dr Zinanga went on to establish a broad-based consultation team that not only addressed issues of health but education, security and food production.

What of the Future? As the leader for the FP program in Zimbabwe in the 1990s, Dr Zinanga says that he gained a lot of insights by creating a learning environment for the staff. He promised not to rest until basic causes of poverty in communities are eliminated. He recalled that, for instance, during the 1960s when he was growing up, his home district, Zaka as well as Bikita and Gutu harvested a lot of groundnuts in addition to being a guava belt all the way to the Great Zimbabwe, and yet no attempt has been made to process or cane the fruit. He views this as a business opportunity for the local communities, to process and market both groundnuts and guava. He challenged the technocrats to seize the business opportunity posed by HIV/AIDS with regards to nutrition.

Photo credit: Dr Zinanga

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