UN Millennium Campaign to launch program on maternal health services

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – The United Nations Millennium Campaign is set to launch next week a program aimed at improving maternal health services in the Philippines.

UN Millennium Campaign regional director Minar Pimple said the project, dubbed Tingog 2015, will be launched in Tabaco, Albay on Aug. 31. “Tingog” is a Bicol term meaning voice.

Pimple said Tingog is a Citizen Monitoring and Tracking (CMT) system that aims to ensure delivery of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) services at the grassroots by allowing citizens to report on and monitor such services through the use of short messaging system (SMS).

He said the project would be implemented in partnership with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the country’s three leading telecommunication companies – Smart Communications, Globe Telecom and Sun Cellular.

“It involves the use of technology (SMS and web) as a medium to give ordinary people a voice to be able to directly provide feedback or complaints to government and receive immediate corrective response,” Pimple told The STAR on the sidelines of the 2011 Regional Parliamentarians’ Consultation on Emerging Economies and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights held here over the weekend.

“The strategy involves bringing together communities, civil society groups, local government and media to ensure that these issues are immediately and properly addressed,” he added.

Pimple said citizens could text their reports or complaints to a four-digit access code, 2015, using any mobile phone or carrier.

These messages are then automatically transmitted to the Tingog 2015 platform, which sorts the data and forwards them to the concerned government agencies.

“To ensure the integrity of the system, a reputable civil society partner will manage it and ensure that complaints are acted upon without delay. At the same time, a comprehensive media and communications strategy will make sure that public servants are either pressured or inspired to respond with dedication and with a sense of urgency,” Pimple said.

According to him, the program will be piloted in Tabaco City in Albay and Prosperidad in Agusan del Sur, where incidents of maternal mortality are high.

“For purposes of the pilot, MDG 5 (improve maternal health), one of the critical MDGs in Albay, will be monitored,” Pimple said.

He said Tingog 2015 would monitor pregnancies and encourage reporting to ensure that mothers undergo pre-natal check-ups and give birth in birthing facilities and hospitals under the care of skilled birth attendants.

The program also supports advocacy of “mother first” to junk the mentality that women take care of the other members of the family first without regard to their own safety, as well as change the mindset of reliance on untrained and unskilled birth attendants or “hilot,” Pimple said.