Monthly Information Service                                                                   No. 77 – June/ July 2011

AFPPD News

1.       100 Filipino Congressmen Support RH Bill

2.       Indian Leaders Meet to Discuss RH

3.       AFPPD at CIS Parliamentarians Meeting of RH

4.       Pacific Leaders Meet to Review Population and Development Issues

5.       Central Asian UNFPA Staff Discuss Parliamentary Advocacy

6.       27th Asian Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Population and Development

Affiliate Network and Related News

         Parliamentarians at UNGASS New York

Resources for Parliamentarians

         AFPPD Policy Tracking and Monitoring Unit
         AIDSPortal

Philippines – Five out six congressmen in Iloilo City support the passage of the bill on reproductive health and responsible parenthood development. At the 2nd Regional Population Congress held in Iloilo City on July 11, Population Commission (Popcom) Regional Director Vicente Molejona said the Iloilo lawmakers are strongly supporting the bill on reproductive health. 100 congressmen expressed their support, while 30 others are still undecided as they wait for President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address on July 25^th to see if he will certify RH as a priority bill in Congress. The RH bill is also being supported by Iloilo’s Mayor, as he said that the city is meeting the challenges of the population growth rate.

 2. Indian Leaders Meet to Discuss RH

India – The “Consultation with Parliamentarians and Civil Society Leaders on Family Planning & Reproductive Health in India – Addressing the Challenges” was held on the 10^th – 11^th of June, in New Delhi. It was organized by the International Council on Management of Population Programmes (ICOMP), Malaysia and IAPPD and supported by David & Lucile Packard Foundation, and was attended by Indian parliamentarians as well as members of civil society, experts and the media. This consultation was held to bring together Elected Representative, Family Planning Experts and civil society and encourage positive dialogue among them as well as improve the management and service quality of FP/RH programmes including ASRH and HIV/AIDS prevention service to young people. This meeting was particularly important as it was one of the country level initiatives leading ultimately to a Regional meeting of SAARC countries on family planning & reproductive health later in the year in Kathmandu. 

 3. AFPPD at CIS Parliamentarians Meeting of RH

CIS countries held a two-day Parliamentary Assembly based in St Petersburg (Russia) on the 23^rd of June. They joined with UNFPA to draft a model Reproductive Health legislation which can be adopted by other CIS countries. AFPPD and the European Forum made a presentation on their specific regional situation at a workshop with parliamentarians.

 4. Pacific Leaders Meet to Review Population and Development Issues

AFPPD and UNFPA joined together with IPPF to organize a technical consultation for advocacy on population and development in Suva (Fiji) on the 10^th – 12^th of July. The consultation brought together ministers, parliamentarians, civil society and officials to review the impact of advocacy in the Pacific and what further steps are needed. Population in the Pacific is also on the rise along with migration. In order to make sure that every child is wanted, advocacy needs to be strengthened. Mr. Dirk Jena, Director of the UNFPA Pacific office, organized the event and Ms Nancy Noma, AFPPD Program Associate, made a presentation to UNFPA on advocacy. 

 5. Central Asian UNFPA Staff Discuss Parliamentary Advocacy

AFPPD has been active in central Asian countries since 1994 to mobilize parliamentarians on population and development issues. Several programs were initiated with UNFPA and Japan Trust Fund. A workshop with UNFPA staff of Central Asian country offices took place in Istanbul to review the current status of parliamentarians’ involvement and discussed ways to enhance parliamentary advocacy.  

 6. 27th Asian Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Population and Development

On July 18^th – 19^th, the Asian Population Development Association (APDA) with the support of UNFPA, IPPF, AFPPD, and the Sri Lankan Health Ministry, organized the 27^th Asian Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Population and Development. The two-day forum was attended by over 100 Parliamentarians from 23 countries as well as local dignitaries and foreign delegates were also present, while opening remarks were made by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The former Prime Minister of Japan and APDA chairperson, MP Yasuo Fukuda, spoke about the challenges of population growth and the global impact of an increasing population on limited resources. Parliamentarians were urged to bring forth suggestions to deal with these population and development challenges.  AFPPD’s Executive Committee also met in Colombo on July 17^th.

Asian and European members of parliament were at UNGASS (United Nations General Assembly Special Session) in New York in June. The parliamentarians also discussed how to enhance political commitment in those countries where discrimination laws still exist. Asian parliamentarians were especially concerned about the increasing number of HIV cases in some countries.

 Resources for Parliamentariansns

AFPPD Policy Tracking and Monitoring Unit - The AFPPD Policy Tracking and Monitoring Unit has created a population and development policy database, with a large number of policy and legislative resources available online at  http://www.afppd-populationpolicies.org/.  Population policy updates are also being sent out electronically to parliamentarians, UN representatives and other interested professionals in the field of population and development to keep them informed and up-to-date on current issues. If you wish to be added to this list, please email afppdpolicytrackingunit@afppd.org.

AIDSPortal - Provides parliamentarians with excellent resources on HIV/AIDS that include data collections, policy initiatives, funding opportunities, and HIV/AIDS events, as well as information on country specific issues across the globe. For further details, see: http://www.aidsportal.org/web/guest/home.

 Announcements

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