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1. Parliamentarians pursue legal and health
policy reform on drugs
Bangkok – Close to 20 parliamentarians from
twelve countries participated in the
Parliamentarians’ Session on Harm Reduction at
the Second Asian Consultation on the Prevention
of HIV related to Drug Use to discuss policies
and practices on the prevention of HIV among
drug users and harm reduction. The consultation
was attended by over 250 participants and
organized by Response beyond Borders (RBB) in
collaboration with AFPPD, UNAIDS, UNODC, WHO,
USAID and other development agencies on 21-23
January in Bangkok. The three – day consultation
saw useful discussions and policy
recommendations to improve laws and policies
conductive to health and rights of injecting
drug users. The consultation concluded with an
initiative of parliamentarians to form a
committee of parliamentarians to pursue
parliamentary advocacy.
2. RH Bill faces obstacles in Philippine
Congress
As the election in the Philippines nears, the
debate surrounding the Reproductive Health Bill
intensifies. Some of the sponsors and supporters
of the Bill are distancing themselves while
other supporters remain steadfast in their
position. Presidential candidate Benigno
“Noynoy” Aquino, having put his signature on the
pending bill, is an easy target of the Catholic
Church, which is calling the bill a pro-abortion
proposal whereas in fact it is not.
Mr Aquino himself said that 2.5 million
Filipinos are born each year and a third of them
are due to unplanned pregnancies. Proponents of
the bill are eagerly waiting for the next move (PLCPD
News).
3. Ms. Obaid appreciates Australian
parliamentarians’ work
Ms. Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA Executive
Director, who was recently in Australia, met
members of the Australian Parliamentary Group on
Population and Development and also the
Chairwoman of AFPPD Standing Committee on Women,
Senator Clair Moore. Ms. Obaid appreciated
parliamentarians’ efforts in mobilizing resource
in support of UNFPA. She also met with
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith who
formally announced Australia’s $42.5 million
support over four-years to UNFPA for programs in
the Pacific.
Australia’s support will help advance UNFPA’s
work on improving reproductive health, safe
motherhood, reducing HIV, eliminating
gender-based violence and promoting gender
equality in the developing world. It will also
assist in integrating sexual and reproductive
health programs into emergency responses, so
that when disasters strike there is still access
to family planning services, assisted delivery
and emergency obstetric care.
4. Family planning reduces poverty – evidence
from Bangladesh
On 28 January, the Population Reference Bureau
is hosting an online discussion with Shareen
Joshi, visiting professor, School of Foreign
Service, Georgetown University, who will discuss
how family planning programs can reduce poverty,
with evidence from Bangladesh. Family planning
is one of the most cost-effective health
interventions in the developing world. For a
relatively modest investment, family planning
saves lives and improves maternal and child
health. Professor will review a new study of
Bangladesh’s Matlab project which provides some
of the first evidence that family planning and
maternal and child health programs also help
lift families out of poverty—which makes these
programs even more valuable. You may submit
questions to Professor Joshi or read transcript
of the discussion afterwards at
http://discuss.prb.org/.
5. Draft law in Azerbaijan sparks debate on
selective abortion
A provision in a draft law that would be
Azerbaijan’s first comprehensive piece of
reproductive rights legislation has sparked a
debate about the need for a ban on fetal gender
information to stop the practice of selective
abortions of female fetuses. The bill, titled
Law on Reproductive Health and Family Planning,
explicitly protects a woman’s "right of
reproductive choice" and includes provisions
that aim to make it easier for women to obtain
information about reproductive health and
planning.
It does not ban doctors from releasing
information about the gender of fetuses or from
performing selective abortions, a practice that
is currently legal. A measure that prohibits
couples from requesting a male or female embryo
during in vitro fertilization, however, has been
cast as a move toward such a ban. The measure is
part of proposed regulations on infertility
clinics and restrictions on artificial
insemination and sperm donation. (Eurasia Net)
6. 173 questions on population in Indian
Parliament
72 questions in the Upper House and 101
questions in the Lower House of the Parliament
of India were asked on national population
policy and population growth from 2004 to 2008.
Out of 72 questions in the Upper House 19 were
on national policy, 37 on population growth and
17 were related to health policy. In the Lower
House, out of 101 questions, 37 were on national
population policy, 46 were on population growth,
and 18 on health policy.
There have also been questions on reproductive
health and child health in the parliament. A
total of 167 questions in the Upper House and
190 in the Lower House were asked, out of which
14 and 34 were on family planning, and 18 and 41
on contraceptives, respectively. A question on
adolescent reproductive health policy was also
asked. A detailed study of parliamentarians’
questions was conducted by the Indian
Association of Parliamentarians on Population
and Development (IAPPD) with AFPPD support.
7. UK parliamentary group releases activity
report
The UK All Party Parliamentary Group on
Population, Development and Reproductive Health
recently released its Annual Activity Report of
2008-09. The Group has had yet another active
and successful year, with increased UK political
and financial support to Sexual and Reproductive
Health and Rights. The UK government announced a
£6 billion investment in strengthening health
systems in developing countries up to 2015 and
funding of over £11 million for safe abortion in
Africa. In 2008, the UK approved core funding
for UNFPA for a four year period, increasing
from £20 million in 2008/09 to £23.74 million in
2010/11. A new five-year core funding commitment
to the IPPF was also announced, of £8.5 million
per annum, for the next five years. Direct
bilateral funding to reproductive health is also
increasing.
8. US Secretary of State Clinton commemorates
ICPD+15
On 8 January, US Secretary of State Hillary R.
Clinton gave a major speech commemorating the 15th
anniversary of the International Conference on
Population and Development (ICPD). She said the
US is “proud to once again to support the work
of the UN Population Fund.” “Investing in the
health of women, adolescents, and girls,” she
stressed, “is not only the right thing to do; it
is also the smart thing to do.” Secretary
Clinton pledged American support for family
planning and other reproductive health programs
around the world with the largest funding
allocation in more than a decade.
9. 2010-11 is International Year of Youth
From 12 August 2010 to 11 August 2011, the
United Nations will observe International Year
of Youth with the theme ‘Dialogue and Mutual
Understanding.” More information can be found at
www.un.org/youth.
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