MEASURE Communication Final Report - Population Reference ...

MEASURE Communication Final Report
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reduce the number of unsafe abortions. This action
prompted the Ministry of Health to request technical
guidance from his institution to prepare a similar
memorandum for parliamentarians.
● Pakistan. Muhammad Mahmood (1998-1999 Fellow)
made presentations on Pakistan’s demographic situation
to journalists at a press briefing and to contribute
to print coverage of the data and trends. He
also used the skills while preparing a case for the need
to decentralize Pakistan’s Population Welfare
Program, which was presented to the President of
Pakistan last year. He reports: “I always keep in mind
the video recorded during the seminar in Washington
whenever I present any talk.” 15 Dr. Mahmood is currently
the director of the Ministry of Population
Welfare in Islamabad, Pakistan
● Thankam Sunil (2000-2001 Fellow): “One of the
major skills I learned in the training is the importance
of deriving policies based on the study findings.
Since then I always include a section on policy implications
in my research.” Currently, Dr. Sunil is a professor
at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Training sessions or workshops
replicated (spin-offs)
Over the course of the project, 30 participants reported
that they had replicated either all or part of the workshop
for other groups. Here are some examples:
● Bolivia. Ms. Gloria Tellería reported that she organized
a one-day workshop for the eight departmental
coordinators of the sexual and reproductive health
program. After the workshop, the departmental coordinators
used the techniques they learned to give presentations
to local authorities (health and education
directors, mayors, etc.). These authorities are reported
to have, in turn, provided more support for sexual
and reproductive health issues in each department.
● Turkey. Dr. Ismet, from the University of Istanbul
(participant at the EWC workshop in 1999), reports
the following: “I have opened an MA course on
‘population policies and development plans’ at the
institute. Within the context of the MA course, I have
added some of the sessions of the workshop [to the
curriculum] such as the policy process and the
research-to-policy gap, identifying the barriers to and
solutions for reducing the research-to-policy gap,
identifying the policy and program implications of
research, and developing a strategy for communicating
research results.”
● Uganda. Mr. Luswa Lukwego from the University of
Makerere conducted workshops for district-level statisticians
in the dissemination and use of surveillance
system data using adapted versions of the MEASURE
Communication training modules.
● Mongolia. Gelegjamts Uranchimeg organized a 10-
day advocacy trainers’ training for 23 participants.
Ms. Uranchimeg reports that she applied many of the
sessions and strategies from the EWC workshop
including fact-sheet writing techniques (participants
drafted fact sheets) and role-play scenarios that were
recorded and played back for comments.
● Ghana. Samuel Nii Codjoe, University of Legon, has
used policy communication sessions from the workshop
to train colleagues as well as personnel in district
assemblies. Currently, he is planning a training
for members of the Planned Parenthood Association
of Ghana.
Training model replicated and
supported by other donors
● Drawing on alumni from MEASURE
Communication’s policy communications training
programs in Asia in 2001, 2002, and 2003, PRB
worked with a team from the Population
Commission, the Philippine Legislators’ Committee
on Population and Development, and Save the
Children to conduct a PHE training for 40 vice mayors
in the three provinces of Aklan, Capiz, and Iloilo.
The training was funded by UNFPA and focused on
reproductive health/population-development communication.
● PRB received a request from the Institute of
Education and Health (IES) in Peru to co-facilitate a
six-day policy communications workshop in Peru
with a focus on research and programs on reproductive
health and HIV/AIDS. Three of the IES staff were
alumni from our regional workshops (one participant
each in 2000, 2001, and 2002 workshops). Funding
from other institutions (GTZ, IWHC, Save the
Children—UK, and the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation) made the development and implementation
of the workshop possible. Twenty participants
attended the training from different regions of Peru
and one participant from El Salvador.
Institutional capacity for policy
communication improved
MEASURE Communication institutionalized the project’s
training programs by developing a master’s level course in
collaboration with the project’s university-based partners.
The course, was conducted for the first time in FY02 at the
University of Costa Rica and was launched at the
University of Mahidol in Bangkok FY03. In addition to the
course, alumni responding to post-workshop questionnaires
and through workshop listserv correspondence provided
more than 20 examples of how they have been able
to institutionalize new dissemination and data use strategies
within their organizations. Here are some examples: