Ordinance to help curb HIV/Aids promulgated

Sindh became the ‘first territory’ in South Asia to have a law to control and treat HIV/Aids as an ordinance was signed.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad promulgated ‘The Sindh HIV/AIDS Control, Treatment and Protection Ordinance 2013’ on Wednesday, said press secretary to the governor Syed Wajahat Ali.

Caretaker Sindh law minister Mehmood Mandviwalla said with the promulgation of the ordinance, Sindh had become the first region in South Asia to have such an ordinance.

“We are the first in the whole South Asia, even countries like India and Sri Lanka are yet to enact such a law,” said Mr Mandviwalla while speaking to Dawn.

He said with the ordinance, which would be in effect for the next 90 days, people living with HIV would be ensured to be treated as equal citizens of the country and an unfair stigma and discrimination associated with the disease would be helped to dilute.

Besides, he said, the law was made in such a way that it would ensure prevention of epidemic-like situations vis-à-vis the disease in such districts as Hyderabad and Larkana.

“HIV is in our society and it is spreading. We should take it as a reality and take measures to counter it instead of sweep the matter under the carpet,” he said.

He said NGOs, religious scholars and all other stakeholders were eager to deal with the problem.

“We could draft and implement such a landmark law because of the devolution process through the 18th constitutional amendment,” he said.

“We have introduced an ordinance and have offered it to the next political government, which should make it into law through legislation.”

He said with this law not only Sindh but the whole country would get appreciation in the international community as “we are party to most UN conventions but our pace of ratifications is not very appreciable”.

The ordinance contains implementation and monitoring, formation of the Sindh Aids Commission, administration of the Sindh Aids Commission, prohibition of discrimination based on HIV status, penalties for discrimination, measures with regard to awareness of HIV/Aids, need for behaviour change, communication and advocacy, HIV screening for sexual assault cases, children, prisoners, provision of universal precautions and post-exposure prophylaxis, confidentiality of information, authorised disclosure of information, partner notification to prevent HIV transmission, penalties of risk of transmission HIV/Aids, penalties of negligence of a health facility, penalties of unauthorised disclosure, etc.

According to the ordinance, a six-member commission would be formed and all members would be taken from outside the government.

The commission would also be responsible to advise the government on all matters relating to prevention, control, care, support and treatment of the disease.He said the most important provisions of this ordinance were protection provided to the people living with HIV against discriminations in all spheres of life, including healthcare, employment and education.

The ordinance also incorporates penalties prescribed for any such discrimination and stigmatisation of HIV/Aids patients.

Mr Mandviwalla said that Pakistan was facing a concentrated epidemic of HIV/Aids and the government since 1987, when the first HIV positive case was reported in the country, had been trying to respond to the situation, through national and provincial Aids control programmes.

”It prohibits coercion and/or requirement of screening of a person for any of the above purposes or for marriage,” said Mr Mandviwalla.

Published in Dawn on may 23, 2013

Link: http://dawn.com/2013/05/23/ordinance-to-help-curb-hivaids-promulgated/

In control of their lives

Poonam of Nangal Salagri village in Himachal Pradesh’s Una district was barely 18 when she got married. With no idea of how to prevent pregnancy, she gave birth to a baby daughter at 19. A second daughter followed soon. With two children and an entire household to look after by the time she turned 20, Poonam found herself struggling to fulfil her responsibilities.

When the local anganwadi bahenji spoke to her about using contraception — condom or oral contraceptive pill (OCP) — to control her family size, she mustered the courage to speak to her alcoholic husband about it. He paid no heed and thrashed her instead. Two traumatic miscarriages later, Poonam was once again pregnant and gave birth to her third daughter. Physically and emotionally exhausted, this 24-year-old is dreading the day she finds herself in the family way yet again. Poonam now gets OCPs from the anganwadi worker and takes them on the sly. If caught, she is sure to be beaten by her in-laws, who are desperate for a grandson.

