Advocacy campaign reaches out to India's Orissa province

Bhubaneswar, India | 23 June 2009- More than 120 participants, including Orissa's Minister of Finance, Minister of Health, and Minister of Information, attended the dissemination workshop of the Deliver Now for Women + Children Advocacy Campaign in Bhubaneswar, India, on 23 June.

The advocacy Campaign, led by the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, India, was carried out over the past 16 months in the eastern state of Orissa, where maternal mortality rates among the highest in India. The Campaign, supported by PMNCH, aimed to generate greater community demand for quality maternal and child health services.

Activities of the Campaign included:

  • extensive media engagement;
  • advocacy capacity building among more than 300 members of the White Ribbon Alliance; and
  • the mobilization of more than 11,000 women who attended a series of public hearings to voice their concerns directly to government officials.

The hearings and media coverage have resulted in a wide range of government resolutions to improve the implementation of Orissa's maternal and child health policies.

Orissa's Minister of Finance + Minister of Health join participants in opening ceremony
Orissa's Minister of Finance + Minister of Health join participants in opening ceremony
Participants of the workshop of the White Ribbon Alliance' s Deliver Now campaign
Participants of the workshop of the White Ribbon Alliance' s Deliver Now campaign

Minister of Finance, P.C. Ghadei, addresses the workshop
Minister of Finance, P.C. Ghadei, addresses the workshop
PK Mishra  honours Orissa's Minister of Health, Prasanna Acharya
Journalist PK Mishra (centre) honours Orissa's Minister of Health, Prasanna Acharya

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