Health and Population Innovation Fellowship Programme A Brief Introduction of Current Fellows
Anjali Borhade, Nasik, Maharashtra Anjali Borhade has a Master's degree in Professional Social Work from Pune University and a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from Pune University. She also holds a Diploma in Labour Laws and Labour Welfare. She has worked extensively with inter and intra state migrant and tribal populations in Maharashtra.
Anjali's project, entitled “Addressing Sexual and Reproductive Health of unorganised seasonal migrants including adolescents, women and youth,” aims to develop appropriate strategies to address the sexual and reproductive health needs of seasonal migrant adolescents and women in Nasik. Objectives are to implement an intervention that will raise awareness among women and youth, facilitate their access to both livelihood skill development activities and health services, and empower them to seek health care services in a timely way. Anjali and her team work towards connecting migrants with services, including reproductive health to which they are entitled but rarely avail. They also make efforts in sensitizing authorities regarding the needs of seasonal migrants. Anjali has used the fellowship to gain exposure to various community based organisations that address such issues as women's rights, reproductive health and migrant construction workers' needs and to develop her skills in programme design, implementation and evaluation.
Paramita Chaudhary, Kolkatta, West Bengal Paramita Chaudhary has a Bachelor's degree in English from Calcutta University. She has worked for several years on issues relating to sexual harassment in the workplace. She has coordinated campaigns on, and assisted organizations to develop policies related to sexual harassment in the workplace.
Paramita's project, entitled “Understanding Sexual Harassment in the Health Sector,” entails research that explores sexual harassment of women workers in the health sector in Kolkatta. In the course of her research, Paramita has been conducting in-depth interviews in government and private facilities, with doctors, nurses, supervisors, administrators and others, both female and male, as well as monitoring bodies, in order to better understand the context of harassment in the workplace and the extent to which the health sector has implemented the Supreme Court Guidelines on sexual harassment. Findings will be disseminated to monitoring and implementing bodies and human rights groups; campaigns and development of advocacy materials are also envisaged to highlight and promote awareness of the issue. Paramita will use the fellowship to sharpen her qualitative research and advocacy skills as well as to gain exposure to sexual and reproductive health and rights issues more generally. P. Kousalya, Chennai, Tamil Nadu P. Kousalya is President, Positive Women Network, a self-help organization of women living with HIV in India, and also Joint Secretary of the Indian Network of People Living with HIV (INP+), a member of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, UNAIDS and a trustee member of the international community for WLHA representing the Asia-Pacific region. She has been working extensively for the rights of women living with HIV in India.
Kousalya's project, entitled “Advocating For The Issues Of Women Living With HIV/AIDS In India,” aims to create an enabling environment for women living with HIV/AIDS (WLHA) by building and disseminating evidence on HIV positive women's life experiences, their coping strategies and needs. In the course of this project, Kousalya is documenting the experiences of women members of HIV+ networks in Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu in which comprehensive programmes for WLHA are ongoing and will explore the situation in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh where programmes are not as comprehensive. In the course of her fellowship, Kousalya has obtained training in qualitative methods and proposes to undergo training in gender and sexuality matters.
Saritha Nair, Mumbai, Maharashtra Saritha Nair holds a PhD in Population Studies from the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, a M.Sc. in Demography from the University of Kerala and a B.Sc.(Mathematics) from University of Kerala. She has worked at the National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health and has been engaged in developing, designing and implementing community level research and intervention programmes in the field of reproductive health.
Saritha's project, entitled “Developing Positive Partnerships: Pathway to Better Maternal Health,” is an exploratory research study that seeks to identify factors that facilitate and constrain the involvement of husbands in maternal health and make recommendations on the basis of findings for culturally appropriate strategies for promoting male involvement. Saritha's project is located in a slum community in Mumbai and employs a cross-sectional, retrospective design, utilizing a blend of qualitative and quantitative techniques. Saritha will use the fellowship to further her research skills and in particular, her skills in translating research findings into action, developing evidence-based interventions and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions.
Vani Periodi, Beedu Village, Bantwal, Karnataka Vani Periodi has a Masters in Social Work and a B.A. from Mangalore University. She has been a Freelance Consultant involved in training, research, documentation, review and evaluation with regard to gender, education and panchayati raj. She has been associated with several organizations, including Mahila Samakhya Karnataka and the Swashakti project of the Government of Karnataka.
