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| Editorial |
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August has arrived and with it green seems to be back in the air: miniature badges bearing the Pakistan flag are being sold at road sides and the crescent and the star are beginning to adorn roof tops. With Independence Day just around the corner, the fervor in the air is heartening to say the least!
World Population Foundation (WPF),
Pakistan team seems equally
receptive to the stirring
enthusiasm that enriches
the environment. Working
for the improvement of Sexual
and Reproductive Health (SRH)
of young people in Pakistan,
the project team of Rights-driven
Institutionalization of SRH
in Pakistan, was successfully
able to pilot the Focus Group
Discussions (FGDs), formalize MoU with
City District Government
Karachi and finalize the
research tool. On the other
hand Sexual and Reproductive
Health and Rights (SRHR)
Education programme concluded
the 3-days Training of Master
Trainers on level 2 of the
SRHR curriculum. We Act
duo organized the
National Youth Forum on ICPD+15
and MDG+10 while Knowledge
Management launched the Life
Skills Based Education (LSBE)
Portal! And the hard work
paid off when the Government
of Pakistan conferred WPF
with the Population Day Award
on 11 July, 2009!
All this and SRH news from across
the globe are featured in this month’s newsletter!
Happy reading!
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Editorial Team |
Editorial Team:
Areebah Shahid
Saeed-ur-Rehman
Technical Contributors:
Qadeer Baig
Design & Layout:
Kashif Muneer
Aasia Niazi
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Important Links |
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WPF,Pak
News |
| Government of Pakistan Confers Award to World Population Foundation |
Recognizing
the accomplishments of World Population Foundation (WPF) in the
field of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, the Government
of Pakistan conferred it with an award of excellence in an impressive
ceremony held in Islamabad on World Population Day. Prime Minister,
Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani was the Chief Guest for the ceremony,
which was jointly organized by The Ministry of Population Welfare
and UNFPA. Country Representative for Pakistan, Mr. Qadeer Baig
received the award on behalf of WPF. |
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National Youth Forum on ICPD+15 and MDG+10 Held |
“National Youth Forum on ICPD+15 and MDG+10” was held on 17 July 2009 to highlight the significance of these international agreements on population and development, for the civil society, youth networks and representatives of the ministries. Federal Secretary for Youth Affairs, Government of Pakistan was the Chief Guest. Providing an overview of these international agreements, Ms. Hilde Kroes, Advocacy Officer, WPF, Netherlands emphasized the need to involve young people in development initiatives to ensure holistic economic, social and political development of any country. |
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A
Call to Action was devised at the end of the Forum, which,
among other things demanded from the government the allocation
of sufficient resources for implementing the ICPD Plan of Action
as the year for achieving ICPD goals is 2014. The complete
text for the Call to Action can be accessed from here.
This Call to Action will now be presented at the Berlin Conference
on ICPD in September 2009 by YAN representatives. |
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| Advocacy Training Workshops Organized for Staff and Stakeholders |
Ms. Hilde Kroes, Advocacy Officer, WPF visited Pakistan from 12 to 18 July 2009, to conduct advocacy workshops for WPF staff, LSBE partners and Youth Networks with support of WPF, Pakistan’s We Act Team. The trainings were a great combination of skills and experience in the advocacy of SRHR both nationally and internationally. We value Ms. Kroes interest in WPF, Pakistan’s advocacy initiatives for the realization of SRHR!
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Essay Competition Announced to Mark International Youth Day |
The theme for this year International Youth Day is ‘Sustainability: Our Challenge, Our Future’. According to the United Nations, Sustainability refers to three aspects of life such as the environment, society and the economy.
Thus, keeping in mind the current situation in Pakistan related to peace and the impact of lack of peace on the lives of the individuals as well as the society, environment and economy, a group of four organizations i.e. World Population Foundation, Right To Play, Rozan and Plan-Pakistan have decided to mark this day by raising the slogan ‘United for Peace, towards greater sustainability’. The campaign is planned from August 12 to August 22, where young people will undertake initiatives at their own school, college and community level.
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In this realm, organizations have been encouraged to undertake activities around the issue so that young people can share their views about on the topic as well as their own individual and community level efforts.
