Editorial

The month of May commenced with the usual hustle and bustle associated with celebrating Mother’s Night in the most effective way and reach out to a greater number of stakeholders to sensitize them with regard to the importance if Safe Motherhood in Pakistan. Since the campaign had been taken to the provinces and districts this year and to far flung areas within each province, the atmosphere was all the more frenzied! This year a web-based petition has been launched to garner support for the implementation of UN Human Rights Councils' Resolution on "Preventable Maternal Mortality, Morbidity and Human Rights". The e-petition can be accessed from WPF, Pakistan website. Alongside, the findings of the baseline study conducted for the girls’ empowerment intervention were taken to the target districts and things are now moving forward towards curriculum development in light of the baseline findings. Refresher training was also held at Fort Monro with the partners of Gender Based Violence and Reproductive Health initiative.

The newsletter contains information on all this and more along with a piece on the importance of sexuality education for youth in alternate education systems in our ‘Expressions’ section and a story on how the Church has banned SRHR education in Poland.

Read on!

Life Skills Based Education (LSBE) – Formal

Plan-Pakistan’s project Reproductive Health Initiative for Adolescents (RHIA) focuses on adolescents' empowerment through livelihood and Life Skills enhancement by inclusion of their parents and other community members. Plan-Pakistan, now wants to move towards the area of LSBE education in schools of Chakwal, Vehari and Islamabad. For this purpose Plan-Pakistan and WPF, Pakistan held a series of meeting to explore the possibility of a partnership on LSBE in schools with the help of Plan-Pakistan's implementing partners, as WPF has the experience and expertise in LSBE and SRHR Education in Pakistan. The meeting focused on discussing planning and implementation strategies and how the collaboration between the two organizations and its implementing partners can be formed and taken forward.

As a next step Plan-Pakistan will be conducting internal discussions and with its implementing partners and share with WPF team how the partnership can be formalized to integrate the latter’s Life Skills programme with their National Adolescent Programme for implementation in Chakwal, Vehari and Islamabad. Final decision in this regard will be taken in the next meeting planned in the first week of June.

Life Skills Based Education (LSBE) – Madaris

As part of its efforts to advocate for inclusion of LSBE in the curriculums of core religious education institutions i.e. Wafaq-ul-Madaris, Rabitat-ul-Madaris, Tanzeem-ul-Madaris etc. The SRHR programme has already shared workbook and teachers’ guide/manual for Madaris youth with Rabitat-ul-Madaris. The vice president of Rabitat-ul-Madaris will be writing their detailed comments and feedback soon. In this connection, a meeting was held with Mufti Muhammad Ali Qureshi, representative Wafaq-ul-Madaris at Jammia Masjid TB hospital, Rawalpindi on 31st May, 2010.

As a result of this meeting opportunities and most effective mediums for communicating with the core officials of Wafaq-ul-Madaris were identified. Moreover, it was also agreed that regular coordination will be maintained with the representative for meeting with Wafaq-ul-Madaris officials in the forthcoming meeting in Islamabad and the latter will be communicated a detailed note for LSBE curriculum.

Empowering Girls – Transforming Communities

A baseline study of the two districts of the “Empowering Girls-Transforming Communities” initiative was carried out to assess the indicators and current situation on SRHR, LSBE and economic empowerment of young girls in the target areas. To develop ownership and brief the implementing partner, Bargad about the results of the baseline, a meeting was held in Gujranwala on 7th May 2010. Also as part of the agenda, WPF and Bargad planned for the next 3 quarters with reference to the project and its activities.

Bargad offered its feedback on the baseline study proposing that the baseline should include the uneducated girls’ responses separately for every indicator. This, they felt would enable this group to be a control and help analyze the effects of the intervention accordingly. Bargad team also felt that the “Family Planning” indicator should be related to Religion while the “Career Choices” indicator could be related to conservative/open-mind set, literacy rate, micro credit schemes and no. of schools/access and health care facilities of the communities of the two districts. Bargad was also very interested to know how the baseline finding will reflect in the manuals and curriculum to which WPF explained that a behavior change exercise will be carried out to incorporate essential components realized by the baseline.

The meeting was followed by the progress review and planning for this quarter. Details regarding the training of Master Trainer and Teachers as well as for orientation seminars with MTs, principals, EDO, DCO and media were chalked out. Moreover, manual/ curriculum development also came under discussion.

Safe Motherhood Campaign gains Momentum in the Provinces

World Population Foundation (WPF), Pakistan along with partner organizations in various parts of the country has taken its Safe Motherhood campaign to remote areas of the country including Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Kashmore, Jacobabad, Jafferabad, Nasirabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Karachi and Multan. The primary focus of this campaign is to raise awareness among the community stakeholders with regard to the importance of Safe Motherhood and ways and means that can help prevent avoidable maternal deaths.


