From the Secretariat and the Region
This week in Thailand, as with the rest of the world, we have been devastated by the news of the cyclone that hit Myanmar. The death toll seems to keep on rising and it is near impossible for anyone to truly know at this stage what the true scale of this natural disaster is… One thing we can say that we do know is that sexual and reproductive health will probably be neglected and there are many organisations who are attempting to do something about this and the other needs of the Myanmar community at this time.
With APA’s focus on Sexual and Reproductive health in the region, the environment and climate change are inextricably linked to our work. It is becoming increasingly important to develop links with organizations so that a wide variety of SRH needs can be met including supplies security, education and that the quality and uninterrupted supplies of services and support can be guaranteed. To do this well, we need to understand the issues of the region and how they impact on our every day work. We hope that the APA Update helps you to do this.
The impact of natural disasters and climate change are having an unequal impact on women and children. Maternal Health has been on the Global Agenda for two decades now. In 1987, the World Health Organisation, and other groups, launched the Safe Motherhood Initiative to try to reduce the toll of maternal deaths; in 2000, the UN made that same pledge number five in its list of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), challenging the world’s richest nations to cut maternal mortality by 75% between 1990 and 2015. They are not on target. (Millions of Mothers Lost, Guardian). This week we have a look at why we need to keep on with our Advocacy and find new ways to refresh our commitment.
And if you are looking for a way to make a personal difference to the work that is currently happening in Myanmar, you could visit the websites of either
Marie Stopes International or
Avaaz.org, both are working with communities in Myanmar and can always use our support.
FIJI - WOMEN TO BE REPRESENTED IN NATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY MATTERS
Source: http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/page_11775.shtml
The representation of women in all aspects of national peace and security matters is critical. In view of this, the Fiji Cabinet has agreed that the Minister responsible for women, gender and development, be part of the National Security Council. Cabinet also agreed to the inclusion of the Permanent Secretary responsible for women, gender and development and the Head of Department at divisional and district level in the Officials committee. Cabinet based its decision on a submission by the Minister for Health, Women and Social Welfare, Dr Jiko Luveni.
Dr Luveni said that women in Fiji have not been a visible part of the official or Governments peace building and conflict management. Women and girls experience security and the absence of it in different ways. Data shows that violence against women continues to be a scourge in the lives of women and girls. Police data shows the challenges women face in ordinary times. There is circumstantial evidence that in the times of political unrest rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated on women are unreported. She said that it is, therefore, important to have a female representation in the National Security Council of Fiji which plays a pivotal role as the highest body in the land tasked with decision making for security matters for the nation. She also said that the inclusion of gender mainstreaming in all security discourse including the training of Peacekeepers and the participation of women in the security discussion will result in peace building at all levels of society. Dr Jiko said that Fiji endorsed and is party to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) which addresses under section E, Women and Armed Conflict in addition the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979) provides for womens human rights.
The UN Security Council Resolution 1325 adopted in October 2000 specifically addresses and commits UN State parties and the UN machinery to incorporating gender concerns.” Fiji has also endorsed regional agreements that address women, peace and security concerns. She also said that Social Justice, Affirmative Action and the Human Rights of women are entrenched in the Constitution of Fiji.
However, the application of the provisions of the Constitution continues to leave women lagging behind and the principles of gender equality are not met. Dr Jiko said that women are mothers, teachers, doctors and nurses, police officers, soldiers and peacekeepers, lawyers and legislators, and they have the capacity to contribute to peace and security concerns. She said that peace and security are basic requirements of nation building and the representation on merit, of women who constitute 50% of the population in its power structure is vital for the wholesome development of the nation.
International News
Social Watch Gender Equity Index 2008
The Gender and Climate Change website states: “Climate change is not a neutral process; first of all, women are in general more vulnerable to the effects of climate change, not least because they represent the majority of the world’s poor and because they are more than proportionally dependent on natural resources that are threatened. The technological change and instruments that are being proposed to mitigate carbon emissions, which are implicity presented as gender-neutral, are in fact quite gender based and may negatively affect women or bypass them.
Gender, like poverty, is a cross cutting issue in climate change and needs to be recognized as such. In fact, gender and poverty are interrelated and create mutually reinforcing barriers to social change. There is a need to be strident to overcome the uninformed view of many involved in climate change that climate change is neutral, and real life examples are needed to make the alternative case clear and convincing”. (Gender and Climate Change web site. The Social Watch Gender Equity Index 2008 can be downloaded from their
website by following this link here.