An essay Competition has also been announced in connection with this campaign. Click here to get more details. |
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| 3-Day Training of Master Trainers on Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights Education for Adolescent Girls and Boys |
World Population Foundation, Pakistan conducted a 3-days training for the master trainers level 2 on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) education for adolescent girls and boys from 1 to 3 July, 2009. The training which was facilitated by Programme Manager SRHR Education, was a part of WPF’s flag ship programme “Life Skills Based Education” (LSBE), being implemented in public and private schools of Pakistan since 2003 in various districts. A total of 14 master trainers from Faisalabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Vehari attended the training which focused on providing them with the information and knowledge on issues faced by adolescents in Pakistan. Programme Manager SRHR Education facilitated the training. These Master Trainers will now work with local partners in training of LSBE Educators (school teachers) in their respective districts. |  |
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Rights-driven Institutionalization of Sexual and Reproductive Health in Pakistan | |
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First Meeting of the National Project Steering Committee for Rights Driven Institutionalization of Sexual and Reproductive Health Convened |
First meeting
of the National Steering Committee formulated
to review the progress of “Rights-driven Institutionalization
of Sexual and Reproductive Health in
Pakistan” was convened at
WPF office in Islamabad on 15 July, 2009.
Representatives from various organizations
working in the field of SRHR, Ministries
of Education and Youth Affairs, media and civil society
members took part in the meeting. Federal
Secretary for Youth Affairs, and Joint
Education Advisor, Ministry of Education
represented federal government. Programme
Manager, and Country Representative,
appraised the meeting on the project progress.
At the conclusion, an Advisory Board,
consisting of 6 members was formulated
to review the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
curriculum development process. Moreover,
it was also decided that WPF will submit
abstracts to share findings of the research at
the 5th Asia Pacific Sexual and Reproductive
Health Conference to be held in China
in October 2009. |
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| Focus Group
Discussions Piloted and Research Tool Finalized |
The project team travelled to Karachi (one of the districts for this project) to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with City District Government Karachi (CDGK) and pilot the Focus Group Discussions for the SRH study on 28 July, 2009.
As agreed in the MoU with CDGK, City Institute for Image Management (CIIM) will provide logistical arrangements for the up coming trainings of trainers; technical assistance i.e. training hall, laptop, multimedia, white board etc. and will facilitate timely provision of quality food/refreshments. On the other hand, WPF will include CIIM trainers in ToMTs; reimburse all expenses on initially agreed upon budget; provide agreed DSA to training participants and acknowledge CIIM's collaboration in facilitating the training programmes. The first round of this collaboration will include a sensitization session for District Officers (Education), Schools’ Heads, Master Trainers of City District Government in August at CIIM building Karachi.
In the same realm, Focus Group Discussions were also piloted in Karachi district with adolescent boys (14 – 18 years of age), young girls (19 – 24 years) and representatives of media and civil society. The FGDs with young people brought forth the urgent need and desire by the youth for introduction of sexuality education at school level. The civil society and media organizations on the other hand provided feedback on the research tool and the future format for FGDs. In light of the feedback received and the experience with young people during the Focus Group Discussions, the FGD plan will be duly modified. Moreover, the suggestions of civil society and media members for the research tool will also be incorporated before it is sent for pilot testing.
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| Life Skills Based Education (LSBE) Portal Launched |
On the
occasion of the National Youth Forum on ICPD+15 and MDG+10, WPF,
Pakistan launched its LSBE Portal. This web Portal has been designed
to propagate the importance of Life Skills education and it will
also serve as a platform for LSBE graduates to share their learning
with each other through an integrated web based system.
The Portal, which features informative articles, referral lists, polls, discussion forums and a section that offers expert advice on young people’s issues has especially been designed to address the dearth of available information regarding Life Skills initiatives across the globe. The Portal will hence, serve as a means to collect all the relevant information on LSBE models implemented in different parts of the world by different organizations.
The objectives of the LSBE Portal then encompass:
- Providing a one stop service on the internet that will have all the relevant information on Life Skills.
- Congregating different approaches and models of LSBE adopted in different regions for learning.
- Collecting all the technical IEC resources (curriculums, guides, manuals, reports etc) for larger dissemination and sharing.
- Advocating the importance of LSB Education for young people by collecting, disseminating and sharing impact and results of different models
- Encouraging civil society and local governments, share experiences and knowledge for discovering novelty, diversity and inter linkages of their different approaches and models (and)
- Facilitating city-to-city and country-to-country cooperation, networking among civil society, local governments and other stakeholders, as well as collaboration with existing international networks on LSBE.
You can also become a member of our LSBE portal by logging on to lsbeportal.wpfpak.org.
