Asia Pacific Alliance

• 
• 

Details

Parent Category: News

Published on Tuesday, 29 June 2010 07:43

APA UPDATE #10  JUNE 2010

---

E-NEWS AND INFORMATION ON SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS

FROM THE SECRETARIAT

APA Online

In line with the new strategic directions of APA, we have launched our new website! Visit www.asiapacificalliance.org and read about news, events and the latest sexual and reproductive health resources in and around Asia and the Pacific. We are collecting more news to constantly update the website. Members and other advocates are encouraged to send their contributions and suggestions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

MEMBER NEWS

Time for progress, not just promises. Time to deliver for women.

APA and APA members were among the more than 3,000 participants from 146 countries who participated in Women Deliver held in Washington DC on 7-9 June 2010. With the theme "Delivering solutions for girls and women", participants celebrated notable commitments in the conference such as new grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the launch of a Joint Action Plan for women's health from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. All the participants promised to take the messages of the conference back to their countries. "APA is committed to take these messages back to the Asia and the Pacific and convince policymakers and overseas development agencies in our region that it is time to deliver for women and girls," APA Executive Director Rose Koenders stated. Check out the outcomes of the conference here.

Advocacy Grants Program Commences on MDG5b

In 2010 and beyond, an improved grants programme will support work by APA members to increase resources for MDG 5b, to achieve universal access to reproductive health by 2015. APA provides grants to members to encourage strategic and targeted campaigns to increase resources and improve donor policies. Current advocacy work focuses on established and emerging donor countries Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Thailand. We will keep you informed on the countries' programmes through the APA Update and our website.

ARHA appoints new CEO

APA warmly welcomes Ms Mary Mertin-Ryan who has been appointed as the new CEO of Australian Reproductive Health Alliance (ARHA). Ms Ryan will take up her appointment on 17 June. APA would like to thank former AHRA CEO Jane Singleton, who also served as APA Steering Committee member, for her work and contribution to APA. ARHA is a member of APA. Read more.

Raks Thai and Thai Positive Women Network in Vienna: XVIII International AIDS conference

APA member Raks Thai Foundation will showcase their poster exhibits during the XVIII International AIDS conference in Vienna on 18-23 July 2010. Raks Thai will feature: 'Working with the positive women's network in eastern Thailand: Reproductive and sexual health' and 'Sexual Communication and Women Empowerment: An Experience of the Voices and Choices of Women Living with HIV/AIDS Project Phase III' (19 July); 'An assessment of women living with HIV/AIDS on violence against women in Thailand' (20 July); and 'Accessing treatment and reproductive health services for women living with HIV/AIDS who are foreign migrant laborers living in Ranong Thailand' (22 July). Visit their display booth with partner Thai Positive Women Network at the conference.

New reports from Population Action International on Maternal Health Supplies in Uganda and Bangladesh

APA member Population Actiton International (PAI) together with Maternal Health Task Force and the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health explored how policies, funding, and other health system challenges affect the availability of maternal health supplies in Uganda and Bangladesh, two countries with some of the highest numbers of maternal deaths. The report tracks four maternal health supplies – oxytocin, misoprostol, magnesium sulfate and manual vacuum aspirators (MVAs) – that address three of the most common direct causes of maternal mortality in Asia and Africa. Read the reports here.

NEWS, RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Melinda Gates pledges $1.5 billion for programmes to reduce maternal and infant mortality

In a stirring speech at the Women Deliver conference in Washington, Melinda Gates urged the world towards greater efforts to reduce maternal and infant mortality. She pledged new grants worth $1.5 billion from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help countries with high maternal and infant mortality over the next five years. Read more from The Guardian columnist Sarah Boseley's GLOBALHEALTHBLOG.

Cutbacks in publicly funded contraceptive services reduce Filipino women's ability to practice contraception

A sharp decline in publicly funded contraceptive services and supplies in the Philippines since 2004 has created severe barriers to women's contraceptive use, according to a new analysis conducted by the Guttmacher Institute. Read more.

