Welcome to the Family Planning International          E-Newsletter, providing you with news on what we have been up to, as well as global population and development issues.  

Working with Men in Papua New Guinea

“I did not realise that I had put my wife in an emotional and physical prison.” These are the words of one participant in a recent sexual and reproductive health training in Papua New Guinea (PNG). This training is part of Family Planning International’s work with men in the COMPASS project. 18 men participated in the training which focused on equipping them with skills and knowledge of sexual and reproductive health. The men will then work with their own communities to support men to be better partners. The training received very positive feedback from participants.

In another COMPASS activity, Samson Pisin, a Male Training Officer, organised for a group of local men to go for a sexual health check-up. Out of 16 men tested, five were treated for sexually transmissible infections (STIs) and a number were treated for other sexual health issues. We all know how challenging it can be to get people to go for such a check-up, particularly men. This is an example of the impact that the COMPASS project is having in PNG.

‘Intimate Relations, Sex, Lives and Poverty’ – New Resource

Along with our projects, we have also been busy with our advocacy work. In cooperation with our Asia Pacific Alliance partners, we launched a major new resource on sexual and reproductive health and rights created for policy makers and programmers. ‘Intimate Relations, Sex, Lives and Poverty’ includes up-to-date Pacific examples and information, as well as our key recommendations for addressing sexual and reproductive health and rights. 

Sexual and Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Emergencies

In the aftermath of the recent floods in Fiji, a girl was raped as she sheltered in an evacuation centre. This is but one example of what occurs time and time again following humanitarian emergencies – women and girls experience increased violence, particularly sexual violence. Often emergency responses do not cater for the special needs of women and girls, or for people’s sexual and reproductive health needs. This year, Family Planning International is taking action to improve this situation. We will be working with people who lead the responses to humanitarian emergencies, to educate and support them to ensure they cater adequately for people’s urgent sexual and reproductive health needs. 

President Obama’s Landmark Step to Save Women’s Lives

Family Planning International issued a media release welcoming President Obama’s Landmark step to repeal the Mexico City Policy. This policy has prevented women around the world from gaining access to essential information and health services, with organisations losing funding for all their services, including pregnancy, safe childbirth, contraception and health examinations. The ending of this policy will help save the lives of millions of women, as well as promote development and economic growth around the world, including in our own Pacific region.

For more information on what we have been up to, check out the latest edition of Family Planning International’s Interaction Magazine on our new website www.fpi.org.nz. The December 2008 edition includes an article on Family Planning International’s project on reproductive health supplies in the Pacific. Watch out for the final report and recommendations from this project coming soon.

 

Pacific Regional Strategy on HIV and other STIs

The Pacific Regional Strategy on HIV and other STIs 2009 -2013 has been released following a broadening of the original focus on HIV alone. Across the Pacific, 98.8% of HIV infections are associated with sexual intercourse, pregnancy, breastfeeding or childbirth. Family Planning International advocated that the strategy focus more broadly on sexual and reproductive health. We welcome the fact that the final strategy includes a focus on other sexually transmissible infection (STIs), as well as HIV, and look forward to working with partners to implement the strategy.

New Report Shows Critical Rates of Maternal and Child Deaths

Women in the world’s least developed countries are 300 times more likely to die in childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications than women in developed countries, UNICEF’s 2009 State of the World’s Children Report shows. Access to quality sexual and reproductive health and services has been identified by the UN and other key stakeholders as a key strategy for reducing maternal and child deaths. The report also shows concerning rates of maternal and child deaths in some Pacific countries, with Papua New Guinea, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands having the highest rates.

Support Choice, Not Chance

2009 is a new year, and your donation to Family Planning International will go along way towards ensuring people in the Pacific to have new choices around their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Support choice, not chance. To donate to Family Planning International or get more involved in our work, please see the Family Planning International website at www.fpi.org.nz or email us at international@familyplanning.org.nz.

Thanks and best wishes from the team at Family Planning International