In this context awareness raising walks, candle vigils, community sensitization workshops and theatrical performances around the issue of maternal mortality were held to reach out to the masses. Resultantly, more than 500 stakeholders were sensitized on the issue.

In the coming weeks WPF, Pakistan will be lobbying with the policy makers to ensure that maternal mortality is addressed as a human rights concern instead of being treated as part of the public health agenda. In this realm, WPF, Pakistan held a meeting with Members of Provincial Assembly in Balochistan to draw their attention towards the issues of Safe Motherhood and particularly about the UN Human Rights Council’s Resolution on ‘Preventable Maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights”.

During the course of this meeting, which was attended by 20 Members of Provincial Assembly, it was emphasized that the adoption of the Resolution at the Balochistan Assembly would be an important milestone to gear Government’s commitment and resources to achieve MDG5 which is to improve maternal Health. Member of Provincial Assembly, Dr. Ruquiya Hashmi emphasized the role of Parliamentarians towards the implementation of the resolution. Members of the Balochistan Assembly assured their full support for the cause and requested WPF team to develop information, education and communication materials in the local languages to raise awareness among masses.

Currently, World Population Foundation, Pakistan has also initiated a web-based petition to garner support for the implementation of Maternal Mortality and Morbidity and Human Rights Resolution in Pakistan.

This year, WPF undertook the task of taking the campaign to all parts of the country to spread widespread awareness about Safe Motherhood as well as to garner support for the Maternal Mortality and Human Rights Resolution for its implementation at the policy level. As part of this campaign, strategic locations in various districts were used for foot print messages containing information on the maternal mortality situation in the country as well as the human rights aspect of this issue. Moreover, media workshops were held in order to bring media organizations on board the cause of Safe Motherhood in Pakistan. Walks and community sensitization seminars were also held at the local level to raise widespread understanding among the community stakeholders. The incidence of Gender Based Violence as a cause of maternal deaths was also highlighted during the awareness raising drive. The major activity was held in Islamabad in a local park on International Mother’s Day in which scores of individuals participated and expressed solidarity with the cause.

The Safe Motherhood campaign under the theme of Rang-e-Kainat aims to advocate national pledge of policy makers and decision makers in milieu of ‘Preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights’ resolution. The campaign is designed to advocate safe motherhood related issues at federal, provincial and district levels through various activities while engaging Implementing partners to organize activities in their respective districts and Provinces along with the collaboration of Media.

As a next step WPF, Pakistan will engage in lobbying with parliamentarians and policy makers to ensure that the recommendations of the Maternal Mortality and Human Rights Resolution are tabled at the national and provincial assemblies for implementation in letter and in spirit.

Rights-driven Institutionalization of Sexual and Reproductive Health in Pakistan

To review implementation progress of the EU project, the Institutional Strengthening Team organised a review visit to the project partner, Health and Nutrition Development Society (HANDS) in Matiari on 17th May 2010. In order to have a first-hand assessment and to gain in-depth insight into the indications on impact, field visits to two schools (Government Girls High School Hala and Government Boys High School Karim Khan Nizawani) were organised. The IS team held thorough discussions with both male and female students. The students shared that after the completion of the first level of their SRHR curriculum they were more knowledgeable, confident and empowered in controlling their risky behaviours and decision making. It was observed that the girls were very comfortable in sharing their sexual harassment experiences with their teachers and were more forthcoming in seeking guidance for their.

In subsequent meetings with CEOs of HANDS and Aahung at Karachi on 19th May, the project manager held thorough consultative discussions on the SRHR project Baseline and its methodology.

In order to brief and consult the Education Department on the progress and achievements so far and the future plans Project Manager IS also held a meeting with EDO Education, Karachi. The EDO assured his full cooperation for the smooth implementation of the project interventions.

Gender Based Violence and Reproductive Health (GBV-RH)

To strengthen the Pakistan Gender Reproductive Health Network (PGRN) a four days Training of Trainers workshop was held with GBV-RH partners at Fort Monro, D.G.Khan. The IS Team conducted the training. A total of 19 participants from 6 partner organizations i.e. Kainat Development Association, Community Development Foundation, The National Education and Environment Development Society, Society for Community Organization and Protection, Social Youth Council of Patriots and Al-Asar Development Organization took part in the training. The training aimed to refresh and expand the understanding and knowledge of partner NGOs on gender, Gender Based Violence from a reproductive health perspective, leadership; concept of masculinity and to inculcate among the participants the knowledge on values and impact of positive engagement of men in strategies for prevention of GBV. The participants were also trained on mapping methodology and responsive mechanisms to curb GBV-RH issues. The post-training assessment indicated a very positive response on the usefulness of this training.

