Women’s Dignity mobilizes collective action to promote health equity, with a particular focus on marginalized girls and women. Working in effective partnerships makes “the whole greater than the sum of the parts” – more is achieved than any single group could manage alone.

Women’s Dignity works with government ministries, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs) and faith-based organization (FBOs), international agencies and individuals to promote a shared vision of poor people’s right to health, with a particular focus on maternal health and fistula.

National Fistula Program (NFP)
In 2005, the Tanzania National Fistula Program was formalized with the goal to build a comprehensive strategy to address obstetric fistula as a key component of efforts to prevent maternal death and disability.

Women’s Dignity is the Secretariat for the NFP and works closely with the Tanzania Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and the African Medical and Research Foundation to implement the NFP. Through the NFP, a growing number of hospitals, health workers, NGOs, CBOs and FBOs are committed to preventing fistula, providing care, and enabling girls and women to regain lives of dignity.

Since the launch of the NFP in 2005, 22 doctors and 26 nurses have been trained in fistula repair and care; local referral systems have been set up in five regions to help women with fistula access repairs; and broad public education on fistula has been done through 14 radio stations and distribution of over half a million leaflets. In 2007, the number of fistula repairs done in Tanzania grew to 1,069 – up from just 712 in 2001.

Health Equity Group (HEqG)
Women’s Dignity is a founding member of Health Equity Group – a network of NGOs promoting equitable policy development, resource allocation, and governance structures in health. Members mobilize research and advocacy toward the fundamental right to health, with a focus on maternal and newborn health. Key strategies of the HEqG include:

• Conducting and disseminating evidence-based research on maternal and child health status and service delivery.
• Analyzing health sector budgets to increase public awareness about health financing and planning, and to foster informed participation in planning and monitoring public resources.
• Engaging the public through investigative journalism, interactive radio programming, public events and festivals, and creative media.
• Building the capacity of NGOs through training on budget analysis, and principles and programs for health equity.
• Advocating and engaging policy makers through dialogue on inequalities, as evidenced in research, that exist in the public health care system.