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1.
Parliamentarians to Champion SRHR in South Asia
Thailand – Over 35
Members of Parliament from 8 South Asian
countries, Iran and Myanmar, and representatives
from IPPF member associations and international
organizations convened to brainstorm on
developing SRHR platforms in the region at the
AFPPD-IPPF South-Asian Parliamentarians’
workshop held in Phuket, Thailand on 24-25
September 2011. Ms. Lubna Baqi, Deputy Regional
Director, UNFPA-APRO, Ms. Deressa Galanne,
Programme Specialist, UNFPA-APRO, Dr. Gita Sen,
Professor, IIM Bangalore and Ms. Anjali Sen,
Regional Director, IPPF were among the experts
who spoke along with resource persons from ARROW
and WHO. A Statement of Commitment was developed
at the end of the workshop. The event was a
follow up workshop to review the actions taken
by parliamentarians from the previous workshop.
2.
Parliamentarians at AFPPD Satellite Sessions at
the 6th APCRSHR
Indonesia – The 6th
Asia-Pacific Conference on Reproductive and
Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSHR) will be held
in Yogyakarta, Indonesia from 19-22 October,
2011. The conference under the theme “Claiming
Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Asian and
Pacific Societies” is being organized upon the
need to resolve issues of sexual and
reproductive health, which is one of the current
challenges faced by Asia-Pacific region. For
more information, please see
http://www.arpcrshr6.org
AFPPD as a parliamentary advocacy agency on the
issues related to population have arranged the
participation of parliamentarians from
Asia-Pacific region to involve them in the 6th
APCRSHR through two satellite sessions with
UNFPA. The two satellite sessions aim to
highlight pertinent issues on SRHR, showcase
good practices of supporting politicians working
on SRHR, promoting cutting-edge ideas and
provide an avenue for networking. The sessions
include “Parliamentarians and Young People
Speak Out on SRHR” and “Enhancing
Political Commitment for Maternal Health”.
3.
Parliamentarians Discussed Migrant Workers’
Rights to Social Protection
Cambodia – Twenty-six
parliamentarians as well as legislative staff
members, civil society and trade union
representatives gathered in Phnom Penh for the
5th Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Labour
Migration from 15-17 September 2011. The
programme hosted by Cambodian National Assembly
was organized in parallel with ASEAN
Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) to address
the issues of the protection of migrant workers
and members of their families and the access to
social security/protection.
The event was convened to explore challenges on
the prevailing notion that states are not
responsible for the well being of non-national
working in their territories and seek to resolve
the ongoing tensions on rights protection
extended to citizens and those extended to
migrant workers in the context of regional
integration through plenary sessions, collective
brainstorming sessions and small group
strategizing. Ms. Sirisaranya Pakninrat,
programme associate of AFPPD, presented ways to
involve parliamentarians.
4. Lao
Parliamentarians to Lead toward Achieving MDGs
Lao PDR – Lao
Association of Parliamentarians on Population
and Development (LAPPD), a member of AFPPD,
convened its first Plenary Meeting for the new
legislature in Tha Lad, Lao PDR, on 1-2
September 2011. About 50 people, including LAPPD
parliamentarian members, deputy ministers and
representatives from relevant ministries and
international organizations such as UNFPA,
UNICEF, and UNAIDS attended the meeting. AFPPD’s
representative, Mr. Phermsak Lilakul, spoke
about LAPPD and AFPPD relation and cooperation.
The meeting was chaired by Dr. Phonethep, MP,
who utilized his teaching skills to explain the
background and relevant information on MDGs and
other related issues to the parliamentarians.
Dr. Somphou, MP, LAPPD Vice-Chairman, delivered
a summary report on the LAPPD activities during
2010 and 2011. LAPPD conducted three main
domestic projects last year. The report also
listed a number of regional and international
conferences attended by LAPPD members. Most of
them were either organized or facilitated by
AFPPD. The statement from the 27th APDA Meeting
in Colombo was also read.
5. Project
Proposal Writing for External Assistance on
Sexual and Reproductive Health
Thailand – On 21-23
September 2011, the Planned Parenthood
Association of Thailand (PPAT), in collaboration
with the Thailand International Development
Cooperation Agency (TICA), organized a Regional
Workshop on Project Proposal Writing for
External Assistance on Sexual and Reproductive
Health. The training, led by TICA
representatives, focused on strengthening the
capacity of participants from 5 countries of
Myanmar, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Mongolia and the
Philippines in project proposal writing for
international assistance on sexual and
reproductive health issues. Participants were
given the opportunity to present their current
Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) situation
in their countries and then develop proposal
ideas for external resources. Each country
worked on conceptual models and log frames which
were presented at the end of the workshop. Ms.
Gaida Chitto, programme associate, participated
in the training on behalf of AFPPD.
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Elimination of Violence
against Women legislations from Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, China, Fiji, India, Malaysia,
Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand
are now on AFPPD policy tracking website along
with population, reproductive health, and family
planning related legislations and policies.
They can be viewed at
http://www.afppd-populationpolicies.org |
