Bulletin 23 - August/September 2007
WELCOME!
ARHA's e-newsletter is published every two months to update
you on
ARHA
news
and
activities. We also offer a selection of general news about population and
development and sexual
and reproductive health issues.
[Unsubscribe]
National strategy needed
Young Women's Gathering reports to Parliament
THERE WAS consensus Lets Talk About Sex, organised by ARHA and funded by WomenSpeak, NSW Family Planning and Wyeth, brought together 100 young women from a variety of backgrounds for a weekend of discussion on 13-14 July. A report from the gathering was presented to members of the Parliamentary Group on Population and Development (PGPD) in Canberra on 15 August. One of the presenters, Keya Saha-Chaudhury, told the PGPD that after two days of discussion about unsafe sex, unplanned pregnancies and sexual assualts, the |
   |
lack of a national sexual and reproductive health policy seemed "not only incongruous, but dangerous and very worrying". Ms Saha-Chaurhudry said the Public Health Association of Australia, in cooperation with the Sexual Health and Family Planning Australia, were now developing a national strategy. "We'd like to see this given serious consideration and if it is not adopted we think that a further inquiry should be undertaken in order to produce a strategy that is tenable," she said. The Young Women's Gathering was officially opened by Tanya Plibersek, Shadow Minister for The keynote address was given by Senator Kerry Nettle, Greens Spokesperson for Women and Youth, who stressed the importance of creating opportunities for having the voices of young women heard in parliament. |
For further information, see the YWG web page
Timor-Leste project for mothers Communities club together to improve safety
ARHA was recently briefed on a new community project about to be launched in the Timor-Leste region of Liquisa, about 36km to the west of the capital Dili. Starting Septmber, the project aims to reduce child and maternal mortality by encouraging village communities to club together to provide more support for women in pregnancy and childbirth. |
 |
Dili-based Veronica Correia, National Manager of Maternal and Child Health with the Alola Foundation, outlined the project in detail while visiting ARHA in Canberra on 27 July, after attending a course in Sydney earlier in the week.
"The project is modelled on a program called 'Desa Siaga' ("ready village") which has been implemented in Indonesia with some initial funding support from AusAID," Ms Correia said.
"It was very successful in the villages we visited in Flores (the neighbouring Indonesian island province to the east) and we think it will work well in East Timor too. >>>Full story (PDF 800kB)
Harradine Guidelines to stay
Election jitters affect both sides of politics
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, is unlikely to abolish the AusAID Guidelines before the next federal election, according to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Herald reported on 23 August that fears of a conservative backlash appeared to be preventing both major parties from moving on the issue.
The Guidelines have drastically restricted family planning activities in the Australian aid region since its introduction in 1996. (See "What are the Guidelines?")
Dr Mal Washer, Chair of the Parliamentary Group on Population and Development (PGPD), met Mr Downer after the launch of the PGPD report recommending the Guidelines' abolition, but was given no assurances.
Dr Washer said he was "resigned" to waiting to revive the issue since neither of the major parties was prepared to push for change in the pre-election period.
"Sometimes it's wiser to wait," Dr Washer said.
He said he would rather try and gain support when times were "calmer" and people were not anxious about losing their seats.
The Herald quoted a spokesman for Mr Downer as saying the PGPD report was being considered, but was unable to say when a decision would be made.
NZ delegation visits Canberra
A New Zealand delegation led by the Chair of the New Zealand Parliamentarians for Population and Development (NZPPD), Ms Steve Chadwick, had a rushed but productive trip to Canberra on August 15.
It started with breakfast at ARHA, then after meetings with Foreign Affairs senior staff and Senator Brett Mason, Parliamentary Secretary for Health, they addressed our own PGPD in Parliament House.
NZPPD is keen to develop deeper cooperation with PGPD in furthering the International Conference on Population and Development’s Program of action across the Pacific.
While Australian parliamentarians are currently distracted by a looming Federal election, nevertheless, members of the PGPD indicated they will be keen to pursue such ideas for collaborative efforts as study tours, a joint inquiry into maternal health and morbidity, and providing support to the Pacific Parliamentary Assembly on Population and Development (PPAPD).
After lunch in the office of Bob McMullan MP, the delegation met with a number of AusAID officials before flying back to New Zealand.
