IK Monitor Calls (9-3)

Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, November 2001

Contents IK Monitor (9-3) | IKDM Homepage | Suggestions to: ikdm@nuffic.nl | © copyright Nuffic-CIRAN and contributors 2001.

Calls

Request for networks
The Health and Environmental Research Society (HERS) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) founded by a group of university lecturers and civil servants interested in carrying out research on the reproductive-health and environmental problems of women and children at the grassroots. The problems that gave rise to the establishment of this organization are:

The marginalization and/or maltreatment of women in rural areas as a result of unhealthy socio-cultural practices
The increasing number of children orphaned by AIDS
The high rate of adolescent pregnancy
The low level of awareness regarding sanitation
The high prevalence of goiter
Waste-disposal management problems

The objectives of HERS are:

To provide care and support (rehabilitation), using indigenous methods, to children orphaned by AIDS
To advocate the rights of women and children at the grassroots
To modify and eliminate socio-cultural practices that dehumanize, depersonalize and adversely affect women's health
To organize human and material resources to improve the lives of women and children in rural areas
To provide counselling services to adolescents
To reduce the incidence of life-threatening complications during pregnancy and/or delivery
To empower women at the grassroots through education

HERS has carried out some self-sponsored programmes for the benefit of women and children in rural areas. For example, workshops and seminars have been conducted on the following topics:

Effects of female genital mutilation (circumcision) on the health of women
The health problems which fuelwood inflicts on women and children in rural areas.
The role of women in nation-building
The impact of AIDS on family relationships
Strategies for rehabilitating children orphaned by AIDS

The organization has proposed three research protocols that require funding:

Problem recognition: Awareness and perceptions of reproductive health complications during pregnancy and/or delivery in rural Nigerian settings
Reproductive rights: An overview of decision-taking in families
Women and goiter: Implications for control in rural areas

Currently the NGO has contact with only one international network: the Third World Organization for Women in Science (TWOWS), in Italy. HERS is therefore asking for contributions from other persons and organizations who are interested in supporting its aims and activities. Ideas, materials and financial support are all very welcome. Already a number of national and international partners have been found, but more are needed if HERS is to carry out all the projects it has planned.

For more information, please contact: Dr E. Enwereji, College of Medicine, Abia State University, Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria.
E-mail: hersng@yahoo.com