Vani's project, entitled “Empowering Young Men And Women Towards Becoming Sensitive Partners And Responsible Parents,” focuses on identifying, among rural young females and males, perceptions of masculinity and femininity, sexual and reproductive issues and the ways in which these perceptions influence behaviours. Her insights are fed back to communities through a series of newsletters. Drawing on these insights, Vani is in the process of developing or adapting existing training materials intended to develop equitable gender norms and provide gender-sensitive sexuality education to youth. Once materials are prepared, they will be field-tested among young people. Finally, Vani will train trainers who will use these training modules among youth in project sites. Vani has used the fellowship to visit and learn from various community-based organisations that address sexual and reproductive health needs of, or that provide life skills education to, adolescents and plans also to expand her understanding of reproductive and sexual health.
Rajalakshmi, Chennai, Tamil Nadu Rajalakshmi has a Master of Arts in Social Work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Madras. She has worked in the area of reproductive health and women's rights since 1998. Her last assignment was with the Center for Women and Law, National Law School of India University, Bangalore, as a Research Associate. Her work focused on assessing law and legal systems from the perspective of women's rights to equality and dignity.
Rajalakshmi's project, entitled “Informed Consent in Reproductive Health Services,” is a research study exploring consent issues among women seeking services for sterilization, IUD insertion and induced abortion from public and private health care institutions in Chennai. In the course of her research, Rajalakshmi has been documenting the practices, procedures and perspectives of women clients and providers relating to consent. Her study employs both qualitative and quantitative techniques. While ongoing, her project has already identified serious breaches in informed consent procedures. Findings are likely to highlight the need for increased accountability at provider level and increased focus on patient rights at the client level. In the course of her project, Rajalakshmi has taken a course on medical law and ethics at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, that will enable her to better understand ethics and medico-legal issues related to reproductive health issues. She has attended or will attend a number of meetings and conferences relating to both ethics and reproductive health, including the IFFHR IWHC , National Bioethics Conference on Engendering Health and Human Rights, Mumbai.
Dipa Sinha, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh Dipa Sinha has a M.Sc. in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, a M.A. in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University and a BA (Hons.) in Economics from the University of Delhi. She is associated with MV Foundation, Andhra Pradesh, working on the issue of child labour and child rights. Dipa's project, entitled “Safe Motherhood through Community Mobilisation,” involves an intervention aimed at promoting maternal health through community mobilisation in Ranga Reddy District in Andhra Pradesh. The intervention focuses on individual women, their families and the communities in which they live: activities include raising awareness, facilitating access to services, and sensitizing through group meetings families, providers, gram panchayats and communities more generally. The project has not only focused on encouraging institutional delivery and planning for obstetric emergency care, but also on providing a forum for communities to demand better health care delivery systems. Advocacy for improving pregnancy related and women's health more generally has been undertaken, including torch light rallies to raise awareness of the need to delay marriage and its impact on women's health. Dipa will test the feasibility and acceptability of this intervention through base- and end-line assessments. She has used the fellowship to visit and learn from various NGOs that address such issues as reproductive health, gender, health policy and health sector reforms. She will also use the fellowship to further her understanding of sexual and reproductive health more generally.
Nasiruddin Haider Khan, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Nasiruddin Haider Khan holds a M.A. in Women's Studies from Lucknow University, a Diploma in Mass Communication from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, and a B.Sc.(Hons.) from Patna University . Presently, he is working as a journalist with the Hindustan (Hindustan Times Publication) in Lucknow and has written extensively, including on women's issues. Earlier, he was the recipient of media fellowships from the National Foundation of India and Panos.
Nasiruddin's project is entitled “Challenging myths and misconceptions: Communicating women's rights in Islam.” Recognising the manifold misconceptions held by those within and outside the Muslim community about Islam and reproductive rights, the objectives of this project are to enhance awareness of rights among different groups, ranging from newspaper audiences to religious leaders and women's groups, to encourage greater media attention to this issue and to advocate more generally for greater accuracy in people's perceptions of women's rights in Islam. Activities envisaged include the preparation and publication of a series of newspaper articles, a handbook and booklets, orientation of journalists, dialogue with religious and other community leaders, and links with women's groups to develop communication strategies on this topic for poor Muslim women. Nasiruddin will use the fellowship to enrich his knowledge about Islam and women's reproductive rights, explore how neighbouring countries have addressed similar issues, and develop his skills in communicating matters relating to development to diverse audiences.