Every Indian State has its share of Poonams, who, in the absence of relevant knowledge and access to family planning services, have no control over their lives. In a bid to make a difference to women like her, the government has been working towards nationally repositioning family planning within the framework of maternal and child health and women’s rights, instead of seeing it as tool for population control.

It started with the National Population Policy (NPP) of 2000 — a document that moved the country away from a target-oriented approach hinged on sterilisation to the affirmation of people’s voluntary and informed choices in reproductive health. In fact, a major objective enumerated in the NPP is the focus on delaying age at marriage to 18 years and addressing the vast unmet need for spacing and limiting births.

The reality is that even though India’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined to 2.5 and many States have achieved replacement level fertility, it has not meant a significant decline in maternal and infant mortality levels. Among the reasons for this is the large unmet need for family planning, which stands at an estimated 32 million.

One in six women begins childbearing between 15 and 19 years. So preventing early marriage, then, constitutes the first step. But this, according to the Population Foundation of India (PFI)-initiated systematic review of effective interventions to reposition family planning implemented in various developing countries, is an especially challenging goal, owing to age-old community norms. Through systemic research of literature and intervention studies, this review has identified strategies that have been effective in delaying age at marriage and at first birth, increasing birth spacing and improving quality of family planning services.

According to Dr. Shanta Sinha, Chairperson, National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), “There can be no greater violation of a girl’s human rights than forcing her into a physical relation by way of marriage. A few years ago, the NCPCR did a survey to find out what happens to child brides one year after marriage. We collected stories of 70 youngsters in the 12-14 year age group in the Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh. The results were horrific. Some had gone into depression; many had come back to parental homes unable to cope.”

To delay marriage, while the PFI review recommends keeping girls in school, intensive community mobilisation and providing life skills education to young women and men, in Dr Sinha’s experience, too, “talking education with the family along with the possibility of a job is the most powerful weapon against early marriage”.

In Bihar, Sanjay Kumar, executive director, State Health Society, feels this can be a credible solution. In Bihar, the TFR is a high 3.7, 46 per cent of the girls get married at the age of 16 and 60 per cent of them are mothers before they reach 19. Says Mr. Kumar, “As of now about half of the 8,000 panchayats in the State have a high school. We are advocating the opening of a high school in every panchayat. Moreover, the State government has been distributing cycles to girls in Class IX and X so that they can travel independently to the nearest high school.”

Besides averting early marriages, engaging young couples on contraception use to delay the first pregnancy and ensure adequate birth spacing is another priority area. Anuradha Gupta, mission director, National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), puts it this way, “The only message we have given out these past two years is that family planning is all about families making their own choices. We do tell couples about the importance of having smaller families for the sake of their own health and better quality of life.”

When it comes to delaying first pregnancy, Dr. T.K. Sundari Ravindran of the Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies stresses on the need to provide women with an enabling environment, “One-to-one community counselling for couples as well as other gatekeepers like mothers-in-law, local panchayat leaders and even religious leaders are known to remove barriers.”

Published in "The Hindu: newspaper on May 14, 2013

Link: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/in-control-of-their-lives/article4711980.ece

President approves extension of ‘Criminal Law Act, 2011’ to PATA

President Asif Ali Zardari on the advice of the prime minister has approved the extension of ‘criminal law (Third Amendment) Act, 2011’ to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

Spokesperson to the president Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the president, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (3) of article 247 of the constitution of Pakistan, has approved and signed the notification.

The Criminal Law Act, 2011 shall now apply to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

After the extension in the criminal act, section 310-A of Pakistan penal code now provides for punishment of up to 7 year imprisonment but not less than 3 years and a fine of five hundred thousand rupees for giving a female in marriage or otherwise in badla-e-Sulh, Wanni or Swara or any other custom or practice under any name, in consideration of settling a civil dispute or a criminal liability.

