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[schuftanc at who.ch]

There are a number of developments that I need to share with you:

Zafrulla and Ravi Narayan were in Geneva in October and pressed the need
with WHO to have a PHA meeting during the World Health Assembly next May. I
am currently in Geneva for a few weeks and was notified that WHO has agreed
in principle and details will be worked out.  I also met with the new Civil
Society Initiative staff of WHO to discuss further possible collaboration
with the People`s Health Movement (the prefered way to refer to us now). We
will attempt to have as many as possible PHA members come to Geneva in May.
We want to use the opportunity to do as much lobbying for the PCH (charter)
as possible.

There was an important meeting of internatiojal coordinators of PHA in Savar
(Dhaka) at the end of October. A proposal for our further organization and
plan of action was discussed. It contains strategies to disseminate the
Charter and creating consensus around it, ideas to stengthen our movement
over the next 3 years, a new proposed structure how the movement should be
oganized and a timetable for things that need to be done. Dr Qasem in the
Secretariat will post the document later in this list as it is reviewed and
finalized.

On December 4th, the European PHA groups will hold a one-day 1st aniversary
meeting in London. I urge our friends organizing it to post more information
in this list in the next few days. From Asia, Dr Thelma Narayan of the
Community Health Cell in Bangalore has been invited to attend.
In India, April 7th has been changed by PHA members from WHO Day to People`s
Health Day and in 2001 Health as a Right was the theme.

PHA`s lobbying with UN agencies has till now concentrated mostly on WHO. It
is now clear that we need to be more proactive with other agencies; UNICEF
is key among them.  If anyone of you has good contacts, please communicate
this to the Secretariat (gksavar at citechco.net). A first step is to more
widely distribute the People`s Charter to theses agencies` officers and then
to establish more formal linkages of consultation with them.

Does anybody else have first aniversary meetings scheduled next month?
Please tell us.

Claudio