Overordnede mål
To decrease malnutrition in the 0-5 year old children in Sunderbans through advocacy.
Umiddelbare mål
1. On April 1st 2019 the civil society in 5 GPs will understand the impact of malnutrition, rights and entitlements of children regarding the ICDS program and are able to conduct advocacy towards duty bearers. 2. On April 1st 2019 the local government at block level in 5 GPs has gained knowledge on the impact of malnutrition in children below 5 years, and has recognized the need to prioritize the ICDS program. 3. On September 1st 2019 an improvement of the ICDS centers have been initiated in the 5 GPs. GPs= Gram Panchayet, lower level og goverment system in West Bengal ICDS= National program for preventing and treatment of malnutrition in children and other educational promoting activities.
Målgrupper
There are three target groups in the project described and they are all directly implicated stakeholders. 1) Children below 5 years and their families in the 5 GPs The target group of children below five years is an extremely relevant target group for advocacy as they are underprivileged in their disability to speak for themselves. The low level of knowledge in their parents on their existing rights, due to socioeconomically factors, makes it even more relevant. The children below five years are not able to access advocacy alone, why their families are targeted on their behalf. The children will also be targeted individually through the pilot program. The children who will be included in the Pilot Program for best practices are selected from two GPs from the overall 5 GPs. The first GP Bharatgar, which represents a centrally located GP with a high population density of 9.05/ hectare as opposed to the second GP which is remotely located near the jungle area with light population density of 1.6/hectare and where public health care facilities are more difficult to obtain. Both GPs have about 2000 children below 5 years. These two GPs are selected to represent the overall project area (see annex L). 2) Local population and SHGs in the 5 GPs The project will target the civil society and right holders mainly through their organization in Self Help Groups and Village Committees (VCs). The project will target 5 GPs meaning, 23 Mouzas. The 20 Mouzas has an average population of 90.000 people. The SHGs facilitate the interaction with the local population. The SHGs and VCs are an obvious way to access the local population as they are empowered by this gathering. The SHGs consists of 5-10 women who have organized themselves in a group. There are usually 10-15 SHGs in one Mouza. The project will primarily target the existing 250 SHGs in the five GPs (see annex M). It should be noted that the SHGs and VCs are not part of JGVK and represent the civil society mobilized in groups with an individual agenda such as microfinance and income generating activities. They will be targeted in this project at a very early stage when the project implementation is being planned. This target group will target for activities on how to perform advocacy towards the local government body but also the strategic service deliveries through the pilot program. 3) Local government body in the 5 GPs Local duty holders in the local PRI system are an important target group in relation to advocacy. They administrate the government policy and have the responsibility of maintaining laws and make sure programs are withheld and implemented. This is also applicable for the national ICDS program for children below five years. The target group will mainly consist of people at GP level and Panchayat level. In each GP there are on average 24 members, 16 members are elected and 8 are administrative employees. In the 5 GPs 125 local politicians will be included as a target group. One level above the GP, at Panchayat level, the project plans to initiate collaboration and dialogue with 15 politicians. At the top level, Zilla Parishad, around 20 politicians will be included in the target group.
Resume
Ifølge World Health Organization er 43 % af alle børn i Indien moderat til alvorligt underernærede, hvilket har alvorlige konsekvenser i form af øget risiko for dødelighed og nedsat indlæringsevne. Der findes et nationalt program (ICDS) i Indien, der varetager bekæmpelse af underernæring hos børn. Programmet er dog ikke velimplementeret i mangrovedeltaet Sunderbans i Vestbengalen. Dette skyldes manglende viden om programmets eksistens hos befolkningen, samt manglende prioritering af programmet hos lokale politikere. Formålet med dette projekt er at forbedre ernæringstilstanden for de 0-5 årige gennem fortalervirksomhed i Sunderbans. Projektet implementeres af den indiske partner JGVK. Man fokuserer på kapacitetsopbygning i lokalsamfundet, så befolkningen kræver deres ret overfor myndighederne og myndighederne bliver bevidste om deres lovmæssige forpligtelser ifm. underernæring hos børn.