| BPNI
National Convention
The BPNI
National Convention took place
side by side with APCON. Ninety
BPNI members attended the Convention,
discussed and strategise on how
best to take BPNI’s priorities
and mandate forward. A special
BPNI meeting and dinner was held
at the Indian Social Institute,
New Delhi on 1st December 2003.
The National Coordinator presented
an overview of the past year’s
activities, the World Breastfeeding
Week Awards were discussed, and
National Trainers were presented
with certificates. Dr. K.P. Kushwaha
was appointed Chief of Training,
and Gorakhpur has been selected
as the venue for future training
of trainers. Suggestions for future
activities included:
-
Yearly BPNI conference for
better communication
-
Regional representation in
managing committee
-
Fund raising to be a centralised
activity
The election process was postponed
for a future date.
|
Asia
Pacific Conference on Breastfeeding
The Asia Pacific
Conference on Breastfeeding was
held at India Habitat Centre,
New Delhi from November 30 to
December 3, 2003, the first ever
such conference in the region.
Participants represented mothers,
governments, public interest groups,
professional bodies, United Nations
agencies and other international
organisations. Also present were
11 representatives of overseas
governments. The Conference was
organised by IBFAN and hosted
by BPNI, in partnership with the
Government of India, who acted
as a co-host. The DGIS, SIDA,
and UNICEF were key partners in
organising and supporting the
activity. Two senior cabinet Ministers
from the Ministry of Human Resource
Development and Ministry of Health
attended in the Opening Ceremony
of the Conference and launched
the Popular version of the Global
Strategy for Infant and Young
Child Feeding, and the new book
Protecting, Promoting and Supporting
Breastfeeding: the Indian Experience.
A special cover was also released
by the Department of Posts and
Telegraph to mark the occasion.
The objective of the Conference
was to strengthen action on Infant
and Young Child Feeding in the
Asia-Pacific region. Country assessments
led to the development of a set
of recommendations, as well as
clear national plans of action.
The recommendations led to the
Delhi Declaration on Infant and
Young Child Feeding, - adopted
unanimously by the participants.
In addition, most of the participants,
governments and NGOs committed
themselves to the issues of infant
and young child feeding.
The main responsibility of organising
the event was shouldered by BPNI.
The organised team included
- Dr. Arun Gupta – Chairman,
Conference
- Dr. Tarsem Jindal – Chairman,
Organising Committee
- Dr. Dharam Prakash – Secretary.
Organising Committee
- Dr. J.P. Dadhich – Programme
Coordinator
- Dr. Rita Gupta - Coordinator,
Conference Secretariat
- Dr. Jagdish C. Sobti –
Coordinator, Fundraising
Secretariat Support: Vasumathi
Arora, Karuna K. Gupta, Jessy
George, Vandana Sabharwal, L.R.
Gupta, Y.S. Rawat, and Amit Dahiya.
Impact of the Conference: The
commitment made by officials from
Central and State government departments,
NGOs and other individuals resulted
in widespread action in many states.
Most important change is the awareness
about the issue at stake and its
importance on infant morbidity
and mortality. Many state governments
are planning surveys in their
states for assessing IYCF status
and to improve the lacunas found.
Some states have completed their
surveys like Uttaranchal and Haryana.
The
Delhi Declaration
|
Regional
Colloquium on Infant Feeding and
HIV
The Colloquium
was held on 28th and 29th November
2003 at the India Habitat Centre
in New Delhi. The theme was ‘Minimising
infant mortality related to infant
feeding choices in the context
of HIV’.
The Colloquium brought together
experts from NGOs and governments
of 32 countries including South
Africa, Uganda and Botswana and
international organisations like
UNICEF, WHO to share experiences
and be technically updated, and
strategise national policies and
priorities to take the UN HIV
and Infant Feeding Framework for
Priority Actions a step further
in the region. The issues included:
National policies on Infant and
Young Child Feeding including
HIV; Strategies to promote exclusive
breastfeeding for general populations;
Research principles and needs;
and Supporting women in informed
choices.
The Organised Team for the Colloquium
included
- Dr. Sadig Rashid, Regional Director,
UNICEF ROSA
- Dr. Arun Gupta, Regional Coordinator,
IBFAN ASIA-PACIFIC
- Dr. I.J. Uhaa, Regional Advisor,
Health and Nutrition, UNICEF ROSA
- Dr. Jagdish C. Sobti, Programme
Coordinator, BPNI
- Dr. Rita Gupta, Coordinator
Programmes, IBFAN ASIA PACIFIC
- Dr. Dharam Prakash, BPNI
- Dr. Tarsem Jindal, BPNI
- Dr. J.P. Dadhich, BPNI
Secretariat Support: Vasumathi
Arora, Karuna K. Gupta, Jessy
George, Vandana Sabharwal, L.R.
Gupta, Y.S. Rawat and Amit Dahiya.
FINAL
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE REGIONAL
COLLOQUIUM ON INFANT FEEDING AND
HIV
|
Strengthening
partnership with the National
Neonatology Forum
Dr. Arun Gupta
represented BPNI at the symposium
Newborn Health in India –
Achievement, Needs and Future
Perspectives, held at India Habitat
Centre on 15th November
2003. His presentation,
Partnership and role of national
stakeholders in improving neonatal
health in India highlighted the
role of the different stakeholders
in implementing the Global Strategy,
with special focus on establishing
early breastfeeding. |
BPNI
participated at the Workshop
on Future
Development Assistance to India
from Smaller Bilateral Donors
organised by SIDA India on 6th
and 7th October 2003, at the Grand
Hotel, New Delhi. The advocacy
done with SIDA at various meetings
resulted in the donor agency being
a participating organisation at
the Regional Colloquium on HIV
and Infant Feeding and the Asia
Pacific Conference on Breastfeeding
held in November-December 2003. |
Facilitation
of MP State
During
the celebrations of the World
Breastfeeding Week 2003 (1-7 Aug)
at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, BPNI
facilitated a meeting of state
policy makers, experts and UNICEF.
There were intense consultations
among the participants. Dr. Gupta’s
presentation as key resource person
- Optimal IYCF Support: Integration
in Madhya Pradesh Health and Nutrition
Care System - highlighted how
various stakeholders can make
exclusive breastfeeding for the
first six months, especially early
initiation of breastfeeding, a
priority in the health care system.
The meeting led to the formation
of strategic state level plans
for implementing IYCF at all levels
- government, NGOs, private practitioners. |
TN
BPNI, Chennai
IAP and BPNI Chennai
City Branch jointly organised
the CHEN Nutricon 2003 on 12th
and 13th July 2003, on the theme
Men in Child Nutrition and Care.
Dr. Arun Gupta gave a presentation
on the theme. |
The
IMS Act Amendments
BPNI continued
its advocacy with and support
to the MWCD to push the amendments
to the IMS Act through Parliament.
The amendments to the IMS Act
were passed in May 2003, and came
into force from January 1, 2004. |
Participation
in Regional Workshop
on Innovative
ICDS Training and Communication
Approaches for Quality Improvement.
BPNI National Coordinator, Dr.
Arun Gupta participated as a resource
person in the Regional Workshop
on Innovative ICDS Training and
Communication Approaches for Quality
Improvement. The workshop was
organised by NIPCCD in cooperation
with UNICEF at Pune from 23rd
to 25th April 2003. The objectives
were to share state specific experiences
of innovative ICDS training and
communication processes and materials,
and to develop a common understanding
of UDISHA guidelines on quality
improvement, their adaptation
and implementation in state specific
contexts, for improved young child
nutrition and development outcomes. |
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