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1. Medical parliamentarians discuss
emerging health issues
50 parliamentarians with medical
background from Asia, Africa, Central Asia, Latin
America and the Caribbean assembled in Bangkok from
19-20 December to discuss emerging health issues.
The workshop of medical parliamentarians was
organized by AFPPD in cooperation with UNFPA, the
Government of Japan, WHO and the International
Medical Parliamentarians Organization (IMPO).
The meeting concluded with the
adoption of a final statement entitled “From
Advocacy to Legislative Initiatives,” calling on
governments to increase or sustain financing for
public health and calling on the IMPO to expand
partnerships with parliamentarians, regional
parliamentary networks and international agencies to
improve health conditions for their people.
2. NGOs trained on reproductive health
advocacy
In collaboration with the German
Foundation for World Population (DSW) and the World
Health Organization (WHO), AFPPD organized and
implemented the Southeast Asia Regional Workshop on
“Advancing Healthy Advocacy for Reproductive Health”
in Bangkok from 1-3 December. Attended by 21
participants of civil society organizations from
Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, the
workshop aimed to ensure government funding is
increased and resources are sufficiently available
for Reproductive Health in the new aid environment.
The workshop was facilitated by Ms Karen Hoehn, Vice
Executive Director, DSW Brussels; Ms Maria Bordallo,
EU Project Officer, DSW Brussels; and Mr Dale
Huntington, Scientist, WHO.
3. AFPPD Chairman delivers Salas
Memorial Lecture
On 23 November, Mr Yasuo Fukuda, MP
of Japan and Chairman of APFPPD, delivered this
year’s Rafael M. Salas Memorial Lecture at the UN
Headquarters in New York City. The lecture focused
on "Challenges for Sustainable Development in a New
Era: Population, Climate Change and Global
Security." Mr Fukuda said he is “convinced that
parliamentarian activities in the field of
population and development will become ever more
important as we strive for the welfare of all
people, and for democratisation and good governance
to ensure individual dignity as the foundation and
benchmark of global security.”
4. AFPPD 66th Executive
Committee Meeting in Tokyo
The 66th meeting of the AFPPD
Executive Committee took place in Tokyo on 7
December under the chairmanship of Mr Yasuo Fukuda,
MP and former prime minister of Japan. Also in
attendance were Sir Dr Puka Temu, Deputy Prime
Minister of Papua New Guinea; Ms Nobuko Horibe,
Director of UNFPA Asia-Pacific Regional Office; Ms
Kiyoko Ikegami, Director of UNFPA’s Office in Tokyo;
and members of parliament from Australia, Cook
Islands, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The
committee expressed satisfaction and pleasure in the
large number of activities undertaken by AFPPD in
2009 and its support for parliamentarians’
participation in key events organized by other
international and regional agencies. The committee
also reviewed proposed plans for 2010.
5.HIV/AIDS bill to go before India
Parliament
The long pending legislation on
HIV-AIDS that aims to protect the rights of people
living with the disease will be tabled in Parliament
in its next session."The consultation work on the
Bill has been expedited as we want it to be tabled
in the next session of Parliament. It is a serious
matter and we want it be passed as soon as
possible," Parliamentary Forum for HIV and AIDS
Chairman Oscar Fernandes said.
The Bill was drafted in 2006 to
protect the rights of people living with the disease
and to prevent and control the spread of the
infection. It followed intensive discussions with
different stakeholders, including people with HIV,
sex workers and drug users, and has been pending
with the government for the last three years,
reports IANS.
6.Parliamentarians visit Burkina Faso
Parliamentarians from India, Iran,
Maldives, Nepal and Vietnam participated in a study
visit to Burkina Faso organized by the Burkina Faso
World Bank Country Office, the World Bank
Parliamentary Relations Team, and the Parliamentary
Network on the World Bank (PNoWB), with support from
AFPPD, from 30 November to 4 December.
Parliamentarians gained a first-hand understanding
of Burkina Faso’s handling of the impact of the
global financial crisis, decentralization and social
accountability, extractive industries revenue
management, and the impact of reforms on improving
investment climate.
7.New report on Maternal Mortality in
India receives parliamentary support
The Center for Reproductive Rights
launched its new report "Maternal Mortality in
India: Using International and Constitutional Law to
Promote Accountability and Change" at the recent 5th
Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual
Health and Rights, on 18 October in Beijing. Mr P.D.
Rai, MP of India and member of AFPPD Standing
Committee of Male Parliamentarians on Prevention of
Violence against Women and Girls, was the keynote
speaker at the launch and he spoke about the
importance of this report as a tool to promote
accountability and to raise awareness about the
challenges that India faces in reducing preventable
maternal mortality and morbidity. He emphasized the
need to invest more on in women's health and to
redouble the efforts to achieve the commitments made
through the MDGs. Finally, he reaffirmed his
commitment as a Parliamentarian from Sikkim in India
to promote women's health and well being.
To download the report, please visit
http://reproductiverights.org/en/document/maternal-mortality-in-india-using-international-and-constitutional-law-to-promote-accountab
8.AFPPD took part in online discussion
of men’s role in gender-based violence
On 16 December, the Population
Reference Bureau hosted an online interview with Mr
Todd Minerson, White Ribbon Ambassador, on the topic
of “Engaging Men in the Fight to End Violence
Against Women.” AFPPD inquired about how male MPs
could most effective address violence against women
and good practices in the region. Mr Minerson said
one of the key messages for parliamentarians is “the
necessity to make the links between the promotion of
gender equality and the reduction of violence
against women.” To read the full transcript, please
visit
http://discuss.prb.org/content/interview/detail/4187/.
9.Lower chamber of Spanish parliament
passes law on SRH
The Lower Chamber of the Spanish
Parliament approved the Organic Law on Sexual and
Reproductive Health and the Volutary Interruption of
Pregnancy. According to El Pais, 184 MPs voted in
favor, 158 against and 2 abstained. The Popular
Party, in opposition to the government, changed
their spokesperson on the issue for a more moderate
one.
Amendments include the right to
individual conscientious objection, mandatory
sexuality education in schools, subsidies for modern
contraceptives and the obligation for adolescents
aged 16 and 17 to have parental approval for an
abortion, unless this consent would entail domestic
violence. The socialist government emphasizes that
the objective of the law is to prevent unwanted
pregnancies and consequently reduce the number of
abortions; to grant women the right to decide about
becoming a mother and to delete abortion as an item
in the penal code.
This and previous editions of our
E-News can be viewed on our website at
http://www.afppd.org/information.html.
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