Whereas, sections 498-A, B& C, dealing with offences against women, now provides for prohibition of depriving women from inheriting property, prohibition of forced marriage and prohibition of marriage with the Holy Quran respectively.

The summary received in the presidency states that the KP governor has approved the proposal for extension of the said act and accordingly the home and tribal affairs department of the province, after being vet by the law, justice and parliamentary affairs division submitted the summary to the prime minister through the ministry of states and frontier regions for onward submission to the president for his approval.

The spokesperson said that under article 247 of the constitution, no act of parliament or provincial assembly shall apply to PATA or any part thereof unless the governor of province, in which the tribal area is situated, with the approval of the president, so directs.

Published in Dawn on May 15th, 2013

Source: http://dawn.com/2013/05/15/president-approves-extension-of-criminal-law-act-2011-to-pata/

Women’s health in rural areas of Pakistan

Pakistan is a developing country so its women have to face a lot of health problems particularly in rural areas. It is estimated that about 1,600 women per 100,000 die during childbirth.

The main reasons of this alarming percentage are lack of education, health care centres and tribal customs that restricted the women from clinical tests. In most of the rural areas most of the tribal customs forbid women to work and to be visited by male doctors, as a result most of the women do not go to hospital for check-ups.

The main health problem for the rural women is sexually transmitted diseases, and reproductive tract infections. Important point is that, unfortunately, most of the rural women remain unaware to these disorders, main reason is that a rural women have to pay a tough duty. Out of 278 rural women 61.5% work in the fields with her males, even during pregnancy. Not only this, she also have to pay duty in kitchen and other household activities. At the end of the day she has no time to think about her health and about her baby and 9 months complete in this routine.

Moreover, socio-economic conditions of rural areas of Pakistan are highly responsible for the poor health of women. In 2004-2005 government estimated that nearly 24% of rural population was living below poverty line. And in Pakistan there is patriarchal family system particularly it is very strictly obeyed in rural areas. The most common problem in rural areas of Pakistan is that women deliver at home and unfortunately it is hardly to predict which women will develop pregnancy complications, and many complications rapidly become life threatening. Only 44% of the women in Pakistan delivers by skilled birth attendant which is very below than required value.

Another major problem is that literacy rate of rural women is very low. She cannot understand complications of reproductive cycle and face a lot of problems which not only disturb her family but also affect the development of Pakistan. Women’s education not only important for mothers health but very important for her baby.

Available information from 68 countries with data on under-five mortality by mothers’ education indicates that a woman’s education is a key factor in determining whether her children will survive past the first five years of life. A child’s chances of surviving increase even further when his or her mother has a secondary or higher education. Children of mothers with no education in the Latin America and Caribbean region are 3.1 times more likely to die than those with mothers who have secondary or tertiary education and 1.6 times more likely to die than those whose mothers have primary education.

These facts suggest that rural women’s deficits in education have broader and longer-term implications for family well-being and poverty reduction.

SUGESTIONS: 1. Every Pakistani have to get education at least up to graduation particularly girls education must be necessary. 2. Female doctors should be appointed in rural areas. 3. There should be a hospital in every village. 4. Technical schools for men and women should be established so that rural population can improve the living standard thus helping the country in progress.

Published in The News on May 22, 2013
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-178709-Women%E2%80%99s-health-in-rural-areas-of-Pakistan

EVAW Law to protect women & girls in Afghanistan stalled in Parliament

Going in what numerous human rights organizations say is a ‘giant step backwards’, the Lower Afghan Parliament, known as the Wolesi Jirga, has been debating the reversal of a protective law called the EVAW – Elimination Against Violence Women Law. This Law was officially endorsed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2009 to protect girls from child marriage, as well as protect women from unjust sentencing under accusations of adultery inside the region.

But when Afghanistan’s President signed the endorsement for the Law a large problem that has blocked much of the Law’s effectiveness was never solved, the legal process of debate for all legal changes in the country required by both the Lower and Upper Parliament to fully instate the Law was never made. Karzai signed the endorsement during a break in the Parliament and the Parliamentary sessions that followed never picked up the legislation for discussion.

