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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Sri Kusyuniati, Ms, PhD and Lutfhi Hasan, BA. Maternal Neonatal Health Program, JHU-CCP, Gedung Tifa 10th Floor, Suite 1002, Jl. Kunigan Barat 27, Jakarta, Indonesia
In Indonesia, the former social mobilization path of using the bureaucracy to reach the grass-roots level is no longer as effective as it was when a centralized government had almost absolute power. To identify better channels, local facilitators collected data through participatory rural identification sessions in five districts in West Java. Results indicate under decentralization, there is a diversification of power when it comes to influencing the community. Community-based organizations are becoming more effective and relevant in disseminating reproductive health messages through their channels and in language familiar to the community. Because of these findings, the MNH program formed partnerships with the Islamic organization Nahdatul Ulama and its auxiliary organizations. In a society where people believe religious leaders are God’s representatives, messages on the causes of maternal death as well as on local actions that can contribute to decreased mortality are packaged, formatted and channeled through religious leaders. The success of using the structure of indigenous religious organizations whose members live and work on the local level to enhance the chance that the target group (identified as the population cohort most limited in terms of access to information due to constraints of education, geography, and infrastructure) will adopt the recommended actions and behaviors for maternal and neonatal survival will be presented. This strategy will be sustainable - because Islamic organizations are embedded in the social context of the village - ensuring that key messages will endure long after external funding ceases.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Faith Community, Community-Based Partnership
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: NU
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.