PHE Ethiopia Consortium, 2011

The PHE Ethiopia Consortium, which became a legally registered organization in 2008, has been busy in the last year consolidating itself by strengthening the participation of members and their sense of ownership. The PHE Ethiopia Consortium has been engaging members through our annual general assembly, site visits to existing PHE projects, joint development of proposals, and sharing of information in its newsletter, member organization profiles called "Spotlights", and the phe-ethiopia.org phe-ethiopia.org website, which is now also directly connected to the PHE toolkit on the K4Health website. The PHE Ethiopia Consortium also recently completed its first online forum where members and partners shared their ideas and actions related to linking population and climate change.

Through the work of the PHE Ethiopia Consortium, member organizations are strengthening their capacity to implement integrated PHE projects. The PHE Ethiopia Consortium is using a wide range of methods to develop members' and partners' capacity, such as online workshops, happy hours, small grants to members, and calls for proposals. In partnership with Ethiopian Environmental Journalist Association and Knight Fellows, the PHE Ethiopia Consortium has also organized four media trainings, three supported by Packard and one by PRB. These trainings aim to improve journalists understanding and reporting on PHE, and have resulted in wider coverage in print, TV and electronic media outlets. The PHE Ethiopia Consortium has facilitated international visits from groups such as PRB's Women's Edition- a group of international women journalists, BARR Foundation, and the PAI Weathering Change film production team. Executive Director, Negash Teklu has also traveled internationally to share the Consortium's experience with its sister PHE working groups in Uganda and Kenya, and to present on the importance of the PHE approach locally and internationally at forums such as the Climate Alliance Network of Eastern African. Over the last year the membership of the consortium has increased from 39 to 47 organizations and its staff has grown from three to eight people.

Another important achievement in the last year has been the establishment of formal relationships with government ministries. As a result of the advocacy of the PHE Ethiopia Consortium, the Ethiopian Wildlife and Conservation Authority has incorporated the PHE approach into their recommendations for improving the management of Awash National Park. The Water and Energy Ministry and the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation included the integrated approach in the recommendations for conserving the Omo Gibe basin catchment area as well as other catchment areas. The PHE Ethiopia Consortium was also invited to become a member of the national steering committees for the National River Basin Areas and protected areas. In addition, the PHE Ethiopia Consortium is establishing memoranda of understanding with nine universities to engage in joint research projects which will generate strong evidence to support its advocacy activities. The PHE Ethiopia Consortium completed a study on the perceptions of rural communities on climate change, which was disseminated through a special event. In addition, it is currently working with the Futures Group to finalize an advocacy tool that demonstrates the connections between population, food security and climate change. As a result of its work on climate change, the PHE Ethiopia Consortium has been included in the steering committee for the Ethiopian Civil Society Climate Change Network and is part of the Government's Negotiators Group for the United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP) 17 in Durban, South Africa.

In the coming year, the PHE Ethiopia Consortium will be working on evidence-based advocacy activities, disseminating findings from university partners and field sites to government decision-makers, the media, and the public through workshops and events such as Earth Day, Environmental Day, Women's Day, and Population Day. The PHE Ethiopia Consortium will also be expanding integrated basin area protection programs to more of Ethiopia's 12 river basins. The 6th General Assembly Meeting, a learning forum for members, partners and international supporters, with be held in February 2012.

Kenya PHE Network, 2011

Kenya PHE Network, 2011 The Kenya Population, Health and Environment (PHE) Network is being coordinated by the National Coordinating Agency for Population and Development (NCAPD) - a semi-autonomous government agency within the Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and vision 2030.

The Kenya PHE Network has been very busy in 2011. In September 2011, The Network held a PHE integration training at Kenya Institute of Administration for organizations implementing the 7th Country Program of Assistance by UNFPA to the Government of Kenya. The 7th Country Program is the 7th round of funding from UNFPA for projects that respond to selected national priorities in the social and political pillars of Kenya Vision 2030. This training brought together 19 program implementers drawn from Government Ministries/Departments, NGO's, and Civil Society Organizations, and was focused on teaching participants to design, implement and monitor and evaluate integrated PHE approaches that are replicable, sustainable and can generate impact on both human and ecosystem health. During the closing ceremony, Ms. Cecilia Kimemia, Assistant Representative at UNFPA, announced, "Starting from next year January 2011, all GOK/UNFPA 7th Country Program implementing partners will have PHE related activities in their work plans which will be supported by UNFPA." This exciting news is an important addition to the support already provided by PRB and other supporters of PHE activities.

Following the UNFPA workshop, the Network held a larger meeting on PHE integration, which over 40 organizations attended. The objectives of this workshop were to explain PHE concepts, share experiences in program development, enhance collaboration and networking on PHE integration, and to develop a strategy for a strengthened Kenya PHE network. Other development partners, including IUCN, Pathfinder International, and local NGO's and Community Based Organizations (CBO's) joined the PHE Kenya Network and expressed their support for PHE integration activities in the country.

