NZPPD has hosted three Open Hearings at the New Zealand Parliament. Modelled like a one-day select committee meeting, the Open Hearings provide an important opportunity for parliamentarians across the political spectrum to develop their understanding of select population and development issues from experts within the field.
The Open Hearings have led to reports to influence and inform parliamentarians, governments and policy makers.
NZPPD's Open Hearings
On 21 September 2009, the NZPPD held an Open Hearing on Maternal Health in the Pacific at Parliament. Thirteen NZPPD members, joined by Australian and PNG colleagues, heard submissions from a range of regional organisations and professionals working to improve maternal health in the Pacific.
Reproductive health professionals from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Samoa and the Solomon Islands told stories of their work in challenging circumstances, which brought home the stark situation for many women and couples in the Pacific.
Every day, the problems encountered by Pacific women before, during and after pregnancy will lead to the death of five of them, almost all of which are preventable.
“We heard powerful submissions from midwives, doctors, community workers and NGOS who work in Pacific nations trying to reduce the horrific statistics. Everyone agreed that if the human rights and political status of women could be improved through campaigns on gender equity, maternal deaths would be reduced. The hearing was very sobering, but one of the best events I have ever participated in at Parliament.”
This was what NZPPD member, Catherine Delahunty, Green MP, wrote on her blog following the Open Hearing into Maternal Health in the Pacific.
The Open Hearing resulted in a report based on the submissions and with recommendations from the NZPPD on where urgent action is needed to improve the maternal health situation in the Pacific.
The report, Making Maternal Health Matter, was launched at Parliament in February 2010. Dr. Sharon Camp, President and CEO of the U.S. based Guttmacher Institute, and Kathleen Gapirongo, President of the Solomon Islands Midwifery Society were invited to speak at the launch.
The report was well-received throughout the Pacific region, and the President of the Pacific Society for Reproductive Health referred to it as, “one of the most important documents in the history of the Pacific public health development for this decade”.
Click here to access the written submissions.
Click here to access the oral submissions.
In December 2006, the NZPPD Secretariat organised an Open Hearing on youth sexual and reproductive health in New Zealand.
The aims of the hearing were:
- to inform parliamentarians on the issues for young New Zealanders surrounding their sexual and reproductive health;
- to make recommendations for action;
- and to gather lessons learned to share with parliamentarians internationally.
The event provided an opportunity for key government agencies, NGOs and other individual experts to make presentations to the parliamentarians. Anne Weyman, Chief Executive of the UK Family Planning Association, attended the Hearing and shared the UK experience.
The report, Youth Sexual Health: "Our Health, Our Issue" was launched On 3 April 2006 at the New Zealand Parliament. The report makes several recommendations as a result of the Open Hearing on Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health.
The report calls for a cross-government approach to improving youth sexual and reproductive health. The launch received wide media coverage and a formal response from the Minister of Health.
The process has contributed to raising awareness and action on youth sexual and reproductive health in New Zealand.
The report has been shared with other parliamentarians from the Pacific region as a model of how to engage and take action on population and development issues.
On 7 March 2005, the NZPPD held an Open Hearing into the prevention of violence against women and children in New Zealand.
Funded by the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development, the hearing gave civil society representatives and government agencies the opportunity to speak freely and frankly on the issues.
The resulting report, Creating a Culture of Non Violence, provides a summary of the situation presented to parliamentarians at the Hearing, and makes recommendations for ensuring the New Zealand government fulfils its domestic commitments to eliminating ongoing violence against women and children.
Following the hearing, Hon Steve Chadwick, the then NZPPD Chair, was invited to sit on the Joint Ministerial Taskforce on Family Violence. The Taskforce has received updates from government departments that there has been progress on all the recommendations contained in the report.
The Government referred to the Open Hearing report in the Sixth Report (2006) on New Zealand’s Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The Open Hearing report was also distributed regionally as an example of in-country action and follow-up on commitments made at international parliamentary conferences.