The Consultative Meeting on Development of Joint Cooperation Activities in OIC Member Countries in the areas of Maternal, New-born and Child Health and Nutrition (MNCH) in line with OIC Strategic Health Programme of Action 2014-2023 (OIC-SHPA) was held at SESRIC HQ in Ankara, Republic of Turkey on 02-03 April 2014.

The main objective of the Consultative Meeting was to discuss the possibilities and modalities of transferring knowledge and expertise in the field of MNCH to OIC Member Countries. The meeting was participated by the OIC General Secretariat, SESRIC, IDB, WHO, UNFPA, USAID, JHPIEGO, MCHIP, and MNCH experts from the Ministry of Health of Turkey.

The meeting covered, among others, the ways and means for integrating and coordinating the efforts of the participating institutions towards promoting the transfer of knowledge and expertise to OIC Member Countries; so that services in the area of MNCH would be accessible by all communities and contribute more to the wellbeing of OIC citizens.

Participants discussed the current issues facing the Member Countries and determined the areas that require more knowledge sharing efforts and prioritising, including training, such as: antenatal, delivery and postnatal care; new-born mortality; improved advocacy and policy development; professional education/in-service; initial professional education (pre-service); health work force; community engagement; expert development; and maternal health. In this connection, representatives of the institutions agreed to organise a regional workshop for training of trainers during 2014 for African countries.