The Network is now following up on several key recommendations that surfaced on ways to improve the PHE Network in Kenya. First, we are working towards a common understanding of PHE interventions as well as a strategic plan that will identify priorities for action and provide direction for the network. Second, we are forming a strategy for high level advocacy for PHE activities and resource mobilization. Third, we are strengthening the structure of the network by regularizing the establishment status. A steering committee, made up of eight member organizations has been appointed to oversee establishments of new structures for the Kenya PHE Network. The first meeting of the steering committee was held in November, 2011, where issues regarding the scaling up of PHE Network activities in Kenya were discussed and a stakeholder's forum was planned for December, 2011.

In addition, in an effort to reach out to non-health sector civil society organizations (CSOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) and to promote population and development issues including family planning, NCAPD held three outreach meetings in three regions, Central (Nyeri), North Rift (Eldoret), and Eastern South (Machakos), reaching close to 180 local organizations. The workshops were geared towards sensitizing the groups to the critical links between population, development, and family planning, and to promote partnerships between NCAPD, the Kenya PHE Network, and non-health sector CSOs on Population, Health, and Environment issues. Participants may now be at the forefront in adopting the PHE integration approach in their project development and management.

NCAPD is also in the process of finalizing profiles of organizations implementing PHE related activities at both the regional and national levels.

Uganda PHE Working Group, 2011

The Uganda PHE Working Group was established in 2007, following the Ethiopia PHE conference, and is currently made up of a loose network of organizations and individuals interested in or implementing PHE or working on two of the three PHE elements within their programs. Our network includes organizations and individuals from organizations such as Conservation through Public Health (CTPH), Family Health International (FHI), Infectious Disease Institute, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), Kibale Fish and Monkey Project/Kibale Health and Conservation Centre, Population Secretariat (the Ugandan government agency responsible for population policy), Straight Talk/Tree Talk Foundation, Uganda Network on Toxic Free Malaria Control, Wildlife Conservation Society, Fauna and Flora International, Nature Palace Foundation, Uganda Health Communications Alliance, Health Communication Partnerships, Ecological Christian Organization, Pathfinder International, and Makerere University Institute of Public Health.

CTPH began coordinating the Uganda PHE Working Group in 2010 with the first major activity being the development of a PHE fact sheet that describes integrated PHE approaches and examples in Uganda. The Uganda PHE factsheet has been disseminated on international days of importance including, World Environment Day, World Population Day, and World Tourism Day.

In November 2010, CTPH with support from FHI, held a Population, Health and Environment advocacy workshop to introduce and encourage the use of the PHE approach to potential and current stakeholders in both the health and environment sectors. The workshop, which was opened by the Hon. Minister of State for the Environment, Jesca Eriyo, was attended by an equal number of participants from both sectors, as well as by members of the media through partnership with the Uganda Health Communications Alliance (UHCA). The Ministry of Health Commissioner of Community Health, Dr. Anthony Mbonye, closed the workshop. The workshop drew new members to the Uganda PHE Working Group, including Fauna and Flora International and associated CBOs working with communities around Rwenzori National Park, the Rwenzori Mountains Cultural Values Conservation Association (RweMCCA) and Rwenzori Mountains Development Association (RWEMODA), Nature Palace Foundation, Makerere University School of Public Health and Health Communication Partnership (HCP).

In June 2011, the Uganda PHE Working Group held an advocacy strategy development workshop to refine our strategy for advocating for PHE nationally. PRB and the Ethiopia PHE Consortium both provided support on PHE coalition building, and following the successful workshop, the Working Group is finalizing advocacy strategies for both internal stakeholders, including the working group member organizations, and external stakeholders, including key decision-makers and policymakers. We are also working to improve the working group by strengthening network ties, through coordinated PHE working group advocacy activities, study tours to PHE project sites, and training of Ugandan media.

 In July 2011, we held a PHE study tour for working group members, supported by FHI and hosted by CTPH at the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park field site. Bwindi is home to an estimated half of the world's critically endangered mountain gorillas, and the perfect site for implementing and studying the PHE approach. We also have plans for UHCA, which participated in the first study tour, to lead a team of journalists to see PHE in action at CTPH's field site and learn how to report more effectively on PHE integration. Finally, the Uganda PHE Working Group will also be collaborating with PHE advocacy efforts around the new HoPE-LVB project, which seeks to pilot PHE approaches with communities in the Lake Victoria Basin and demonstrate to the Lake Victoria Basin Commission, the value of an integrated approach.

More Info on the East Africa PHE Network

The East Africa PHE Network was created with the mission to provide leadership and create partnerships to promote and support the integration of population, health, and environment for sustainable development in Eastern Africa. PRB provides support to this network through the IDEA (Informing Decisionmakers to Act) Project, a cooperative agreement with USAID's office of Population and Reproductive Health. IDEA's objective is to increase support among decisionmakers for effective health and population policies and programs, and the work with the East Africa PHE Network is creating a cadre of PHE champions to build a broader base of support for population and reproductive health policies beyond the health sector. PRB's IDEA support to the network is through technical assistance, hosting of an AfricaPHE listserv and digital dissemination of monthly AfricaPHE updates, and support of in-country PHE policy communication activities by PHE working groups in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda.

For more information on how to participate please email: africaphe@prb.org.

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