Dispatches - April
Celebrities Kick Off ‘End Fistula’ Campaign in Belgium
BRUSSELS — Singer and actress Natalie Imbruglia, television personality Goedele Liekens, high-level politicians and individuals from the Belgian fashion and media scene gathered to rally support for the Campaign to End Fistula, a global effort to address a devastating injury of childbearing that affects more than 2 million women and girls. “Obstetric fistula was eliminated here in Belgium more than 100 years ago,” said Ms. Imbruglia, spokesperson for the Campaign to End Fistula. “It’s unacceptable that women and girls in Africa and Asia are still suffering from this entirely preventable and treatable condition.” 
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PHOTOS from the Celebrity Gathering in Brussels |
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Celebrity Gathering Spotlights "End Fistula" Campaign |
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Belgium Adopts New Policy on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
BRUSSELS — Belgian development cooperation policy must respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the fight against all forms of discrimination, according to a new development policy note.
On 17 April, the Belgian Parliament adopted the ‘Policy paper on Belgian development cooperation in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights’. Under the new policy, Belgian development cooperation must also contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The policy is based on the recommendations and the ICPD Programme of Action adopted in Cairo in 1994.
UNFPA’s Executive Director Thoraya Obaid welcomed the adoption of the policy note, which is consistent with UNFPA’s support for both the ICPD and the MDGs. With this initiative, the Belgian Development Cooperation joins other European countries, such as Denmark and Sweden, in developing policy strategies on sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Read the policy note in French or Dutch
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The Promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Right-Strategy for Denmark’s Support |
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Sweden’s International Policy on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights |
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Training Health Professionals to Better Protect Survivors of Rape
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MONROVIA, Liberia — Survivors of rape in Liberia will now have access to doctors and other medical staff who have been specially trained to deal with them. The health professionals participated in UNHCR/UNFPA’s Clinical Management of Rape Survivors workshops that took place in early March. Wilma Doedens, of the UNFPA Humanitarian Response Unit in Geneva, was the lead trainer.
These trainings are especially important in countries in or emerging from conflict, because sexual violence is often common in these situations, and medical staff may not be up to date on the latest treatments. Bridging this gap is one of the key aims of the training.
For example, initial protocols for medical management of survivors of rape in humanitarian crises were developed about five years ago. Two years later, WHO, UNFPA and UNHCR recommended including PEP, or Post-Exposure Prophylaxis designed to prevent transmission of HIV, in the treatment protocol. Training workshops were needed to dispel the many misconceptions around PEP procedures that existed in the field.
“In refugee settings there has been much confusion and many myths around PEP among medical staff, so the development of rape survivor management training that explains PEP and other essential treatments has been an important step,” said Dr. Doedens.
Another challenge to providing care following sexual violence is confidentiality.
In Liberia, a planned workshop will include lawyers, police, and social and health service providers in an effort to discuss issues of referral and confidentiality and how to best support survivors of rape.
To date, over 400 medical staff have been trained in treating survivors of rape in 15 countries, most of them in Africa but also in Southwest Europe, South Asia and Central Asia. An additional three regional training of trainers have also taken place.
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Ending Widespread Violence Against Women |
European Union Largest Financial Contributor to the UN
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BRUSSELS — A new report reveals that European Union Member States combined with the European Commission are the largest financial contributors to the UN System.
The first-ever report on "The Partnership between the UN and the EU", published in Brussels last month, documents EC-UN initiatives in many areas of development and humanitarian cooperation. In the field of health, the report highlights the UN-EC focus on prevention, especially in maternal health and vaccination.
Priority has been given to initiatives to achieve MDG5 by improving women's sexual and reproductive health. These initiatives have benefited some 700,000 women in Africa, Latin America and in the Arab region.
In 2005, contributions from the European Commission and the European Union Member States represented nearly 60 per cent of UNFPA's total budget.
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