Winning broad and diverse support for transforming ideas into action by forming strong coalitions is important to achieve Centers of Excellence in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in the south Asia region. Coalitions are needed in civil society to enrich national discourses by gathering information on the diversity of experiences that enable the same structures to deliver differently. In any innovative work, it is important to validate and revalidate new concepts and approaches. Coalitions are needed to enable this through sharing and learning from each other’s experiences. To learn more about SRHR coalitions that are emerging in south Asia, write to access@ippfsar.org
Research Summary: In January 2007, the Innovation Fund project implemented by FPAB commenced to bring SRHR education to Madrasah students in Bangladesh. The project aims to improve the knowledge and understanding of SRHR to increase access to youth friendly SRH services to Madrasah students, teachers, Imams and the general community. Prior to the start of the project, a KABP baseline survey found several interesting statistics concerning students and teacher’s knowledge and beliefs around SRHR. The study covered 25 Madrasahs (Alia and Qaumi) in six districts of Bangladesh. A total number of 666 students (360 male and 306 female, aged 10-19 years) and 226 teachers were interviewed. When asked the ideal age for marriage for girls, 74% of Qaumi students said ‘12-17 years’ old. Another finding was that 28% of female students reported they knew of sexual harassment of their classmates. Concerning pre-marital sex, 97% knew of it and 52% reported they knew others who have sex with commercial sex workers. Additionally, 79% of students knew about men who have sex with men. Lastly, 84% of Alia, and 34% of Quami Madrasahs claimed that nocturnal emissions were harmful. More than half (54%) of teachers thought modern methods of family planning are not acceptable and did not like the idea of promoting condoms for HIV prevention because using condoms causes moral degradation. For details of this KABP study contact: access@ippfsar.org
Resources: Monitoring and Evaluation Network of Training On-line Resources (MENTOR) is a free on-line resource that provides training materials on health-related monitoring and evaluation (M&E) topics, including an interactive mini course on M&E fundamentals, downloadable M&E training materials and population research materials. MENTOR is continually updated with additional resources, so check in regularly to see what is new. Ordering CD-ROM versions of the materials is also possible through the website at: www.cpc.unc.edu/measure/training/MENTOR
News: The World Economic Forum has recently released the Global Gender Gap Report 2006 available online:http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Gender%20Gap/index.htm. With data from 115 countries, and using a new methodology based on ‘relative measures of empowerment’ to capture the size of the gap, the report provides a comprehensive guide to the current global situation. Countries are measured up in comparison to one another addressing the gap between men and women in terms of economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. The report reveals that “no country in the world has yet managed to eliminate the gender gap.” This year marks an important progression in the report’s methodology, with the adoption of a new tool that focuses on the relative size of the gender gap rather than exclusively on levels of women’s empowerment and access.
Events: The 4th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2007) will take place in Sydney, Australia from 22-25 July 2007. As a defining feature of the conference, IAS 2007 will examine how scientific advances can, in very practical ways, inform the global response to HIV/AIDS. See details at: http://www.ias2007.org/
Please send your feedback/information etc. to access@ippfsar.org
IPPF SARO Team