Bulletin 20 - March 2007
WELCOME
to the ARHA e-newsletter, updating you on ARHA news
and
activities,
and bringing you a selection of general news about population and
development and sexual
and reproductive health issues.
Australian MPs call for end to discrimination against women
Bipartisan support for motion by Coalition MP
THE AUSTRALIAN aid |
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Five MPs spoke in support of a private member's motion by Kay Hull MP (the National Party member for Riverena), calling on the aid program to support the elimination of gender-based discrimination in developing countries.
Particular areas of concern were discimination in land, inheritance and property property rights, family law, gender-based violence and discrimination in employment.
Mrs Hull said gender inequalities intensified poverty and perpetuated it from one generation to the next, preventing women and girls from taking up opportunities that could potentially make them and their families less vulnerable to poverty.
"Capacity enhancement can begin with the simple initiative of access to microfinance," she said. "Women in villages and communities can grow and prosper by having the finances to purchase, for instance, a sewing machine.
"This simple act that we in developed countries take for granted can mean freedom from abuse for women and their children in many developing countries."
MPs Steve Georganas (Labor), Judi Moylan (Liberal), Bob McMullan (Labor), Kay Elson (Liberal) and Tanya Plibersek (Labor), supported the motion. >>>READ Hansard debate
'Lost decade' from taboo on population growth discussion
British MPs critical of shift in language
A TRAGIC failure to reduce poverty and empower women has been the result of the taboo on population that emerged in the lead-up to the International Conference on Population and Development (IPPD) in 1996, according to a report published by a group of British MPs.
The report, Return of the Population Growth Factor, deplores the "lost decade" which it says resulted from a move away from talking about population size and growth to the "language of reproductive health".
It quotes the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) as saying that the shift in language had led to an under-appreciation of population growth.
"The language of reproductive health did not spur enthusiasm in parliaments or in wider debate," the MPs said. "AIDS was seen as the new health problem, leaving high fertility as yesterday's problem. The impact of population growth in the world's poorest countries was barely noticed."
The report, which includes the picture (above) of a starving African mother and child, was published on 31 January by the UK All Party Group on Population and Development. It was based on evidence taken at hearings at the Houses of Parliament, London, between May and July last year, with written evidence submitted by more than 50 individuals and organisations.
>>>READ the full report
>>>READ The Independent's article
ARHA stall at ACT festival
Kids loved the colouring-in competition
A COLOURING-IN competition was a hit with kids passing by the ARHA stall at Canberra's Multicultural Festival on Sunday 11 February. The stall, ARHA's first at a community festival, was the brainchild of our Marketing and Fundraising Manager, Naomi Lee (pictured), herself a picture of reproductive health, expecting her second child in late July - and the colouring-in comp was dreamed up by Marketing Assistant Alex Martyniak. |
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The stall is part of our drive to become more publicly visible and recruit new members. There were lots of interested passers-by, and it was great to see quite a few ARHA members come down to City Walk to say hello.
The Pacific's own condoms
Designed by talented Fijian artist
CONDOMS, previously distributed through hospitals and other outlets in the Pacific Islands in plain foil wrappers, will now come in bright and attractive designer packages.
The two designer condoms have been developed as part of a joint project of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and the United Nations Populations Funds (UNFPA) Office for the Pacific.
The attractive packaging design was created by Ms Tane Mosese of Hatamara Graphics Company Ltd, a young talented graphic designer based in Fiji’s capital city, Suva. >>>READ full report
ACF President: limiting population growth is crucial
THE CONTINUATION of Australia's population growth is a certain way of ensuring the future of the nation is not sustainable, the President of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Professor Ian Lowe, said when delivering the Rick Farley memorial lecture on ABC radio on 11 February. |
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Professor Lowe said he had developed an exercise he called 'negative brainstorming', and invited listeners to participate by imagining they had been given the task of developing strategies to ensure an unsustainable future.
"Suppose we wanted to make sure that the future of Australia was not sustainable," he said.
"We could start with a population growing exponentially. We could increase the impact of a growing population by increasing resource consumption per person, thus putting compounding pressure on resources and natural systems.
"We could deplete important, non-renewable resources; (and) over-use renewable resources, like water and forests and fisheries."
Professor Lows said if Australia did not stabilise its numbers by socially acceptable means, they would in time be limited by starvation and disease and fighting amongst ourselves.
"The way we are currently living is not sustainable. Despite the evidence that the overall consumption of our present population is degrading the environment, we encourage both growing numbers and increasing consumption per person."
>>>LISTEN to podcast, READ transcript
Personal, powerful, moving:
two books to catch up on
TWO BOOKS have been recommended to us by Jenny Ejlak, convenor of People for Choice Tasmania.
Jenny says she attended the launch of the first book, Jo (and Bertram) Wainer's Lost - illegal abortion stories in Melbourne last year, but only got around to reading it recently ... and could not put it down.
"I realised that 'knowing' about illegal backyard abortions and the then 'shame' of being pregnant while unmarried, was different from the impact of reading very real, very personal, very detailed stories written in the first person, which was extremely powerful, " she said.
