SMNF-Nepal has members in 71 districts with more than 675 organizations under its umbrella. The key objective of the SMNF is to create synergies amongst local, national and
international stakeholders for achieving identified goals to save the lives of mothers and newborns by advocacy and awareness raising activities and by establishing linkages between service seekers and providers. Strategy
The S
MNF has adopted a number of strategies to take its agenda forward. Given in this section are some of its successful examples. Building Partnerships
Among the SMNF’s key strategy is partnership building. It has successfully build
partnerships at the national, community and global level. National Level Partnerships
The SMNF is recognized by Government of Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population as a partner for advocacy and awareness-raising in its key policy documents. SMNF Nepal is also a member of Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health Sub Committee (SMNSC) which is coordinated by the Family Health Division of the Department of Health Services. SMNF also partners with a number of other national stakeholders to help achieve Nepal’s targets of MDGs 4 and 5. Besides working with Nepal’s External Development Partners (EDPs) at the national level, SMNF works with other NGOs as well as associations of health professionals. Working with national media is another important aspect of SMNF partnership. Community Level Partnerships
SMNF has over 700 organizational members in 72 out of Nepal’s 75 districts. It has established branches in 32 districts. SMNF works at the household level through its member organizations to improve pregnancy outcomes through advocacy, awareness and by ensuring increased access to qualitative services by establishing linkages between service seekers and providers. SMNF is also campaigning to improve the health system by empowering the public through public hearings and by establishing problem resolution groups. Global Level Partnerships
SMNF is a member of the White Ribbon Alliance (WRA). The WRA is an international coalition of individuals and organizations formed to promote increased public awareness of the need to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for all women and newborns in the developing, as well as, developed countries. WRA has members in 149 countries. SMNF Nepal is one of the national alliances of the WRA. The WRA itself was based on the prototype developed by the Safe Motherhood Network Federation Nepal. It was recognized for “Being the Mother of the WRA” at WRA’s Annual General Convention organized in Tanzania in November 2009. The President of SMNF Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba was elected Board Member of WRA for the period 2010-2012. Pioneering Issues and Creating Platforms
Among other strategies used by SMNF is to conduct pioneering action research on
safe motherhood related issues to identify new areas requiring framing of policies
and programmes. SMNF also organizes periodic national conferences to create a
sharing platform for exchange of best practices and lessons learned by all
stakeholders working on the issue in Nepal. SMNF organized national conferences on safe motherhood and related reproductive health issues in 2000 and 2005. SMNF will be organizing its third national conference in December 2011. Social Mobilization
Since its inception SMNF has successfully used social mobilization as a strategy to
motivate families and communities to provide support to ensure healthy outcomes of pregnancy. SMNF mobilizes masses by involving them in rallies, interaction programmes, and events during festivals, radio programmes, etc. SMNF's members are involved in following up cases of pregnant women and linking them to services.
