February
FPI on Facebook!
Family Planning International has joined the world of Facebook by creating our very own page.
http://www.facebook.com/familyplanninginternational
'Like' us now to keep informed about what we're up to and to get interesting updates on population and development news from the Pacific.
January
Latest Sistas Savve training has begun
The latest Sistas Savve training kicked off in mid-January with 20 new participants. The participants are young single mothers from the Mamana Water Community in Honiara and the community is very supportive of the project.
December
The third of a series of three trainings for the COMPASS project was conducted in Lae, Papua New Guinea in December. Garth Baker worked with COMPASS male project officers, volunteers and representatives from Government health offices.
During the earlier workshops the participants had developed seven healthy male behaviours, collectively called Trupela Man (true man). Participants were video-taped presenting the key messages such as “use condoms” and “say no to violence against women”.
These will be edited to provide the male project officers and the volunteers with a visual health promotion tool encouraging Trupela Man behaviour.
DVDs are known to be an effective teaching tool in PNG – people enjoy watching them and then discussing the content. It is anticipated that seeing people they know on screen promoting healthy behaviours and using the local language, will provide extra appeal to the target audiences.
During the training there was a 7.1 earthquake, fortunately with no serious damage. There was also serious political unrest with the unusual situation of two Prime Ministers jockeying for power.
Women’s Rights and Advocacy in the Pacific (WRAP), an Aotearoa based coalition of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), has released a new report outlining the current status of gender equity in the Pacific.
The report is based both on research as well as two panel discussions held in Auckland in September alongside the 42nd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting where key steps were identified to addressing the two most critical challenges facing equitable development in the Pacific region: increasing women’s public and political participation and the elimination of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV).
The report describes initiatives that are making a real difference to women’s lives and links these to 14 recommendations for Pacific Forum leaders to address women’s participation and eliminate SBGV.
The report Promoting Gender Equity in the Pacific – Recommendations for Pacific Island Forum Leaders can be accessed here.
November
NZPPD at male parliamentarians meeting on the prevention of violence against women
NZPPD member Ashraf Choudhary recently participated in AFPPD’s Standing Committee of Male Parliamentarians on the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls held in Krabi, Thailand. Ten Parliamentarians from the Asia Pacific region attended the meeting which was co-hosted by UNFPA’s Asia Pacific Regional Office.
Mr Choudhary presented on the key concerns and actions being taken to address violence against women and girls in New Zealand and the Pacific region, and also hosted a session which identified key concerns for each of the three sub-regions: South Asia, South East Asia, and the Pacific. Each region then developed an action plan with the Pacific Region deciding to focus on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights for the next two years. The Standing Committee’s Vice Chair for the Pacific Region will be an NZPPD member.
October
New Pacific photo book from Family Planning International
Family Planning International has put together a moving photo book Pacific Portraits: Rights. Choices. Opportunities to mark the occasion of the world population reaching 7 billion.
Read more about the book and purchase it for only NZ$20 to support our work to achieve sexual and reproductive rights for all.
On 28. October, Family Planning International and NZPPD member Sue Kedgley MP hosted the launch of the United Nations Population Fund's (UNFPA) annual report, State of World Population. This year's report, People and Possibilities in a World of 7 Billion, looks at how the world is coping with a population of 7 billion and growing. Family Planning International invited the Director of UNFPA's Pacific Sub-regional office to speak at the launch, held at the New Zealand Parliament in Wellington.
September
Next Sistas Savve training round in the making
Plans for the next Sistas Savve training in the Solomon Islands are going well. The Sistas Savve team have identified the next community to be involved - Mamana Water Community in Honiara. The community was selected based on baseline data collected, showing poor awareness of contraceptive methods and sexually transmissible infections in the community.The community is very enthusiastic about being involved in the project.
Family Planning International's sessions at the Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights in October
Family Planning International (FPI) is working closely with the Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (APA) to co-organise sessions at the Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APRSHR6) in Yogyakarta in October.
On 19 October FPI, APA and the Futures Group will jointly run a session on using strategic tools for family planning programmes, resource allocation and policy making. FPI’s Director will also facilitate a session by Jill Sheffield, head of Women Deliver, and look at emerging themes for Women Deliver 2013 and the inclusion and recognition of broader sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the Pacific region at Women Deliver 2013.
On 20 October, FPI’s Research and Project Analyst will host a session on Integrating HIV & Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Pacific. And on 21 October, FPI is co-organising an NGO satellite session “Will NGOs deliver? Time for effective strategies to place SRHR on everyone’s agenda!”. FPI’s Director will speak on Pacific sexual and reproductive health and rights, challenges, opportunities and strategies. The other speakers include Population Action Internationl, ARROW, Women Deliver, JOICFP and IPPF-SARO.