Jenny was similarly gripped by Susie Allanson's book Murder on his mind, about the shooting of the security guard at the Fertility Control Clinic in Melbourne in 2001.
"Susie has captured with great sensitivity the shock, grief, trauma and fear of the staff, and described beautifully how all the staff cared for each other in the aftermath of the shooting," Jenny wrote.
"Both books," she added, "have the potential to educate and inform others and could be very useful particularly for people who are wavering in their opinions or who haven't thought about the implications of criminalising abortion to various degrees." >>>READ the reviews
DOMESTIC NEWS CLIPS
Lachlan Murdoch makes AIDS plea to businesses
— The Townsville Bulletin, 1 February 2007
LACHLAN Murdoch has visited Papua New Guinea to promote business involvement in the fight against HIV-AIDS. Mr Murdoch was scheduled to attend a fundraising dinner in Port Moresby last night hosted by the PNG Business Coalition Against HIV-AIDS, part of a global coalition. >>>more
'Creative' figures skew aid picture
— The Age, 6 February 2007
AUSTRALIA's overall aid last financial year was $2.491 billion, according to figures released by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. That constituted an increase of $358 million, or 5.8 per cent, on the previous year. But a breakdown shows that the figure included $160 million for "migration management" — in other words, detaining some asylum seekers on Nauru and sending others home to Afghanistan. >>>more
Australian to provide Rp 1bn for flood victims
— Tempointeraktif, 6 February 2007
BILL Farmer, the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, has announced that the Australian government will provide aid amounting to A$150,000 (more than Rp1 billion) for flood victims following the flood disaster in Jakarta and the surrounding areas, yesterday. >>>more
PNG leaders must overcome HIV complacency
— The Canberra Times, 12 February 2007
THE BUSINESS Coalition Against HIV/AIDS group has begun its endeavour to partner private enterprise with government efforts to stop the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is burning through Papua New Guinea. The group is led by Qantas chairman Margaret Jackson, who flew into Port Moresby accompanied by Lachlan Murdoch and Ian Thorpe to attend a dinner hosted by the coalition. >>>more
Fears for HIV/AIDS spread in Malaysia
— Radio Australia, 12 February
A TOP health official says Malaysia could face a widespread HIV/AIDS epidemic with the number of infected people rising fourfold. Ramlee Rahmat, Malaysian deputy director-general of public health told AFP if nothing is done the figure may rise to 300 thousand by 2015. >>>more
Lost that lovin' feeling?
— news.com.au, 12 February
THE contraceptive pill has long been celebrated for liberating women sexually. Fantastic, but is there a chance it's also liberated your libido right out the bedroom window? >>>more
'Catastrophic' birth rate in Solomon Islands - Late Night Live
THE HOST of the ABC's Late Night Live program, Phillip Adams, highlighted the lack of concern
by religious "This program has devoted a lot of its attention in recent years to the Solomon Islands," he said. |
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"One of the things you see there is an absolutely catastrophic birth rate, and yet none of the religious organisations - and they're very dominant - seem to give a twopenny damn.
"So you've got societies that are already fairly dysfunctional, have minimal economies, and simply won't be able to bear that burden."
In the week after the broacast, Late Night Live told ARHA that the interview with Ms Richards, on the release of the UK Parliamentary report (see opposite) generated an unusually large amount of listener feedback congratulating the program on tackling the controversial subject of population growth, rarely mentioned in the media. >>>LISTEN to podcast
>>>READ transcript
SUPPORT
ARHA Our health, our lives, our planet, our future Since ARHA's creation in 1995, we have been entirely funded by international grant-making agencies. However, the time has come for ARHA to seek public support from within Australia and internationally. There are several ways you can support ARHA in its
work to protect and promote reproductive health.
You can Join online or
phone us for a membership application form on (02) 62828922
If you are interested in volunteering your services to ARHA then please call Naomi Lee on 02 6282 8922. |
George W. Bush has been bad for women: Edinburgh medallist
THE BUSH administration in the US has brought about a situation whereby women's health is almost completely ignored, according to Dr Richard Horton (right), the winner of the Edinburgh medal, one of Scotland's top science prizes. |
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Dr Horton, editor of the UK medical magazine The
Lancet, said after the announcement that issues of contraception, abortion and sexual rights had been censored under the most right-wing government in America for a generation.
"It's absolutely critical for women - something like 70 to 80 per cent of the poor people in the world are women - that they are marginalised by prevailing policies from major governments. It's really important that we bring women back to centre stage," Dr Horton said.
The medal, which forms part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival, is awarded to an individual who has sought to improve the lives of the wider community.
Dr Simon Gage, the festival's director, said Dr Horton had gone beyond what would be expected of an editor and had become a campaigner for improving the health of the world's poorest and most neglected people.
Call for end to genital mutilation
ON FEBRUARY 6, the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), Thoraya Obaid (pictured, right), issued a statement pledging a greater effort to end female genital mutilation. Ms Obaid said that contrary to popular belief, the practice was not required by any religion, and many religious leaders had called for it to be banned. |
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An estimated 120 to 140 million women have been subjected to the practice, and 3 million girls continue to be at risk each year.
