The network is a coordinated partnership of organisations in the North West of Ireland (both statutory and voluntary sectors) working together to improve health status and reduce the exclusion which fosters health inequalities by developing our shared vision of an interdependent and fair society and by promoting reconciliation

• what is a cross border women’s health network?
• who is involved in the network?
• research work
• coordinated action to reduce exclusion
• advocacy and campaigning for positive change in policy

what is a cross border women’s health network?

Establishing a Cross Border Women’s Health Network is in recognition of the negative health impact of the Troubles and of the power of collective action to counter this negative impact and effect positive change (and health improvement).

The Network will recognise both the determining impact of women on family and community health status and also the key role of women in community work in Ireland - as catalysts for change at grassroots level.

The Network will add to the momentum of, and take further the work carried out in recent years as part of Other Borders. We already are a Cross Border group of 28 organisations with a track record of working together on a common health and social care agenda.

who is involved in the network?

Partners in the Network are those Voluntary and Statutory sector organisations who are currently active in the implementation of Other Borders. This section has more information on our membership.

The network will be steered and directed by a Cross Border grouping of 13 (representing a balance between both sides of the border and both Voluntary/Community sector and one from Derry Well Woman.) The Steering Group members will be representative of existing partners in Other Borders.

The network will act on three levels:

research work

Building on the research already carried out as both developing and implementing Other Borders we will both commission new and gather existing (local, national and global) research.

Our newly commissioned research will have as its purpose:

• to improve understanding of the impact of the Border and, of the impact of the conflict on both sides of the Border, on health
• to improve understanding of women’s role, particularly as it impacts on mental health, in our post conflict society.

An underpinning principle of our research will be to focus on hearing the voices of our Target Group representatives i.e. those who experience most exclusion on both sides of the border.

Our review of International and global research will be to ensure that we learn the lessons from other post conflict societies. In particular we will learn from the work of Sheila Meintjes and Anu Pillay, both of whom have expressed an interest in working with Derry Well Woman on this subject.

coordinated action to reduce exclusion

The Network will coordinate actions on both sides of the border, building on the work of the last five years, to reduce the exclusion experienced by the Other Borders Target Groups. It will maximise the potential for genuine cross border reconciliation which that five years groundwork has established.

We will focus on three projects

• development and provision of a cross border community leadership training programme
• coodinated development of an anti-exclusion action plan
• creation of a website

advocacy and campaigning for positive change in policy

It is on the platform of the research that we will build our case for change. Change within our own organisations (as partners) and together, between us pressing for change in our wider world – at department and government levels and beyond.

The change we advocate for will be as articulated by the voices of women we hear in the research – in particular our target groups and learning from experiences of women and communities in other post conflict and border regions throughout the world.

Our advocacy will involve:

• Maintaining and developing the already established links between statutory and community sector organisations within and between communities cross border. This will involve developing the “Understanding our Customer” sessions initiated as part of the implementation of Other Borders.
• Provision of two of the courses written and accredited as part of implementing Other Borders. The courses will be
  • (i) Pathways to Employment and
  • (ii) Confidence to Question.

  Courses will be available to Target Group members on a Cross Border basis. Course delivery will be dictated and facilitated by Network and Leadership Programme members.

• Running two Cross Border Community Health Question Time Events which will gather Target Group representatives, Leadership Programme Participants with Statutory, Business and Political representatives.
• Network members will be responsible for feeding research findings and their learning from their work into their own organisations. They will also participate in planning a strategy to feed research up, within and out beyond the North West to ensure its maximum impact.
• An International Conference which will examine in-depth the role of women in improving health in post conflict societies particularly those societies within border regions. The conference will be informed by our experience on the Leadership Programme, our Research, and work and research from around the world.
• Network members will coordinate ongoing publicity and public awareness-raising of their work.