Initiated in July 2002, the UNICEF-GOK Community Monitoring Project (CMP) is a seminal project in that for the first time communities are formally being asked to monitor the line departments of education, health and women & children’s welfare.

The monitoring takes an innovative approach, and is based on a system of 15 Red Alerts which look at individual health, and the functioning of primary schools and ICDS centres.

All communities are organised into groups of 20 households each, or by their streets, and the representatives of these come together to form a Village Development Monitoring Committee. Convenors of the VDMCs that come under a Primary Health Centre meet once a month with the Medical Officer, the Block Education Officer, and the Child Development Officer, and their teams. Red Alerts are reported, and each department immediately commits a date when they will respond to the Red Alert.

Given that each PHC meeting looks at issues from 30-40 villages, SAMUHA has capitalised on a CCF grant to build a web-enabled Management Information System that allows village data to be entered, and for PHC-level reports to be generated so that PHC meetings focus on the issue of Red Alerts, rather than on data generation and recording.

This web application also records health related Red Alerts, and allows individual follow-up.

Highlights 2002

Social PRA's, which form part of the baseline data needed for project implementation, have been completed in the 201 villages, while a household baseline survey of all 33,200 households covering aspects such as water and sanitation, sources of fuel, and family statistics etc. has been done.

The continuous and rigorous training and awareness sessions have brought about a marked improvement in the quality of service delivery in two sectors - health and ICDS. This is largely due to the fact that villagers have gained in confidence and started demanding the services as rights.

All project orientations are formulated to ensure that there is penetration of information to every level, down to the wonis or streets. This has created an atmosphere that encourages participation in each individual household. What is significant here is that a collective movement is being built on what is still primarily an individual’s concerns.

Training sessions have benefited greatly from the use of two components - powerful visual images and simple, interesting games. Both factors have helped volunteers gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental principles and concepts of the project.

The greatest success of the project lies in its capacity to have successfully created a platform for communities, especially women, to voice their feelings, view points, issues and concerns. This enhanced self confidence has in turn led them to demand for services that are their rights.

According to the ANM's (Auxilliary Nurse cum Midwife), the number of people approaching the PHC's for immunisation has increased. In fact, when Lakshmi and Mallamma Beerappa in Benekal displayed the classic symptoms of high risk pregnancy, they took the initiative of meeting the ANM on their own.

KEY LEARNINGS:

The delay in the release of funds has affected the project schedule, especially those of the trainings. Consequently other related processes have also been delayed. There is a need to build a mechanism of buffer funds to insulate the activities from such delays.

the project has proved that the involvement of women in issues affecting them and their families is a significant enabling tool, and raises both their individual and collective capacity to deal with government departments to demand services and accountability as a ‘right’.

IN THE PIPELINE...

... the project has (in principle) been extended to September 2004.

... resolution of issues generated from the red alerts at the Block, District and finally State level.

... GP-level reviews to see how partnerships can be developed between the GP and the project.

... Trainers sessions for GP Organisers, ANM's, Anganwadi workers and Government school teachers to orient them on seasonal issues in health, ICDS and education.

Lakshmi’s earlier pregnancies had ended in miscarriages. During an orientation on risk pregnancies, Lakshmi, then in her third pregnancy, expressed her fears. The other women urged her to undergo a check up at the Deodurg PHC, which asked to come in for a hospital-assisted delivery. During labour, the ANM conducting the delivery demanded a bribe of Rs. 600! In a moment of extreme vulnerability, the poor family paid Rs. 300. Lakshmi gave birth to a healthy baby girl.

When Laxmi shared this with her group, they urged her family to register a complaint with the Medical Officer. The MOH warned the ANM and made sure she returned the money to the family.