Bi Annual Meeting

ODAF Bi-Annual Meetings are organised twice in a year corresponding to the half yearly reporting periods.  Usually they meet in the month of June and November of the financial year. All the Team Leaders of ODAF, staff representative from member NGOs, secretariat staff and at some times representatives from communities attend these meetings. The 47^th Bi-Annual Meeting of ODAF was held from  7th August  to 10th August, 2007 at Hotel Grand Central, Bhubaneswar. All the members present observed one minute silent prayer for the peace of departed souls of Mr. Laxmidhara Panigrahi and offered floral tributes.

The matters discussed in the  meeting included presentation on Social Audit and Social Accountability, Income Tax and NGOs,  discussion on NREGA, R&R, RTI, OSATIP, NCSD, FCFC, EED, FMSF,  Ecological Debt,  Model Village, CBO Study, Water & Democracy, Self Reliance, Normative Framework, Social Audit & Accountability, Advocacy Inventory, Gram Swaraj, People’s Bio-diversity Register, CBP, reporting guidelines followed by the Cumulative Report Sharing by the member NGOs, Secretariat as well and Team Leaders’ meeting, Management Committee meeting etc.

ISF

With a strong notion of “A Justice Based Another World is Possible” – Indian Social Forum was organised at New Delhi from 9^th – 13^th November 2006 where nearly about 50,000 participants from all over the country as well as neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan were assembled together to put forth their demands ensuring basic human rights. The Indian Social Forum served as a common platform for all these participants who had come from different backgrounds. The forum specifically urged for expressing solidarity against the ongoing process of globalization, liberalisation and privatization which has threatened the lives and the livelihoods of millions of  the deprived and marginalized communities all over the world. Representatives from Orissa Adivasi Adhikar Abhiyan, staff members from the member NGOs and some Team Leaders of ODAF participated in Indian Social Forum. As a follow-up of the process of World Social Forum and  Indian Social Forum, it was unanimously proposed  by all the representatives from Orissa  in New Delhi   to convene a state-level seminar of Orissa Social Forum at Bhubaneswar on 21^st January 2007

CBP

The Capacity Building Programme(CBP) of ODAF is organised to enhance and strengthen the capacities of the second-line leadership of the Member-NGOs of ODAF with regard to their developmental orientation, knowledge and skills generic  and  comparative  knowledge  on  concepts,  methods  and  instrumentalities  of   development in-depth orientation on critical issues or relevant themes in the present context of Orissa, to promote and deepen critical orientation and knowledge among the second-line leadership of the Member-NGO of ODAF specifically on Globalisation, WTO and SAP (particularly in the context of Orissa) and with this equip them for a people-centred, participatory and advocating countervailing praxis

Under the CBP programme of ODAF, Module 9 - Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Documentation and Module 10 - Advocacy, Lobby and Human Rights was organised  from 8^th -16^th of August 2006 in Berhampur. Mr.Pradeep Estaves and Mr.Anil Choudhury were invited as resource persons and Dr.Badal Sen Gupta was the over all  facilitator for the CBP Programme

National  Workshop on Tribal Healers and Exhibition on Tribal Medicine

Traditional medicine is an age-old medical practice that existed in human societies before the application of modern science to health. It has evolved to reflect different philosophical backgrounds and cultural origins. Although modern medicine is widespread, traditional tribal medicine still exists in many countries across the world. Interest in traditional medicine system has increased over the years. People in many countries are now more prepared to look for alternative approaches to maintain their health. Demands for traditional medicine from the public and the growing economic importance of traditional medicine have led to increased interest on the part of both governments, academic communities and healer practitioners.

Tribal medicine approach is holistic with a blending of physical, mental, social and spiritual well being. Its use is global. Even in the face of sophisticated western system of medicine it has thrived especially in the remote areas of the country. The methods practiced by the tribals in many cases are found to be positive, beneficial and scientifically sound. They represent an autonomous system supported by the community. The common customs, traditions, values, beliefs and practices associated with tribal health and diseases have a direct bearing with their treatment of physical ailments. The traditional tribal medicine practitioners are regarded as the traditional healers in their societies and they do not belong to any specific school, such as Ayurvedic/ Allopathic/ Homeopathic etc. There is no written document on the subject. The principles of ingredients of tribal medicine are derived from plant source. India has a great variety of traditional healing systems. Over the centuries, the tribals have developed their own system. Often healing is considered a gift that runs in a family and is passed down from generation to generation. The ability to set bones, for example, is thought to be hereditary as is the power to stop bleeding. Intellectual property rights and Peoples Bio Diversity Register play a greater role in the protection of rights of adivasis over their traditional knowledge system. Efforts should be made to organize similar type exhibition in different states in collaboration with NGOs and Government to ensure wider participation of tribal healers across the states.

Since the tribal medicine and medicine parishioners are to be safeguarded for their dedication to the sufferings humanity, there is a need for legal provisions to protect their intellectual property rights. The first National Workshop on Tribal Healers was organized by the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) Bhopal, from 15 to 19^th May, 1998 at Kozhikode Kerala in collaboration with KIRTADS, Kerala and the 2^nd and 3^rd National Workshops were organized at its own campus at Bhopal from November 18^th  to 22^nd 2005 and 14 to 18^th Feb. 2007 respectively. Now IGRMS and Orissa Development Action Forum are jointly organizing the Fourth National Workshop and Exhibition on Tribal Medicines at Martyrs Memorial-cum-Freedom Fighters Home, Bhubaneswar during 14^th to 18^th of December 2007.The basic objective of the workshop and exhibition is to generate awareness about the ethno-medicines, facilitate for sharing the traditional knowledge system among the people, to make people aware about the benefits from patent rights and People’s Bio Diversity Register etc

The exhibition on tribal medicines will help not only in disseminating traditional knowledge system but also in networking among the tribal healers across the nation.