The Director General of the Uganda National Health Research Organisation (UNHRO), Dr Sam Okware welcomed participants and asserted the role of UNHRO not only in coordinating national health research but translating research findings into policy and practice. The REACH policy initiative – SURE project under UNHRO in collaboration with the College of Health Sciences, Makerere University had produced a policy brief on increasing access to skilled birth attendance which was the focus for discussion in this meeting. The brief describes the problem, highlights three policy options and implementation considerations that need to be taken into account. He requested the participants to introduce themselves. He introduced the moderator, Dr Freddie Ssengooba, from the School of Public Health, Makerere University, and requested him to facilitate the proceedings. Dr Ssengooba assured the participants that a record of the meeting would be kept but would not attribute comments to the participant speakers and thus encouraged them to freely express their views