Ms Obaid said there had been positive trends wuith some communities abandoning the practice in favour of alternative initiation ceremonies, but there were concerns elsewhere over the "medicalisation" of the practice, the use of laser cutting and the subjecting of younger and younger girls to the practice to avoid their complaints or refusal. >>>see full announcement
A young women's gathering
ARHA has received a strong response to its call for presentations at the Let's Talk About
Sex: Young Women's Gathering on Sexual and Reproductive Health at The Centre, Randwick, in Sydney, from
13–14 July 2007. The call for abstracts closes on 4 April, and a confirmed program will be issued at the end of April.
"We would love to hear from young people or people working in the field if they would like to contribute a presentation or a short film on sexual and reproductive health issues affecting young people, or just be part of this exciting gathering," said organiser Patti Shih. |
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Registration is now open, the cost is $40 for students/unwaged and $60 standard/organ-
isations, please email your contact details to ywg@arha.org.au. Further information is at the gathering website Let's Talk About Sex page.
ACFID gets new-look website
THE AUSTRALIAN Council for International Development (ACFID) went live with its new website on Monday 5 February. Check it out at www.acfid.asn.au.
ACFID supports Australian NGOs with a shared commitment to poverty reduction and the promotion of human rights and dignity. The site includes contact details for all ACFID's member and non-member agencies, as well as details of specific countries and projects that ACFID Code of Conduct signatories support, and the sectors they focus on.
International Women's Day
A BUSY program of events has been planned in the ACT to mark International Women's Day on Thursday 8 March. Events include:
* a lecture by Dr Sarah Maddison at ANU on
Wednesday 7 March;
* an ACT Chamber of Women in Business Seminar
on Women's Well-Being on Wednesday 7 March;
* an afternoon tea for clients and friends of the
service on Wednesday 7 March;
* a breakfast organised by ACT women's
organisations at the Hellenic Club on Thursday 8
March;
* a UNIFEM breakfast at ANU on Thursday 8 March;
* a 30th birthday dinner of the YWCA of Canberra
Family Day Care on Thursday 8 March.
* a UNIFEM lunch on Friday 9 March at Rydges
Lakeside;
* an IWDA reception at the Griffin Centre on Monday
12 March. >>>FURTHER details
INTERNATIONAL CLIPS
Eight countries trial UN reform
— UNDP Newsroom — 1 February
KEMAL Derviş, in his role as the Chair of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), announced today that the UN will explore new ways of enhancing greater cohesion at the country level in Albania, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uruguay, and Viet Nam. The governments of these countries each volunteered last year to become pilots in what has been labeled “One UN.” >>>more
Birth rates 'must be curbed to win war
on global poverty'
— The Independent, 31 January 2007
THE EARTH'S population will approach an unsustainable total of 10.5 billion unless contraception is put back at the top of the agenda for international efforts to alleviate global poverty. >>>more
Pacific: Sexual Health is Our Right
— Scoop, 6 February 2007
THE INTERNATIONAL definition of sexual and reproductive health aims to ensure complete wellbeing in all matters relating to the reproductive system. It is a great idea, but unfortunately in the Pacific Islands it is a long way from truly existing, especially for HIV positive people. >>>more
After so many deaths, too many births
— New York Times, 11 February 2007
THE PHILIPPINES population is expected to reach 88.1 million people by the end of 2007,
with the government attempting to bring down the birth rate and alleviate poverty, officials
said Tuesday.
Officials in the largely impoverished country said people were having more children than
they could afford to support. >>>more
Population growth plays a key role
— Baltimore Sun, 13 February 2007
Global warming is "unequivocal," according to the recently released report by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The most likely culprits are people - all of us.
Yet there never has been much public discussion about the role of human population
growth in global warming. >>>more
An Afghan woman dies every 28 minutes
YubaNet.com — 16 February 2007
CHINA'S population will increase by 200 million in the next thirty years, according to a report published on Thursday. The report by the State Population and Family Planning Commission paints a clear picture of China's population situation and outlines plans to resolve current population issues. >>>more
Bush's budget slashes international family planning
— Population Action International — 12 February 2007
LAST week, President Bush proposed a dramatic 25% reduction in funding for international family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) programs in his federal 2008 budget request despite the fact that they are one of the most successful components of the U.S. foreign assistance program. >>>more
Birth dearth folly and the 300 millionth American
— Dave Foreman's Around the Campfire, January 2007
THOSE who are bug-eyed and panicky about dealing with the overblown troubles brought by population stabilization are men and women of small creativity and limited problem-solving skills. It is far better to juggle such relatively easy social and economic challenges now than when we are faced with the even-more horrendous ecological problems in the future brought by leapfrogging numbers of humans. >>>more
The Australian Reproductive Health
Alliance (ARHA)
www.arha.org.au
Our mission is to promote public support
for enhanced reproductive and sexual health in Australia and
internationally, and promote the advancement of the status of women and
girls.
