| Collaboration
with Other Sectors of Civil Society Renewed efforts have been made
since the ICPD to mobilize the efforts of religious and cultural groups, parliamentarians
and the private sector for the implementation of the Programme of Action.
Religious Leaders
Many religious leaders can play an important role in promoting population and reproductive
health issues and as an important partner in the ICPD Programme of Action implementation
given their strong authority and the influence that they have on their constituents.
UNFPA has recognized this and involved religious authorities in relevant discussions.
The Fund’s Africa Division organized an international conference on Islam and
Population in November 1998 in Niamey, Niger, for over 80 Muslim leaders and scholars from
19 sub-Saharan African countries and eight other countries. The meeting made
recommendations to further the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action especially
with regard to Islam and reproductive health, the status of women, and population and
development.
Religious leaders are also increasingly involved in country-level activities. In Ghana,
for example, eight religious organizations are currently preparing manuals to incorporate
population/family life education into religious activities and to encourage parents to
discuss sexuality with their children.
In Uganda, for example, the Population Secretariat coordinates and oversees the
implementation of advocacy activities and provision of reproductive health services of a
national consortium of NGOs where Catholic and Muslim leaders are represented.
Parliamentarians United for Reproductive Health and
Rights
Parliamentarians play a unique role in the government-civil society partnership. They are
in essence the bridges between civil society and governments. Parliamentarians can play a
direct role in defining programmes and allocating budgets. Significant progress at the
advocacy level has sensitized parliamentarians to ICPD issues. As a result, the
parliamentary movement has grown, its intra-parliamentary lobbying activities have
increased and legislation has been promulgated, and regional and international
parliamentarians’ networks are thriving.
Parliamentary advocacy has enabled the level of funding to be maintained and sustained
in some countries where such funding was to be decreased or eliminated. For example, in
the Asia and Pacific Region, UNFPA funded two projects which organized conferences and
forums involving parliamentarians.
Over 200 parliamentarians representing 103 countries took part in a three-day
international forum as part of the ICPD+5 meetings at The Hague in February 1999. They
agreed to a declaration calling for legislation, advocacy and increased resources to
ensure that governments meet their ICPD obligations with respect to reproductive health
and rights, gender equity and empowerment of women, and prevention of violence against
women, including FGM.37
The Private Sector
The private sector has the potential to play several important roles in the implementation
of the Programme of Action. First, businesses with direct interests in the provision of
supplies, services and technical know-how can work with governments to eliminate barriers
to access to services and information and to development of markets for those
able to pay. They can work to develop mutually rewarding agreements for expansion of
service and logistical networks.
Second, they can act to ensure that family planning and reproductive health services
are included in the packages of benefits and services that are offered to their employees
and in the regulatory frameworks governing enterprises.
Providing workers with information and education on family life issues has for years
been a goal of UNFPA collaboration with the International Labour Organization. The direct
benefits to participating enterprises include productivity increases from reduction of
illnesses of employees and their families and less stressful family lives. Recently in
Cameroon, Eritrea and Malawi, for example, UNFPA has provided support to the Ministries of
Labour in order to provide family life education for workers in public and private
enterprises as well as reproductive health services through health centres or
community-based initiatives.
BOX 22
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Involving the Private Sector in
Meeting Contraceptive Commodity Needs
Under its Global Initiative on Reproductive Health Commodity Management, UNFPA is
helping countries determine how to meet their contraceptive and reproductive health
commodity requirements for the next 10 years.
The initiative provides technical assistance to estimate national needs and develop
strategies to meet them. It also helps to facilitate negotiations between governments and
commodity suppliers, and brings experts from different countries together to compare and
contrast their needs and approaches. An advisory group including major donors meets
periodically, contributing to better coordination of commodity provision.
A major aim is to increase private sector and NGO involvement in making affordably
priced products and services more accessible, freeing public resources to serve groups
that cannot afford to pay full price for them.
As part of its national programme in India, UNFPA has organized meetings with
private-sector producers and distributors to improve the availability of temporary methods
of contraception. The intent is to provide more choices to those seeking to space their
pregnancies.
Source: UNFPA. 1999. Donor Support for Contraceptive Commodities 1997. |
The Tata Corporation in India, a large industrial firm, has advanced the
implementation of the Programme of Action with special reference to the reproductive
health of adults, a focus on youth, and attention to the prevention of HIV/AIDS. The Tata
Group has experimented boldly with different approaches. It formed partnerships with
mothers-in-law, whose support was needed to enable young women to go for health care or
attend family planning clinics. It held consultations and helped initiate community-based
clinics run by youth clubs and voluntary organizations.
Business associations and community groups also have a role to play. Rotary
International has used its network to provide a platform to promote greater awareness of
population and development issues locally. Some national clubs have mobilized resources
for population activities, often with support from partner Rotarians in other countries,
the Rotary Foundation and bilateral donors. The Rotarians are encouraging community
programmes for the reduction of population pressures, prevention of environmental
degradation and elimination of poverty.
Rotary International established the Rotary International Fellowship on Population and
Development in Senegal in 1995 and has expanded activities to other interested national
associations. It is now the largest fellowship within Rotary International.
In Thailand, the Business Coalition for AIDS consists of 126 enterprises that provide
in-kind assistance to initiatives to combat the pandemic.
Medical Associations
Medical associations, such as the Commonwealth Medical Association and the International
Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and their local affiliates, have advocated
for expanded access to quality reproductive health services. These organizations also
assist WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF and other international agencies in defining national and
international codes of conduct and standards of care that protect basic rights. They can
also play important roles in formulating the broader health policy context in which
reproductive health services are offered.
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