The Lancet calls for papers on progress made towards achieving health-related MDGs

The Lancet is especially interested in original researches, country case-studies, programme evaluations, and health-policy papers that will help build the evidence base to accelerate efforts towards 2015. Articles must be received online by 25 June 2010. Please note that you have to be registered with the Lancet to access this announcement. To register or go to Lancet, click here.

Center for Reproductive Rights marks one year death anniversary of Dr. George Tiller

01 June 2010 marked the one-year anniversary of the murder of Kansas abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. Dr. Tiller provided abortion services to women facing the most heartbreaking circumstances, including diagnoses of severe and fatal fetal abnormalities. Center for Reproductive Rights issued a statement to commemorate his death anniversary. Read more.

Articles tackle SRHR and abortion

The International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics has published articles on safe abortion. The 'Critical gaps in universal access to reproductive health: Contraception and prevention of unsafe abortion' was led by International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Senior Advisor Dr. Kelly Culwell. Other articles are also featured. Note that subscription is needed to access the full articles. Find out more here.

Population Action International (PAI) releases new resources

PAI's new documentary Empty Handed: Responding to the Demand for Contraceptives by PAI filmmaker Nathan Golon premiered at Women Deliver. Shot in Uganda in March 2010, Empty Handed tells the story of women's lack of access to reproductive health supplies in sub-Saharan Africa, and its impact on their lives. Visit the official film website. 

New resources on sexual and reproductive health needs

IPPF and the Guttmacher Institute released two new fact sheets, one highlighting the sexual and reproductive health needs of young women worldwide and the other documenting the unmet need for contraception in developing countries. Read more.

      APA UPDATE is produced by the Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
      18th Floor, Sathorn Thani II
      92 North Sathorn Road
      Bangkok 10500

To update your subscription or suggest news items for future editions, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Change your subscription
Unsubscribe  

• 
• 

Details

Parent Category: News

Published on Wednesday, 26 May 2010 11:00

APA UPDATE # 11 JUNE 2010

---

E-NEWS AND INFORMATION ON SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS

FROM THE SECRETARIAT 

APA members and friends on the Unfinished Agenda of SRHR

APA's proposal for a workshop at the 63rd Annual UN DPI/NGO Conference entitled "The Unfinished Agenda of SRHR: Achieving Right to Health in Asia and the Pacific" has been approved. The workshop will present a mapping on unmet sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs and donor aid resource flows; and advocacy initiatives of NGOs to increase funding and improve international assistance policies of government donor agencies to achieve the MDGs in this region. The workshop is sponsored by APA member Japanese Organisations for International Cooperation in Family Planning. Co-sponsoring organizations and panel at the workshop are Marie Stopes International Australia, Burnet Institute, Family Planning International New Zealand and Sexual Health & Family Planning Australia. The UN DPI/NGO conference will be held on 30 August to 1 September 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. Workshop details will be made available shortly.

MEMBER NEWS 

ARHA @ UN DPI/NGO Conference

Australian Reproductive Health Alliance (ARHA, APA member) will host a workshop at the upcoming UN DPI/NGO Conference in Melbourne. ARHA's workshop is entitled "How to set-up effective NGO and Parliamentary alliances to facilitate political support for achieving the MDGs". The workshop will be a case study of how ARHA and NGOs collaborated with the Parliamentary Group on Population and Development on the campaigns to lift the ban on RU486 and change the AusAID Family Planning Guidelines. Speakers will include Senators Claire Moore and Judith Troeth and ARHA members. Workshop details will be made available shortly.

40 Strong years and counting

Officially registered in 1970, Planned Parenthood Association of Thailand (PPAT, APA member) celebrated their 40th Anniversary on 19 June. APA extends our best wishes and congratulations to PPAT in ensuring Thai people's rights are recognized and respected especially the right to good health, access to reproductive health information and quality services, and make appropriate SRH decisions. Read more about PPAT.

