CHETNA

Centre for Health, Education, Training and Nutrition Awareness (CHETNA), based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India since last 38 years. CHETNA’s mission is to empower women, young people and children, especially from marginalised social groups, so that they become capable of gaining control over their own, their families’ and communities’ nutrition, health and wellbeing.

CHETNA’s approach to health embraces the life cycle of gender equity and empowerment within the wide cultural, economic and political environment

Thrust areas:

• Optimising health and development in early childhood
• Enhancing the value of the girl child and improving access to nutrition, health, education and development entitlements
• Promoting nutrition and health, especially reproductive and sexual health and the responsibilities of adolescents and young people
• Improving maternal health
• Building food security and improving nutrition

CHETNA’s core activities:

• Capacity building: CHETNA supports Non-Government Organisations (NGO), Government Organisations (GO), Corporates and health and education practitioners through facilitating training programmes and providing technical and mentoring support on how to implement gender sensitive and comprehensive health and education programmes. CHETNA has built capacities of over 200,000 people, from frontline workers and adolescents to coordinators, trainers and educators of NGOs and GOs.
• Development and dissemination of Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) Material: CHETNA develops and disseminates field-tested, gender sensitive BCC materials to help facilitate training and learning with literate, semi-literate and non-literate communities. CHETNA also adapts traditional media which are easily accessible to the communities. CHETNA’s BCC materials are appreciated and transcreated in several Indian languages, mass produced and used by state and national government and at international level. Over 7,60,000 BCC materials have been disseminated throughout India since 2013.
• Developing innovative approaches and replicable models: CHETNA develops people-centred models that can be effectively mainstreamed in existing government health and nutrition programmes at the state and national levels.
• Advocacy: CHETNA advocates for comprehensive policies and programmes at the state, national and international levels. People, involved in formulation of people centred policies and programmes can access the voices of disadvantaged and marginalised communities through CHETNA.
• Dissemination: Success, effective approached and methodology on health, nutrition and education of women, children and youth are documented by CHETNA for its wide dissemination.

CHETNA designated as a resource organisation:

• Regional Resource Centre(RRC) for Reproductive and Child Health by Government of India; 2005-2012
• NGO Support Organisation by Government of Gujarat from 2014 – present
• State Training Resource Centre (STRC) by National AIDS Control Organisation; 2014 – 2016

Major CHETNA’s programmes are implemented in Gujarat, Rajesthan and Mandhy Pradesh. And advocacy is being implemented at national and international level. CHETNA is an activity of the Nehru Foundation for Development, which is a public charitable trust registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act 1950