World Health Assembly to Endorse Pro-Abortion Conference
By Samantha Singson
NEW YORK, NY, May 8, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com/C-FAM) - The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) will meet in Geneva later this month and is expected to promote the outcome of a controversial pro-abortion conference that took place in London last year. The 61st annual World Health Assembly (WHA) will discuss “mobilizing political will” in the area of “sexual and reproductive health.” In a document prepared for the meeting, there is a reference to the Women Deliver Conference which was sponsored by various UN agencies and pro-abortion non-governmental organizations. The Women Deliver reference is included in the WHA document as part of a progress report that lists activities that have been undertaken to achieve the WHO’s reproductive health strategy that member states first agreed to in 2004. It is thought that the World Health Assembly may try to elevate the Women Deliver conference on par with an official governmental meeting, which it was not.
Progress Toward Nutrition, Health, Education, and Other Development Goals (MDGs) Off track in South Asia
WASHINGTON, April 8, 2008 — A new World Bank-IMF report warns that most countries in South Asia will fall short on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight globally agreed development goals with a due date of 2015. Though much of the world, including
South Asia
, is set to cut
extreme poverty in half by then
, prospects are gravest for the goals of reducing child and maternal mortality, with serious shortfalls also likely in primary school completion, nutrition, and sanitation goals.
“In this Year of Action on the MDGs, I am particularly concerned about the risks of
failing to meet the goal of reducing hunger and malnutrition
, the ‘forgotten MDG’,” said Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank. “As the report shows, reducing malnutrition has a ‘multiplier’ effect, contributing to success in other MDGs including maternal health, infant mortality, and education.”
The Global Monitoring Report: MDGs and the Environment—Agenda for Inclusive and Sustainable Development stresses the link between environment and development and calls for urgent action on climate change. The report warns that developing countries stand to suffer the most from climate change and the degradation of natural resources. Arguably, few regions in the world are more at risk from climate change in terms of adverse impact on the poor than South Asia and the region faces a large potential health risk from climate change through increased malnutrition, diarrhea, and malaria. To build on hard-won gains, developing countries need support to address the links between growth, development and environmental sustainability.
“Developing countries need more foreign aid and domestic resources to reach the MDGs. High economic growth and a stable macroeconomic environment remain essential for reducing poverty and increasing investment in health and education.” said Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF Managing Director.
Progress toward the MDGs differs dramatically across countries, regions, and income groups, the report says. While most of the poverty reduction between 1990 and 2004 took place in East Asia and Pacific, South Asia would contribute the most to global poverty reduction in the next decade. However, South Asia is likely to fall seriously short in some areas, including primary education, gender parity in tertiary education, and child mortality goals. South Asia will likely not reach the goal of halving malnutrition rates. In fact, South Asia has the world’s highest incidence of child malnutrition and the child malnutrition rate in India is double the African average.
”Given South Asia’s recent, rapid economic growth, the lack of progress in reducing child malnutrition is all the more troubling,” said Shanta Devarajan, Chief Economist of the Bank’s South Asia Region. “It points to the need for a concerted effort to attack the problem at its roots—including better water, sanitation, pre-natal care for pregnant women, and nutrition and healthcare for newborns.”
With stronger efforts by the countries themselves and their development partners, most MDGs remain achievable for most countries, the report says. With this in mind, the report lays out an integrated six-point agenda, with strong, inclusive growth at the top. The agenda also calls for more effective aid; a successful outcome to the Doha round of trade talks; more emphasis on strengthening programs in health, education and nutrition; and financing and technology transfers to support climate change mitigation and adaptation.
“This year’s high level meetings in connection with the MDG halfway point provide an opportunity to agree on priorities for action and milestones for monitoring progress,” said Zia Qureshi, lead author of the report.
UN News
Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples
While climate change affects everyone, it will probably hit the most vulnerable groups hardest. Indigenous peoples, according to the UN Development Group Guidelines on Indigenous Peoples Issues, are among the first to face direct adverse consequences of climate change, partly owing to their close relationship with the environment and its resources. The Permanent Forum, which ran from 21 April to 2 May, brought together more than 1,000 indigenous representatives, senior UN officials, and representatives of governments, civil society and academia to address the theme: Climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods: the stewardship role of indigenous peoples and new challenges. Emerging evidence suggests that the livelihoods and cultural identities of the more than 370 million indigenous peoples of North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific are already under threat.
Resources/Opportunities
Millions Of Mothers Lost
[Sourced from the Guardian Newspaper - Kira Cochrane, Friday May 2, 2008]
STORIES OF MOTHERS LOST - A book by the White Ribbon Alliance, a worldwide movement of grassroots organisations concerned with maternal mortality.
The story of Yeruknesh Mesfin’s death starts on the day of her birth, in an Ethiopian village so remote that its name, Goradit, literally means “cut off”. At 10 days old, Mesfin was circumcised by a local woman, and by the age of seven, with no education, she was put to work looking after her family’s cattle. At 13, she was abducted and raped by a 32-year-old farmer, who married her; soon afterwards, she became pregnant. Without any medical advice during the whole nine months, she went into labour, “clutching her pillow, calling repeatedly for her mother while tears flowed down her cheeks”. Her husband called for help, but the complications proved too difficult for the village’s traditional birth attendant. In desperation, the men of the village carried Mesfin to the nearest hospital, where both she and her baby died. She was 15.