Australian aid 'inadequate'
ARHA contribution to UN Association conference
ARHA contributed a chapter on sexual and reproductive health to the recently published United Nations Association of Australia's Report Card on Australia’s Overseas Aid Program. As a consequence ARHA was invited to provide a speaker at the UNAA's national conference in Melbourne’s on 27 August. Keynote speaker was Dr Hans Blix, president of the World Federation of United Nations Associations and former UN chief weapons inspector. ARHA's Manager of Policy and Advocacy, Jenny Goldie, told the conference that although Australia’s aid program was clearly inadequate in the field of sexual and reproductive heatlh, AusAID was to be congratulated for recognising that the lack of sexual and reproductive health services in Timor-Leste was contributing to its alarmingly high maternal mortality and to unsustainably high population growth rates. She also acknowledged AusAID’s funding of SRH services for women in conflict and emergency situations, specifically, the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP). Ms Goldie went on to condemn the Guidelines in Australia’s aid program that prevent any money going to abortion services other than for post-abortion. This mirrors the US’s infamous Global Gag Rule that has seen vital funds cut off to UNFPA for the past six years. She also discussed the high correlation between high population growth rates and poverty, and the need to integrate SRH with HIV services. The Chairman, John Langmore, said he hoped that ARHA would continue its criticism of the Global Gag Rule and that US funding would be duly restored to the UNFPA. |
Low-energy buildings will help Visions for sutainable cities at UN report launch
Third-generation "sustainable buildings" that use less than a quarter of the energy and a third of the water of conventional buildings were described by a speaker at the launch of the United Nations 2007 State of the World Population report in Parliament House, Canberra, on 27 June. Tom Snow, Executive Director of Canberra Airport, said the office buildings built by his company at the Brindabella Business Park in Canberra went well beyond the efficiency of any other buildings in Australia - and he foreshadowed even greater savings in the future. As well as making good environmental sense, it made good business sense to reduce wastage in buildings, and Mr Snow said. The UN’s theme for its 2007 report was “Unleasing the potential of Urban Growth”. The Parliamentary Group on Population and Development (PGPD) hosted the report's launch. Bob McMullan MP, as a member of the PGPD and Shadow Minister for Overseas Development Aid, opened proceedings and then Mr Ian Howie, UNFPA’s representative in Vietnam, launched the report. Following on from the launch, ARHA organised the seminar with five speakers on the interaction between increasing populations, urban design and sustainability. The other speakers at the seminar were Kath Wellman, Centre for Developing Cities, University of Canberra, Ray Prowse, Manager, Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems, ANU,Chris Johnson, Executive Director, Cities & Centres, NSW Department of Planning and Paul Tranter, School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences UNSW. >>>UNFPA SOWP 2007 |
AUSTRALIAN NEWS CLIPS
Third state for RU-486
— The Age, 29 August 2007
ANOTHER hospital has been given approval to use the abortion pill RU486, making the drug soon available in three states. Terry McGee, director of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Westmead Hospital in Sydney, learned yesterday that she had been given approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration to carry out medical abortions using RU486, also known as mifepristone. Last Wednesday, 10 doctors at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne were granted TGA approval. Cairns obstetrician Caroline De Costa and one of her colleagues were given permission to prescribe RU486 in April last year. In all three cases, permission has been granted under strict conditions. >>>more
Merlino 'no' to abortion law reforms
— The Age, 22 August 2007
A STATE cabinet minister has vowed to oppose any move to relax abortion laws in Victoria. The warning, by Sport and Recreation Minister James Merlino, came a day after Premier John Brumby foreshadowed legislation in 2008 to reform the state's abortion laws. >>>more
Girls who become mums at age of 12
— The Australian 18 August 2007
MARISA Marshall leans from the roof beam into the rough shelter where her mother and aunt are describing her ordeal last year. It is a tale that more than a few mothers and aunts in central Australian Aboriginal communities could recount. The 13-year-old from Papunya, 200km northwest of Alice Springs, with dyed orange hair and a shy face, became pregnant last spring when she was 12. >>>more
Australia boosts HIV/AIDS funding
— PM, ABC Radio - 23 July 2007
The Federal Government is going to spend an extra $400 million on the fight against AIDS in our region.
It's estimated that eight million people are infected with HIV/AIDS across the Asia Pacific.
