Download Mini-GA Report 25 February 2014 Bangladesh Field Associative

Mini-GA Report
25 February 2014
Bangladesh
Field Associative Debate (FAD)
24 - 25 February 2014
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Organised by MSF OCA Bangladesh
Background
In the two-day meeting, the first day was for Field Associative Debate (FAD). The second day
was allocated for pre-discussion (Mini-GA) relating to MSF SARA’s General Assembly (GA).
This report focuses more on the activities conducted on the second day.
On both the days, national staff presented information from their projects. On the second day,
there was a discussion on ‘MSF Working in Urban Settings’, a topic that was also on agenda of
SARA’s GA. Half a day was allocated for a presentation and question and answer session
regarding the status, membership and activities of SARA, and for feedback on last year’s FAD.
In total, there were 32 people, including facilitators in the programme.
Discussion on Urban Interventions
What we did
Urban intervention would also be a topic for the upcoming GA in Delhi, thus this topic intends to
link Bangladesh’s operational experience.
Three presentations were made: Manaf (Project Coordinator & SARA Board member), shared
experiences from the Kamrangirchar (KAM) project; Lorraine Rebello (SARA board member,
via Skype) shared her experience of working in Mumbai’s slums, and Ram Krishna (Christian
Aid) gave a presentation on the impact of climate change on health.
After these, the group was divided into four teams. Each of them briefly presented the outcomes
of their team discussions, followed by a plenary debate and conclusion.
A documentary ‘Urban Survivors,’ which relates to humanitarian crises in the slums of
Johannesburg, Karachi and Dhaka, was also screened during the session.
General Overview
Manaf spoke of the Kamrangirchar project and the adverse living conditions in the slum, the
dilemmas in positioning MSF and the challenges of the 21st century.
Lorraine explained how MSF is assisting patients in Mumbai’s slums, where 65% of the city’s
population lives (mostly migrant labourers working in small factories). In the slum, they support
active case finding of tuberculosis and follow-up of MDR-TB and HIV cases via outreach
activities.
Ram Krishna, a guest speaker and a member of the Climate Action Network South Asia, gave a
global outlook on climate change, and presented some recent observations specific for
Bangladesh.
Due to its large coastline and dense population, Bangladesh is known to be one of the countries
which are most vulnerable to climate change. MSF could prepare for climate change via disease
prevention and emergency preparation.
Conclusion
The challenges are:
 A migrant population creates a challenge in tracing patients and treatment adherence.
 MSF’s scope for intervention is based on emergencies, and would need to be adapted to a
more developmental approach for slums.
 Addressing unmet needs in slums can be controversial due to local power play, illegal
workers, drug use, and acceptance by government and factory owners needs to be negotiated.
 There is a lack of awareness among slum dwellers with regards to hygiene and working time.
The participants suggested starting an MSF intersectional platform to share information on
working in urban settings. Particularly, they have suggested that occupational health and Sexual
and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), including mental health, should be another area that MSF
needs to address. Regarding sexual violence, various examples were discussed of countries
trying to overcome this by empowering female groups and organising support groups for victims.
The challenge of ensuring drug-resistant tuberculosis adherence was further discussed. Early
diagnosis, ambulatory treatment, use of mobile phones for patient tracing, and providing
migrating patients with information on TB clinics in other slums were mentioned as
opportunities.
MSF SARA
SARA board member Anant Kumar presented the current status of the Association, the activities
and the opportunities for membership. He encouraged MSF staff to be a member of the
Association, and contribute as much as possible. He mentioned that the Association is in its
growing phase and requires support from all.
Sarathi added that the FAD discussions should not stop here, and he suggested debates and
activities at the project level throughout the year (for which time and resources can be made
available).
Anant Nepal
Board Member, MSF SARA