Dutch NGO Forum Initiated

A meeting was held at Oxfam Novib office in Islamabad on 14 May, 2010 with the objective to exchange ideas, experiences and develop understanding about work of Dutch Organizations in Pakistan. Country Representative, WPF attended the meeting on behalf of the Foundation. The participants were of the opinion that interaction and information exchange among Dutch organizations will help them to mobilize further resources for development and humanitarian work in Pakistan. The participants discussed their expectations from the regular interaction among the Dutch organizations. They identified four elements to improve through this interaction. These are: (1) synergies, (2) capacity building, (3) identification of common agenda; and (4) resource mobilization. They agreed that the organizations should put energy into the relationship and create more value for themselves and their beneficiaries through the interactive process and identify a few indicators to assess the success of the forum.

The participants will appraise their respective headquarters about the meeting and regular interaction at Pakistan level. The relevant people in head offices will also interact with each other so that positive collaboration can be achieved among the Dutch organizations working in Pakistan.

If you tell young people about sex, they'll do it. If you tell them about venereal diseases, they'll go out and get them!

Implausible as it may seem most opposition to sex education in this country is based on the supposition that knowledge is harmful! This misguided perception persists in spite of the fact that research in this area has explicitly revealed that ignorance and unresolved curiosity – not knowledge – are harmful. It is our collective failure as a society to tell children what they want and need to know that has led generation after generation to grow amid confusion, guilt and psychological chaos.

Although the Holy Quran has time and time again stressed the need to acquire knowledge, and in the days of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Muslim men and women were never too shy to ask him questions including those related to private affairs such as sexual life, for Muslim parents of today, sex is a dirty word. Ironically, they feel uncomfortable in discussing sex education with their children, but do not pay much heed when half-baked information is being provided to their children on the same subject by peers and by the media and television. A research conducted recently for instance shows that an average child is exposed to 9000 sexual scenes per year.

These parents should recognize that sex must not always be held synonymous with perversion. It is for this very reason that the Holy Quran discusses such concepts as reproduction, creation, family life, menstruation and even ejaculation.

To address Sexual and Reproductive Health issues is especially important in the context of Pakistan today because this phenomenon has a direct relation with improving the quality of life of the people in our country. Addressing these issues would not only contribute towards sustainable human development but is also central to the understanding of population and development issues. The need becomes all the more alarming as Pakistan prepares to strategize for the largest population of youth (63% below the age of 25) in its history; no development strategy can then even feebly be complete without addressing the major issues facing the youth including their Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Prominent religious scholar and Chairman of Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman on his part has been quite vocal in recent times while endorsing the need to impart sexuality education to young people. In his opinion, elements opposing it were bereft of real Islamic knowledge. The only condition that Mufti places on the provision of sexuality education is the assurance of gender segregated classrooms.

Dr. Shahid Athar, President of The Islamic Medical Association of North America, has a number of articles to his credit in which he has condoned the importance of sexuality education for young people. Quoting the tradition of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) – "Blessed are the women of the Helpers. Their modesty did not stand in the way of their seeking knowledge about their religion" – Dr. Athar emphasizes the fact that it is culture and not religion that forbids individuals from acquiring information on sexuality. He further advocates the need to advocate facts about sex to children in a way commensurate with their age as they grow up both by the family and the educational institution.

Every generic religious text encourages believers to respect essential human dignity, yet we in Pakistan, not unlike many other Muslim countries are still struggling to break free from the shackles of cultural mores that have been misinterpreted as religion. On the other hand, many nations across the world today house a number of interfaith or faith-based institutions whose work focuses on religion and sexual and reproductive health and rights. In Pakistan however, it is only recently that religious scholars have begun to endorse the importance of sexuality education and emphasized its vitality in light of religious text and authentic traditions of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H).

Among the organizations that have been working on sexual and reproductive health and rights in our country, World Population Foundation (WPF), Pakistan is among the first that has taken the religious scholars onboard. In 2009 WPF introduced Life Skills Based Education (LSBE) in non-formal education systems, i.e. Madaris of NWFP and Balochistan to improve the quality of life of Madaris youth by equipping them with the relevant skills, knowledge and attitudes to adopt safe, health-seeking behaviours and protect them from abuse, exploitation, drugs and diseases. A curriculum was designed especially to meet the unique needs of the Madaris youth. To make this initiative a success not only did WPF partner with local NGOs of NWFP and Balochistan but also took on board religious scholars with whose help both teachers’ resource materials as well as students’ workbooks were formulated. The religious scholars had reviewed this curriculum and facilitated in enriching the text with supporting evidence in the form of Quranic verses and authentic traditions of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H).

