Asia and the Pacific
Reproductive health
Population and
development strategies
Advocacy
...............................................
Africa
Arab States
Central and Eastern Europe
Latin America and the Caribbean
Interregional Programmes
|
Reproductive healthThe operationalization of the reproductive health
approach constituted the bulk of the activities UNFPA supported in the region. Efforts
concentrated on a range of actions designed to assist countries to move the process
forward and to broaden the array of services made available in the context of reproductive
health care. These efforts were accompanied by pertinent IEC and advocacy activities. In
many instances, initiatives begun in earlier years showed concrete results in 1997.
Sri Lanka is among the first countries to have developed a national reproductive health
policy. In July, Thailand took an important step toward the full implementation of the
reproductive health approach advanced by the ICPD Programme of Action by announcing a
reproductive health policy that grants all individuals, regardless of age and marital
status, access to reproductive health information and services. In this regard, the
Ministry of Health has announced a ten-component package of reproductive health services
to be delivered through the public health system with an emphasis on quality of care and
reaching underserved groups, including adolescents. Similarly, Bhutan and Mongolia have
also developed national reproductive health strategies.
Bangladesh is actively promoting partnerships with NGOs, particularly those that have
proved effective in providing reproductive health services in low-performing areas. Under
the new programme of assistance to Bangladesh, 10 per cent of regular resources will be
channeled through NGOs. Similarly, in India, 10 per cent of programme funds will be
allocated to activities undertaken by NGOs, under the new programme of assistance. In
Nepal, collaboration has been expanded with NGOs active in reproductive health service
delivery. Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, UNFPA has supported the mobilization of NGOs to include
reproductive health as part of their work programme. In this regard, PEACE (an NGO working
to combat child prostitution) has been assisted in carrying out reproductive health
activities. NGOs in Sri Lanka are also playing a key role in providing information and
services to adolescents, displaced persons and young female workers.
The shift towards an integrated reproductive health approach requires in many instances
that countries surmount important constraints that derive, for example, from a shortage of
trained staff or infrastructure weaknesses, as, for example, in the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea where the strengthening of national capacity and
infrastructure for improved quality of reproductive health care, including family
planning, was the focus of UNFPA assistance. Governments in several countries, for
example, Papua New Guinea, have set in motion programmes to train and retrain health staff
at various levels, on such subjects as reproductive health, adolescent sexuality and
rights, and the role and responsibility of men in reproductive health. In Myanmar, UNFPA
support includes training of health personnel in reproductive health service delivery at
the township level. In the South Pacific, UNFPA continued to build on the post-ICPD
momentum in the area of reproductive health by strengthening various institutions in close
collaboration with the Governments of the subregion. This included support to the Regional
Training and Research Centre.
UNFPA's initial programme of emergency assistance to the Central Asian Republics
(Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan), Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan has now
evolved into a comprehensive programme of national capacity-building for reproductive
health services. In partnership with international NGOs and United Nations agencies, 20
reproductive health training centres were established and some 2,600 staff received
training in the area of quality of care. The provision of medical equipment,
contraceptives and essential drugs have also contributed to the upgrading of services and
the broadening of contraceptive choice.
Quality-of-care considerations are a pervasive concern in the countries of the region and
an important programme dimension of UNFPA support. For example, the national curriculum
for training in quality of care in reproductive health was revised in Indonesia. In India,
five pilot district reproductive health projects were launched and will provide lessons on
how to implement a reproductive health quality of care approach that emphasizes
sensitivity to client needs and stimulates community participation. Efforts to reorient
the reproductive health/family planning programme, in line with the recommendations of the
ICPD Programme of Action, continued in the Islamic Republic of Iran and were marked by an
emphasis on quality of care that included focusing on greater male involvement in
reproductive health. Also, with UNFPA assistance, the Government made notable progress in
addressing sensitive issues such as adolescent reproductive health, sex education, and the
prevention of STDs/AIDS. The country’s first national workshop on adolescent health
was held in 1997 and marked the beginning of nationwide activities in this key area.
Addressing the reproductive health needs of adolescents and young people is a growing area
of concern in the region, and many countries are making efforts to reach this important
population group. For example, Indonesia has established several counselling centres for
adolescents. In India, UNFPA has organized a core group of governmental and
non-governmental organizations to propose alternative strategies for addressing adolescent
reproductive health issues, particularly those related to the adolescent girl. Countries
of the region also continued their efforts to mainstream gender sensitivity in their
programmes. Often these efforts were coupled with initiatives to bring about greater
involvement of men, as husbands and partners, in reproductive health decisions. For
example, government officials from Pakistan attended a workshop on "Men as
Partners" held in Kenya, and, as a follow-up, a series of workshops were organized in
Pakistan on issues related to male responsibility in reproductive health.
|
