nimisha goswami

I have a Masters degree in Social Work (TISS, 1st Class) with specialisation in Disaster Management and Community Health. I have extensive experience in managing and advising public health programs in development and humanitarian settings (natural and conflict). My core area of work are programme and grant management, gender mainstreaming, Disability, policy analysis, community development, advocacy, and research; working with the government and civil society at the national, state and district level. Currently, I am working as Senior Technical Advisor for Humanitarian Response, in International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), New Delhi, India. I am engaged in managing the IPPF South Asia Humanitarian portfolio which primarily works towards provision of Sexual and Reproductive Health Services like emergency obstetric care, family planning/contraception, safe abortion services, post gender based violence (protection) and rape care, HIV/STI services etc. to the communities affected by disasters. I am currently managing the programme in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Myanmar, Bhutan, Maldives, Iran, Sri Lanka and Nepal. I am currently involved in advocacy, policy planning, and liasoning with national governments, UNFPA, donor partners and other agencies such as Red Cross, UNOCHA, Red Crescent, Plan International etc. for the provision and inclusion of minimum reproductive health services during and prior to crisis situations into various country level response programmes, policies and action plans. I have supported the region in designing and strategizing various advocacy initiatives such as “I decide”, “know it own it” and “My body my right” in the priority countries. Besides managing the programme and facilitating the field level Disaster risk reduction, emergency response, community development training programme on reproductive health and response work especially for the children, young girls and women, currently I am also carrying out activities like monitoring and evaluation of the project, finalizing the annual work plan and budgetary activities and assessments for the project. I have also developed and have won proposals for various funding opportunities and have coordinated with various donors such as Big Lottery UK, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNOCHA, CDC, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade under Government of Australia (DFAT), USAID, European Commission (ECHO) etc. I have also been engaged in participating in various national and international conferences like Asia Pacific Population Conference, Bangkok, Youth Consultations ARROW, World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction etc. to represent International Planned Parenthood Federation, South Asia Region. I started my career as a Technical Officer (Targeted Interventions Division), National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India till 2012.During my working period at NACO, I have focused primarily on capacity building/training for programmes related to marginalized populations such as female sex workers, injecting drug users and men-who-have-sex-with-men. My key achievements include the setting up of 18 state training and resource centres and also ensuring that the capacity of all the NGOs involved in the national HIV programme is built and continually refreshed. In addition, I have also facilitated the development of several training modules and curriculum which are currently being rolled out across the country. Working with NACO has also given me the opportunity to work closely with state governments which has involved programme management, financial planning, on-site monitoring and defining targets for state governments in terms of access to HIV-related services. Apart from reviewing the programmatic aspects of intervention, I also coordinate with various international and national partners for the effective implementation of the programme. I have also worked as a consultant with Public Health Foundation of India, Karnataka Health Promotion Trust, Bangalore, India Health Action Trust during 2012-2013 where I have completed task related to evaluation of NGOs, State Training Resource Centers under National AIDS Control Organization, Reporting Writing etc. During my masters in Social Work in Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India I have worked extensively in community settings in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Assam. I have worked with women , children and men on various health related issues .These experiences have given me hands-on knowledge of field realities and motivated me to work in an environment that involves field work and policy-related issues. I enjoy all aspects of programme management and am accustomed to fast-paced work life.