Kiribati's President accepts petition to end sexual and gender-based violence
As a member of Women's Rights and Advocacy in the Pacific (WRAP), Family Planning International is pleased Kiribati's President Anote Tong was willing to accept Amnesty International’s 21,000 plus petition calling on Pacific leaders to eliminate sexual and gender-based violence, on behalf of his country on 8. September in Auckland. WRAP, of which Amnesty International is also a member, played an integral part in seeing that the handover took place. Kiribati is among a number of Pacific countries with very high rates of sexual and gender-based violence, with 68 per cent of ever-partnered women in the country experiencing at least one act of physical or sexual violence, or both, by an intimate partner.
FPI's director chairs WRAP panel discussion on sexual and gender-based violence in the Pacific
Women's Rights and Advocacy in the Pacific (WRAP) hosted a panel discussion with leading Pacific women's rights advocates in Auckland on 6. September titled 'Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the Pacific: where to from here?'. The purpose of the panel discussion was to highlight the severity of SGBV in the Pacific and to call on Pacific leaders, attending the Pacific Island Forum Leaders' Meeting in Auckland at the time, to take action against violence against women in the Pacific. The panel discussion was chaired by Family Planning International's director, Sumi Subramaniam. The panel included Edwina Kotoisuva from the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre, Ema Tagicakibau - a former member of the Fijian Parliament and one of only 8 women elected in the 1999 Fiji elections, and Jocelyn Lai from the Solomon Islands YWCA.
August
NZPPD Chair speaks at UNANZ lunch hour forum
Dr. Jackie Blue MP, Chair of the New Zealand Parliamentarians’ Group on Population and Development (NZPPD), spoke at the United Nations Association of New Zealand's (UNANZ) lunch hour forum about NZPPD’s role in trying to improve maternal health in the Pacific on the 24. August. Dr. Blue spoke about the Open Hearing on Maternal Health hosted by NZPPD in 2009, and the subsequent report, Making Maternal Health Matter.
Dr Blue also shared her experiences from a recent week-long study tour to the Solomon Islands which looked at a range of sexual and reproductive health and rights challenges in the country, including maternal health.
July
COMPASS project training: addressing violence
In July the second of a series of three trainings was delivered to the four COMPASS project officers and eight male volunteers. This session built on the content of training earlier in the year where the participants developed the concept of a “trupela man” (true man). This is a succinct encapsulation of the key messages the project aims to deliver to men and boys to reduce the transmission of sexually transmissible infections to reduce the rate of HIV. For example, “A trupela man wears condoms” “A trupela man does not beat his wife”. It is intended to use these messages at public events and on volunteers’ uniforms and caps.
NZPPD at the 27th APDA Meeting
NZPPD member Sue Kedgley has recently returned from the 27th Asian Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Population and Development. Held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the theme of the conference was ‘The World Population at 7 Billion’. The conference sessions looked at a number of pertinent issues such as the impact and implications of demographic transition, and urbanization, migration and geographical change; as well as strategies to achieve sustainable development in a world of 7 billion. Sue Kedgley chaired the session on Population and Food Security: Adaptation Measures to Climate Change. Read the outcome document from the meeting here. These conferences provide an important opportunity for NZPPD members to engage with their colleagues from other countries on important population and development issues. NZPPD hopes to host an event on the 31st of October to mark the global population reaching 7 billion.
Study tour to the Solomon Islands highlights Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Challenges
Family Planning International recently led a week long study tour to Honiara. The study tour delegation included Dr Jackie Blue, MP, Chair of the New Zealand Parliamentarians’ Group for Population and Development (NZPPD) and journalists Joelle Dally from The Press, and freelancers Sam Eichblatt and Lorna Thornber.
The study tour was funded by the Asia Pacific Alliance and included a number of site visits as well as meetings with Ministers, government officials, NGOs and other stakeholders in the field. The study tour demonstrated to participants the importance of Millennium Development Goals three and five, in particular 5b: Universal access to reproductive health; and the link between sexual and reproductive health and rights and sustainable economic development. The study tour also helped delegates gain an understanding of the situation for women in the Solomon Islands and the role this plays in terms of their sexual and reproductive health.
Highlights of the study tour included meeting with the Hon. Dickson Mua, Minister of Women, Youth and Children’s Affairs, and the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry Ethel Sigamanu; site visits to the Solomon Island Planned Parenthood Association clinic and Christian Care Centre – the Solomon Islands only refuge for women experiencing domestic violence, including sexual violence. A morning was spent with graduates of the Sistas Savve programme – a training programme for young mothers which provides them with livelihood skills, business training and other life skills training, as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights education.
Whilst in Honiara Dr Jackie Blue was a guest speaker at the Pacific Society for Reproductive Health conference: Maternal Health Matters: Accelerating Progress Towards MDG5 Targets. At this conference Dr Blue met with Hon. Danny Philip, Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, who recently spoke of his committed to ensuring temporary special measure to reserve seats for women in parliament are in place prior to the next election.