Archana Oinam, Imphal, Manipur Archana Oinam has a MA in Psychology and a B.ED. She has been working, since 1999, on matters relating to HIV prevention and care. Most recently, she has been Project Manager, SASO, where her focus has been on HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support, including among intravenous drug users.
Archana's project, entitled “Exploring the links of drug use and sexual risk practices among young female injecting drug users in Manipur,” is a research study intended to shed light on the vulnerability of female drug users. Little attention has been paid to female drug users in the state and this study proposes to explore their drug taking and sexual risk taking patterns, understand the links between drug use and sexual risk taking and vulnerability among them and assess the obstacles they face in seeking care. Her study will employ both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Findings are likely to inform advocacy highlighting the need for increased attention to the multiple vulnerabilities of female drug users in the state. Archana will use the fellowship to enhance her research skills and to expand her knowledge about sexual and reproductive health more generally.
Rachna Sujay, Anand, Gujarat Rachna Sujay has received a M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Foods and Nutrition from M. S. University of Baroda. She has worked extensively in project development, implementation and evaluation in areas relating to public health and sexual health more specifically. Most recently, she has been working as Senior Executive at the HM Patel Centre for Medical Care and Education, Shree Krishna Hospital, Karamsad, Gujarat.
Rachna's project is entitled “Youth culture: Sexual norms and behaviours of college going youth in Gujarat.” The project is based on the recognition that as young people spend more time in school and wage earning activities, are increasingly exposed to multiple media, new ideas and the world outside the home, opportunities for female-male interaction and social mixing will undoubtedly increase. Her study will explore youth behaviours in the face of these changing forces and explore factors that heighten vulnerability or enhance safe and wanted sexual partnerships in these conditions. Her study, comprising both qualitative and quantitative techniques, will focus on college going female and male students in three urban areas of Gujarat. Findings are intended to inform programmes intended to provide information and services to unmarried youth. Rachna will use the fellowship to enhance her research skills and to expand her knowledge about young people more generally. Monisha Vaid, Gurgaon, Haryana Monisha Vaid has a Masters in Community Resource Management & Extension from Lady Irwin College, Delhi University and a B.Sc. in Resource Management from the Institute of Home Economics, Delhi University. She has been a program coordinator with the SNS Foundation for the last four years and has gained considerable experience designing and executing programmes for youth.
Monisha's project, entitled “Personal competencies, social network and risk taking: Understanding emerging issues among youth in BPOs,” explores, through research, the changing lifestyles of youth employed in BPOs in Gurgaon, Haryana. The project will describe the situation of young females and males employed in this mushrooming sector, the ways in which their lives have changed after joining this sector, notably with regard to personal competencies, social networks and sexual behaviours. Her study comprises mainly quantitative techniques, including computer-assisted interviewing techniques and will be located in two randomly selected BPOs. Findings are intended to sensitise the corporate sector and youth themselves about the need for attention to the health, and specifically sexual health related needs of young employees. Monisha will use the fellowship to enhance her research skills and gain exposure to programmes working with young people more generally.
Akhila Vasan, Bangalore, Karnataka Akhila Vasan has a Masters in Social Work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and a B.A in Journalism from Bangalore University. She is currently completing her PhD. from the Department of Health Education, NIMHANS, with a dissertation focusing on the evaluation of a capacity-building initiative for HIV/AIDS Counsellors in Karnataka. Prior to this, she worked as Research Officer, Foundation for Research in Health Systems, Bangalore where she was involved in a range of research studies including on youth and health systems.
Akhila's project, entitled “Visual media, gender and sexual attitudes and behaviour among young men and women in a peri-urban area in South India,” is intended to develop insights about patterns and types of Kannada language visual media use among adolescent girls and boys and understand what influence these have on gender and sexuality related attitudes and behaviours. Through sustained interaction with groups of youth, the qualitative phase of the proposed research will assess, media use patterns, contexts of media exposure, ways in which messages are processed and interpreted and the extent to which media use patterns are associated with awareness about sexuality issues, attitudes to gender and sexuality, sexual activity and gender-related violence. Based on the findings of this qualitative phase, a survey will be conducted that explores these issues among a wider range of adolescents. Findings will shed light on the debate about the role of the media in influencing youth behaviours, particularly with regard to gender and sexuality related attitudes and experiences. Akhila proposes to use the fellowship to enhance her professional development in the area of media studies, and to visit organisations working with young people and/or media issues; in the longer term she proposes to develop media education strategies for young people.