Mesfin’s tale is one of many in Stories of Mothers Lost, a book by the White Ribbon Alliance, a worldwide movement of grassroots organisations concerned with maternal mortality. Member groups were asked to commemorate a woman in their community who had died in pregnancy or childbirth, and responses flooded in. The project was inspired by the horrendous worldwide statistics surrounding maternal mortality: the fact that a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth each minute, which adds up to a conservative estimate of 536,000 maternal deaths each year - some believe the toll could be as high as 872,000. While one in 8,200 women in the UK dies in pregnancy or childbirth, in the poorest, most conflict-riven countries, including Niger, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone, that figure rises to a stark, inexcusable, one in eight.
To find more about the Alliances’ work and resources, visit their website at http://www.whiteribbonalliance.org/
Dates for the Diary
JUNE 2008
HARVARD UNIVERSITY JOHN F. KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE EDUCATION - LEADERS IN DEVELOPMENT: MANAGING POLITICAL & ECONOMIC CHANGE
JUNE 9 - 20, 2008
During times of great change, leadership is critically important. This is particularly true today in developing and newly industrialized countries where the pace of political and economic change is accelerating rapidly. Today's leaders face an increasingly complex tapestry of economic, political, and social challenges.
Leaders in Development
is designed for leaders in public affairs whose responsibilities place them at the center of these issues. During the program, participants will:
- Sharpen problem solving, analytic, and strategic action skills to help them plan, introduce, and sustain major policy and institutional reform.
- Consider new ways to strengthen representative politics and open markets, and manage the challenges of globalization.
- Share experiences with their counterparts in other countries in a collective search for effective responses to change.
Participants return to their countries with enhanced understanding of the tasks of leadership in promoting reform, greater knowledge of changes taking place internationally, and a renewed commitment to working with others to develop their societies.
For more information, follow this link here
JULY 2008
G8 Summit 2008, 7-9 July 2008,
Tokyo
,
Japan
The G8 Summit 2008, which will include global health as a focus theme, will take place in Tokyo, Japan. An outline of the summit, including preliminary and fixed dates of minister meetings, as well as additional information, can be found at the official website.
Preparatory Ministers Meetings:
April 5-6 2008, Tokyo: Development Ministers Meeting
May 28-30 2008, Yokohama: TICAD IV – Tokyo International Conference on African Development
June 13-14 2008, Osaka: Finance Ministers Meeting
June 26-27 2008, Kyoto: Foreign Ministers Meeting
AUGUST 2008
International AIDS Conference – Mexico 2008
The AIDS 2008 theme,
Universal Action Now
, underscores the continued urgency of the pandemic and reminds us of the responsibility we have to take individual and collective action. For scientists, researchers, people living with HIV and other civil society leaders and professionals working in the field of HIV/AIDS, AIDS 2008 is an ideal opportunity to meet new colleagues and learn from the experiences of others engaged at the local, national and international levels. Join us in México City and help bring us closer to the goals of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. For more information about this conference visit the IAC Website.
SEPTEMBER 2008
Global Course: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Poverty Reduction, Reproductive Health and Health Sector Reform (
Sep 15-27 2008
),
Bangkok
,
Thailand
The course explores key elements in designing efficient, equitable and financially sustainable population policies and reproductive health programs in the context of health sector reform and Millennium Development Goals. After attending the course, participants learn to recognize how the changing international and national policy environments affect their work in population and reproductive health and to identify the linkages among health, gender and poverty.
This two-week course is designed for staff from governments, donor agencies, international organizations, the World Bank, and NGOs working in the health sector. In addition, it targets staff from training and research institutions, as well as academics and researchers working in the areas of health, public administration and social sector reform.
The course is a face-to-face learning event and will be held at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. The sessions will consist of presentations, readings, case studies and group work. Participants must have a good working knowledge of English to participate.
Information about how to apply and fees can be found through the website which you can access by following this link here.
OCTOBER 2008
ASIA PACIFIC ALLIANCE CONFERENCE AND MEETINGS - CHIANG MAI, THAILAND - Week Beginning 5th October 2008
NOVEMBER 2008
The AWID International Forum on Women's Rights and Development,
November 14 - 17, 2008
,
South Africa
.
You can expect to be enlightened, provoked and inspired by an exceptional group of thoughtful, forward-looking and fiercely committed women and men. You can expect to move beyond simply talking to getting involved in global action plans and campaigns that will emerge out of the Forum, but will last well beyond it. You can expect to work hard and gain an abundance of new skills, new knowledge, new colleagues, and new ideas for the long road ahead. You can expect to be welcomed, nurtured, fortified and challenged by a group of like-minded activists, academics and practitioners. And finally, you can expect to have more fun than you thought was possible at a conference!
For more information, visit the AWID Website.
