Synergies in Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, India, May 2006

In May 2006, PATH and the White Ribbon Alliance India (WRAI) hosted a consultation on maternal newborn and child health (MNCH in New Delhi. Funded by The Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health, the consultation had three principal objectives:

  • Sharing information about the landscape of current maternal, newborn and child health efforts in India.
  • Identifying opportunities for synergies between these programs and priorities for possible partnership building on MNCH from an Indian perspective.
  • Identifying opportunities and mechanisms for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) / civil society organizations to collaborate with the ongoing efforts.

The consultation responded to the need to bring together core issues and actors in MNCH in order to share lessons and best practices and cross learn across issues and sectors. This method was identified during the “Lives and Balances” conference held in Delhi in April 2005, as the key to solving MNCH issues.

The consultation consisted in plenary presentations, group work and discussions. Presentations covered a variety of issues. A presentation was made about the state of MNCH in India, which included an update on The Partnership. The PATH Country Director presented the collaboration between PATH and WRAI and detailed the grant that was received by both organizations. Two following presentations focused on the programmes run by UNICEF and WHO country offices and their relations to The Partnership. Other presentations included information on the Indian government's priorities regarding MNCH as well as WRAI plans and objectives.

Following the presentations, participants were divided into three groups and assigned topics for analysis. Group work was centred on three issues:

  • Opportunities for convergence among maternal, newborn and child health
  • Opportunities for civil society networking and links to government on MNCH in India
  • Opportunities for private sector networking and links to government on MNCH in India Observations were presented in plenary.

This consultation exposed the wealth of work that has been done in India regarding MNCH and highlighted the need for increased collaboration in order to build on materials that already exist. The next steps for The Partnership in India are the establishment of a work plan and coordination mechanism and the designation of targets and indicators.