One country to get funding will be Papua New Guinea, where infection rates are worse than they were in some parts of southern Africa when HIV/AIDS began to take hold there more than a decade ago. >>>more
Sydney hosts international AIDS conference
— The World Today ABC Radio - 23 July 2007
The fourth annual International AIDS Society Conference has begun in Sydney, with many participants optimistic that the global pandemic is now a beatable problem.
More funds have been poured into the developing world in the last five years, but HIV experts warn that the lack of access to antiretroviral drugs is still holding back the global fight against AIDS. >>>more
Inocculating with sensible sex
— The Daily Telegraph 17 July 2007
Article by Tanya Plibersek MP: Unless we talk about sex in the context of healthy human relationships, young people will be left with a commercialised, transactionalised view of sex that starts with Bratz dolls and ends with Big Brother doona-dancing >>>more
Fresh Ideas for Future Challenges: a New Approach to Australia's arc of instability
— From ALP website: Mr Rudd's speech to Lowy Institute 5 July 2007
Over the last decade Australia’s national security circumstances have deteriorated significantly. The proliferation of nuclear weapons continues – particularly within our own region.
The nuclear non-proliferation treaty continues to fracture. And there has been little if any progress on nuclear arms reduction – let alone nuclear disarmament.
>>>more
>>>more domestic news
A key to development: new CEO
My first weeks at ARHA have been stimulating and rewarding. The more I learn about the work of ARHA and the Parliamentary Group on Population and Development (for which we form the Secretariat) the clearer it becomes that advocacy is one of the most powerful ways of getting support for sexual and reproductive health in Australia and internationally. |
 |
One woman dies every minute from childbirth or pregnancy related illness. Their children face a higher mortality rate when they lose their mother. Maternal mortality and morbidity rates are truly shocking. We must do all we can to make sure women have good obstetric care, the ability to plan their families and to support them. We had a terrific meeting with the Chair of the NZ Parliamentary Group on Population and Development, Steve Chadwick MP, who spoke at the Parliamentary Committee meeting in Canberra. Working together we hope we can involve more parliamentarians on the issue of sexual and reproductive health in the Pacific and with our nearest neighbours. East Timor for instance, has a rate of 6.6 maternal deaths per 1,000 live births. My sincere thanks go to Christina Richards, ARHA’s previous CEO, for the advice and support she has given me and to our Board of Directors, led by Heather Macdonald. I hope you will be able to join me at our luncheon on Tuesday 18 September (see notice below) at the Commonwealth Club in Yarralumla, where the dynamic Virginia Haussegger, Canberra’s popular journalist and ABC TV news presenter, will be speaking. The theme of the lunch will be "Involving women in the fight for sexual and reproductive rights in our region". This is my first experience of living and working in Canberra and I could not have found a more welcoming community. |
ARHA Luncheon |
||
with |
 |
|
The Commonwealth Club, Yarralumla |
New SRH guide for PNG churches ANU demographer consults on curriculum
ARHA was fortunate to secure the services of Dr Iwu Dwisetyani Utomo in a recently-completed project undertaken in conjunction with Marie Stopes Papua New Guinea. |
 |
Her task was to write a curriculum in SRH, including HIV/AIDS which has reached epidemic levels in PNG, for parishioners and church leaders in the Port Moresby area so they in turn could educate others within their church groups.
Dr Utomo made two week-long visits to Port Moresby, the first to assess the situation and the second, after having written the curriculum, to ‘train the trainers’.
Although there were religious and cultural differences, she had great rapport with those she trained. Many thanks from ARHA to Dr Utomo for a job well done.
PNG AIDS sufferers 'buried alive'
World interest in report by PNG newspaper
The Clinton Foundation has been among callers to the Papua New Guinea newspaper the Post-Courier following its report on 27 August of a health worker's claim that some people with HIV/AIDS are being buried alive by their relatives. The story, picked up by the BBC, quoted health worker Margaret Marabe as saying families were taking the extreme action because they could no longer look after sufferers or feared catching the disease themselves. Ms Marabe said she saw the live burials with her own eyes during a five-month trip to PNG's remote Southern Highlands. The Post-Courier says partners in the fight against HIV/AIDS, including UNAIDS and AusAID, have been bombarded with calls from all over the world. Among them are human rights organisations who are calling to urge the United Nations agencies and its partners, including the Government of PNG to do more, especially for the rural areas. |
Halving poverty won't happen
Warning from UK's new PM Gordon Brown
The UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has warned the UN that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not be met by 2015 because the pace is too slow. |
Population and the environment
US Expert on links between people and place
Heather D’Agnes, of |
 |
In the Philippines, for instance, she found that when a coastal management project was integrated with a family planning project, both were more successful than had they been conducted in isolation.