After the successful completion of the pilot phase of this initiative, WPF is now holding the 1st Annual LSBE – Non-Formal Learning Forum on March 2nd, 2010 in Islamabad. The Forum which follows the theme of “Life Skills Based Education in Madaris – bridging the gap” is aimed at capturing the learning of pilot phase and also devise strategies for furtherance of LSBE in core religious educational institutions in other parts of the country.

In light of this, while one may decide to avoid this topic owing to discomfort attached with the subject of sex and sexuality due to socialization, however there can be no two opinions on the fact that Islam does not exclude one triviality concerning this issue from discussion. Accordingly, the point that needs to be understood and consequently communicated to the masses is that Islam is by no means a backward, conservative religion that does not take into account sexuality related topics or brands them as taboos. Quite on the contrary it is a religion that along with every other aspect of human behavior also caters for the dimension of sexuality and comprehensively educates and guides its followers regarding its complex nature.

Nevertheless, owing to cultural constraints, propagating sexuality education is an uphill battle and it is unlikely that sexual and reproductive health and rights will take hold without the support of religious scholars. One way to do so would be to encourage the formation of organizations that would work at the intersection of religion and sexuality-reproduction. Another way to do so would be to encourage progressive and moderate organizations connected with religions, to address matters of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Similarly, scholars and networks of scholars working at or near the intersection of religion and sexuality-reproduction offer considerable potential. They are, for example, capable of mounting meaningful theological challenges to more restrictive interpretations of religious scripture.

Since religion, reproduction, and sexuality are often taboo, and since there is often strength in numbers, a consortium of foundations interested in religion and sexuality-reproduction might be formed to develop programs that could advance the field.

Not withstanding the hurdles, utmost needs to be done to make the period of transition from childhood to adulthood smooth for our young people so that today’s youth can effectively shoulder the responsibilities of adult roles in the future. Young adolescents have a right to receive comprehensive information, education, health services, and other social and legal supports during this highly formative stage of their lives to save them from life-long psychological and physical damage.

Pressure from the Catholic Church to effectively stop sex education in schools

Pressure from the Catholic Church to effectively stop sex education in schools is threatening the health of tens of thousands of teenagers who fall pregnant every year because they have little or no knowledge of safe sex, education groups in Poland have warned.

They say many youngsters go into their first sexual relationships with little or no idea of contraception and the health consequences of unprotected sex, as conservative clergy covertly stifle any school sex education that does not conform to the Church’s strict Catholic teachings.

Anka Grzywacz, educator with the Polish Ponton Group of Sex Educators, told IPS: "The Catholic Church has a huge influence in Poland and in schools. The Catholic Church does not want sex education to be taught and, therefore, schools simply do what the Church wants and just do not teach it."

More than 20,000 Polish girls below the legal age of consent give birth each year, according to official figures. But it is believed that many more teenagers fall pregnant, and because of Poland’s strict abortion laws and the unwillingness of doctors to perform even legal abortions, they undergo dangerous illegal abortions or head abroad to have the procedure carried out.

Women’s rights and family planning groups estimate there are more than 100,000 illegal abortions carried out in Poland each year.

They say that the high rate of teenage pregnancies is down to poor or non- existent sex education in schools.

Sex education was made compulsory in schools last year but critics say that many schools do not offer the subject to pupils, or if they do it is taught so poorly, often by priests or fervently religious external educators completely ignorant of anything connected to the subject, that it is worthless to teenagers beginning sexual activity.

In surveys carried out by family planning groups, teenage students have recalled how teachers in supposed sex education classes told them that condoms are useless as they do not protect against sexual diseases, were the "work of Satan", and that sex for any reason other than reproduction is a mortal sin. Others say that their teachers were often too embarrassed to discuss sexual themes and instead talked about family and religion.

"The fact that sex education in Polish schools is called ‘education in family life’ and not ‘sex education’ says a lot," says Grzywacz. "Theoretically sex education is compulsory but it is not a priority and in reality no one checks to see if schools are providing it. And many schools are not.

"The Catholic Church also has a huge influence on top politicians in Poland. They are mainly right-wing and conservative and want to have good relations with the Church. This transfers to schools as well where there is usually a priest present in schools every day, at least to teach religious education which is compulsory."

For more information please logon to: www.wpfpak.org

Join our mailing list | Disclaimer | Back to Top