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| Staff Recruitment |
Ms. Fatima Hassan joined WPF family in July as Programme Associate for Institutional Strengthening Programme. She is a business graduate from Bahria University Islamabad, having almost 2 years of experience. At WPF Ms. Hassan aims to explore her competencies in the development sector as well. |
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| Quarterly Review and Planning Meeting |
WPF team held its Quarterly Review and Planning meeting on 9 July, 2009 to reflect upon the previous quarter and plan for effective implementation of all on-going initiatives in the coming months. |
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Staff News
Finance Officer, Syed Ahsan Abbas and his wife Sehrish Abbas were blessed with a son on 28 July, 2009. The WPF team congratulates Ahsan and his family on the arrival of little Minhal and wish them all the very best!
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Expressions |
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"A Free Rein on Custodial Rape"
Nameerah Hameed
Intern, Institutional Strengthening
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A country’s institutions are created to protect its citizens, promote their interests and to step in when violations take place. So it is a non sequitur if these institutions are themselves a cause for harm and misery to the people.
Police stations do not usually have a good reputation in Pakistan. They do not garner respect as an institution free of vice and immorality. For a woman especially, going to a police station can be a grave risk. The worst form of custodial abuse that women suffer in a police station is custodial rape. And this is Assiya Rafiq’s story.
At the age of 16, Assiya was kidnapped by a group
of ruffians, who repeatedly beat and raped her for a year. These men
were mixed up with a robbery case, but because they had ties to prominent
politicians, they negotiated a deal with the local police in Kabirwala
(near Khaniwal). Thereafter she was delivered to the police station,
a place she thought may finally offer solace. According to Assiya, four
police officers beat and raped her for two weeks, sometimes while she
was tied up. Even though there was a female officer present, she chose
to ignore the mishandling.
When Assiya’s family heard about her whereabouts, they appealed
to the court for her release, which was granted. Subsequently the police
hid her and threatened the family to back off, by briefly locking up
her little brother too.
However, after eventually gathering courage Assiya
reported the case to the local magistrate. Upon medical examination it
was proved that she had been raped.
This story seems familiar because hundreds of women through out Pakistan suffer similar ordeals. Where most choose to commit suicide or go into hiding, one courageous woman from among them will stand up to fight for her inherent rights.
Currently Assiya and her family have gone into hiding, owing to repeated threats by police officials involved in this heinous act. Mukhtara Mai has hired two lawyers to help the distraught family. They are in dire need of help and support. One reason Mukhtara and Assiya decided to prosecute was because they do not want the same thing to happen to other women.
Pakistani media needs to pick up cases like these. Like the case of Mukhtara Bibi, Affiya’s case was made famous by Nicholas D. Kristof, a writer for the New York Times. Even a small-scale action, such as an inquiry from a foreign diplomat makes it harder for the police to kidnap or kill a girl given importance by the media and officials.
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SRHR News |
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| Poor Sexuality Education Cited as a Reason for Increased Abortions in China |
More than 13 million abortions are performed each year in China, according to statistics disclosed by Chinese health officials, a marked increase from 2003, the most recent statistics available.
When unreported and medication-induced abortions
are counted, the actual number is substantially higher, according
to physicians and medical researchers quoted by the state-run
newspaper China Daily.
In a joint report, the World Health Organization
and the Guttmacher Institute put the number of abortions in China in
2003 at 9 million, out of a total of 42 million worldwide that year.
Chinese officials said a low level of sex education
among young people was the reason for the widespread use of abortion.
More than 70 percent of callers to a pregnancy phone line at a Shanghai
hospital knew almost nothing about contraception, China Daily reported.
Only 17 percent were aware of venereal diseases, and less than 30 percent
knew that HIV/AIDS could be transmitted sexually.
Nearly half of the women who had abortions had
not used any form of contraception, it is reported. About 60 percent
of the women who have abortions are between 20 and 29 years old, and
most are single.
Courtesy: New York Times |
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| UN Chief Hails Recognition of Rape as a Form of Genocide |
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lauded the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for classifying rape as a form of genocide.
In his latest report on the scourge to the UN
Security Council, Ban said the tribunal in Rwanda recognized
sexual violence was a step in the process of group destruction "of
the spirit, of the will to live, and of life itself".
He warned that sexual violence was being "perpetrated mainly against civilians in direct violation of international humanitarian, human rights and criminal law".
Ban expressed concern at the inadequacy of measures to prevent sexual violence and protect civilians, and lack of action on discrimination against women and girls.
He called for the ratification of and implementation of human rights treaties; strengthening of capacity to hold all perpetrators of sexual violence accountable; and exclusion from amnesties and immunities of those who committed or commissioned sexual violence.
Courtesy: AllAfrica.com |
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For more information please contact World Population Foundation (WPF) |
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