PHARMAC Proposal Increases Access to HIV Treatments

The New Zealand AIDS Foundation (NZAF, APA member) warmly welcomes PHARMAC announcement that it is seeking feedback on a proposal to widen access to government funded antiretroviral medications. If successful, the proposal would allow combinations of up to four antiretrovirals ‐ the highly effective medications used to treat HIV ‐ to be funded. Read more.

Parliamentarians Appeal to G8/G20 for Family Planning and Reproductive Health

Over 40 Parliamentarians adopted the Parliamentary Appeal to G8/G20 Heads of State and Governments. The appeal is the outcome document of the 6th Annual Parliamentarians' Summit on "Balancing the Scales of Women's Lives in the Countdown to 2015" held in Ottawa, Canada on 10 to 11 June 2010. The Appeal was later submitted to Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper, host of the 2010 Heads of State Summit. The event was held by European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development in co-operation with Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD, APA member), the Forum of African and Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development and the Inter-American Parliamentary Group. Read the appeal.

For the Love of Art

To raise funds for essential HIV prevention initiatives for people most at risk of HIV, the New Zealand AIDS Foundation (NZAF) in conjunction with ART + OBJECT will be hosting a charity art auction, For the Love of Art, on Thursday 8 July at 3 Vernon Street, Freeman's Bay Auckland. Read more.

NEWS, RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Women Deliver Updates

How can international aid be best spent to meet development goals? Women are at the heart of the MDGs. Investing in women pays. After the Women Deliver conference in Washington, read up on outcomes, updates and action here.

Pacific Health Summit

The Pacific Health Summit took place in London on 22 to 24 June 2010 with the theme Maternal and Neonatal health. The National Bureau of Asian Research has published the Summit Challenge Maternal and Newborn Health, the Crux of a Decent Humanity.

MDGs Report 2010

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launches the Millennium Development Goals Report (MDGs) 2010. The report shows progress towards achieving the MDGs and shares his concerns about MDG 5, with its target of reducing maternal deaths by three thirds between 1990 and 2015. "It is clear that improvements in the lives of the poor have been unacceptably slow, and some hard-won gains are being eroded by the climate, food and economic crises," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon noted in the report's foreword.

The G(irls) 20 Summit Calls for Action from World Leaders

The first-ever G(irls)20 Summit meeting took place in Toronto, Canada on 16 to 18 June 2010. The summit brought together one girl from each of the G20 countries ten days before the official G20 Summit. Concrete recommendations were made by the young women on education, maternal and child health, economic opportunity and ways to better achieve the MDGs. Read about the G(irls)20 Summit.

Quick Reference Guide to Family Planning Research

The 2010 Quick Reference Guide (QRG) to Family Planning Research has been completed by the Research Utilization team at Family Health International (FHI). The QRG is a snapshot of the most up-to-date findings on a range of family planning topics.  

UN DPI/NGO conference website launched

The official website of the 63rd Annual United Nations Department of Public Information / Non-Governmental Organization Conference titled "Advance Global Health: Achieve the MDGs" is now up. The conference will be held in Melbourne, Australia on 30 August to 01 September 2010.  

Who is your unsung hero of international development?

The Guardian and Marie Stopes International launch the 2010 International Development Achievement Award aiming to honour the unsung heroes of international development. Nominations are now welcome for individuals (not organisations) of any nationality. Closing date for nominations is Sunday, 25 July 2010. Click here for more information.

IPPF launches new resources on RH supplies in Uganda and Bangladesh

International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Member Associations in Bangladesh and Uganda have published their success stories in advocating for increased political and financial priority for RH supplies. Find out how they were able to increase political and financial commitment for RH supplies and family planning in their countries. For Reproductive Health Uganda's story, click here. For Family Planning Association of Bangladesh (FPAB) story, click here.

 

---

To update your subscription or suggest news items for future editions, please send us an email. 

APA UPDATE is produced by the Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

18th Floor, Sathorn Thani II

92 North Sathorn Road Bangkok

10500 Thailand

Tel. +66 2 2365984

Fax: +66 2 2385148

[SUBSCRIPTIONS]