Ms D'Agnes will address the Parliamentary Group on Population and Development in Canberra on September 19, the Australian Council For International Development’s (ACFID’s) Annual Council meeting on September 21.
Later that day in Melbourne, she, with Jacob Zikuli of the Solomon Islands and Maggie Kenyon of Sexual Health and Family Planning Australia, will conduct a roundtable meeting with development NGOs in Melbourne.
Seminars at both AusAID and ANU are also being planned. The visit is being sponsored by the Common Ground project which is administered by three NGOs, including ARHA. Contact jenny@arha.org.au
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 Rose McConnell, 02 6282 8922 |
INTERNATIONAL NEWS CLIPS
Every sperm is sacred
— The Carpetbagger Report - 24 Aug 07
As the Republican party loses support in the wake of Bush’s various disasters, the party that remains becomes more and more conservative. The people who still support Bush are the people who will decide who the Republican nominee will be, and they are very, very conservative. >>>more
Beijing population at saturation
— The Australian, 23 August 2007
CHINA'S rapidly growing capital has all but reached the officially set population ceiling of 18 million -- 13 years early. That target, set last year for 2020, has already been revised at least once by officials trying to keep pace with the flood of unskilled rural labourers and young professionals lured by the dream of making money. >>>more
10 Filipino mothers die giving birth every day
— The Inquirer (Philippines) - 24 Aug 07
At least 10 Filipino mothers die every day while giving birth, an official of the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) said. Suneeta Mukherjee, UNPF country representative, blamed "poverty" and "the lack of correct information and lack of choices for a better life" for the deaths. >>>more
Rudd as PM augurs well for the Pacific
— The National, 22 August 2007
WHAT difference will the election of Labor leader Kevin Rudd as Australia’s next prime minister make for his Pacific neighbours? Will there be significant changes, or just more of the same? >>>more
Gender violence 'common in Fiji'
— The Fiji Times 15 August 2007
THE cases of gender-based violence are most prominent in Fiji compared to other Pacific islands, says Doctor Wame Baravilala, UNFPA's adviser in reproductive health. He made the comment at UNFPA's Regional Consultation meeting at the Southern Cross Hotel in Suva yesterday. >>>more
Manila's ban on contraceptives leads to health crisis
— The Centre for Reproductive Rights, 13 August 7
A near decade-long ban on contraceptives in city hospitals and health centers in
Manila, Philippines, has resulted in a reproductive health crisis in the city, according to a new report by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Likhaan, and Reprocen. >>>more
Amnesty to defy Catholic Church of rape victims' abortion rights
— The Independent, 13 August 2007
Amnesty International is set to defy the Vatican and risk the wrath of Catholics around the world over its decision to back abortion for rape victims. Leaders of the international human rights group meeting in Mexico are expected to reaffirm the policy adopted by its executive board in April after two years of soul-searching within the organisation. >>>more
Australia gives $41m to educate Filipino kids
— news.com.au - 6 Aug 2007
AUSTRALIA will give $41 million to support a World Bank project to improve basic education in the Philippines. The assistance will go to a trust fund managed by the World Bank, according to an Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) statement issued by Australian embassy in Manila. >>>more
AIDS can lower lifespan in PNG
The National — 24 August 2007
THE high rate of HIV/AIDS prevalence among the 6.1 million Papua New Guineans will greatly shorten life expectancy rate and affect the way the people plan for the future.
However, this will not stop the population from growing. >>>more
>>>More International News
UNSUBSCRIBE ARHA respects your privacy. If you no longer wish to receive our monthly e-bulletin, please email tom@arha.org.au with "unsubscribe" in the subject bar. On the other hand, we would appreciate your help in reaching more readers. Please advise us if there is someone you know who would like to receive this e-newsletter |
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.