Lobbying efforts prior to the Lower Parliament deliberations debate on Saturday May 18, 2013 had been heralded by Afghan women’s advocates, along with other key organizations like AWN – Afghan Women’s Network and the AIHRC – Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, that included a request that the bill not be debated at this time. What the advocates feared most was that a public dissection of the bill in Parliament may cause any protected language to be taken completely out of the Law. But their pleas seemed to fall on ‘deaf ears’ as the deliberations went through anyway and five conservative members of the Parliament as predicted pushed in the opposite direction of the original bill asking for much less legal protection for women and girls.

“What women’s and human rights activists feared, did indeed happen today [Saturday May 18, 2013]…,” outlined AAN – Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent non-profit policy research organization funded by the Government of Sweden that includes a core team of analysts and a network of contributors with expertise in the fields of Afghan politics, governance, rule of law, security, and regional affairs.

Saying that the law does not represent fundamental tenants of Sharia Law and is only coming from ‘the West’, some of the most conservative members of the Parliament echoed strong conservative religious policies that are still upheld today by many of Afghanistan’s rural tribal community leaders.

Getting the bill pushed through both Lower and Upper Parliament may be much more difficult say the women’s advocates, as a majority of those in the Parliament hold conservative religious views.

“…Five MPs stood up and said early marriage and forced marriage should not be considered crimes, shelters had to be abolished, women who wanted to work needed their husbands’ approval and the conditions for multiple marriages had to be got rid of,” outlined the researchers for AAN who heard directly from observers that were present during the Parliamentary session. “Only six MPs and the speaker had the chance to express themselves before the debate was stopped,” AAN added.

The EVAW law criminalizes 22 acts of violence against women and girls in Afghanistan. This includes legal protections for women and girls from forced prostitution and sex-trafficking, early marriage, restrictions on polygamy and the trading of young girls in the tribal Pashtun custom of Baad, which has been used by Afghan tribals for centuries to settle disputes. It also grants women and girls greater access to equal education, property and land inheritance.

Because the government of Afghanistan has officially endorsed the Law, EVAW Law offices have been opened in local regions throughout Afghanistan. The result is that some court decisions have used the Law even without Parliamentary support, but the court actions are still limited by the limitations of the Law as it exists today.

“Traditional mechanisms coexist with State institutions and handle various types of cases throughout Afghanistan. Composed of influential male elders, they generally seek to preserve families and prevent escalation of tribal and other conflicts rather than protect

individual rights and enforce law.,” says a November 2011 report by United Nations OHCHR – Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Head of the Parliament’s Women’s Affairs Commission, Ms. Fawzia Koofi, who has publicly said she wants to run as a candidate for the next Afghanistan presidential election and who has been recently honored by Newsweek’s online publication The Daily Beast as one of the “150 Women Who Shake the World,” has been pushing for the EVAW Law to go through its formal legal process in debate inside the Parliament in spite of the fear by many women advocates that this would kill the Law. Koofi’s hope is that the Parliamentary process would actually strengthen the Law, not cause it to be stripped of its effectiveness.

http://womennewsnetwork.net/2013/05/20/law-to-protect-women-girls-afghanistan-stalled-in-parliament/

Narrowing the vague: SRHR and Environment

Written by: Surendra Kumar Bohara

Kahthmandu, Nepal

Health and environment are deeply related from the past. Early ecologists had defined bad health as the result of mal-adaptation with the environment. Ecological concept of health defines health as state that is maintained by equilibrium with one’s internal and external environment. In holistic concept health means, “a sound mind in a sound body in a sound family in a sound environment”. Sexual and Reproductive Health and Right are center to all health aspects of human Health. Thus, in shaping the sound sexual and reproductive health, environment plays a vital role. World has moved into the miracle of science and technology. A world of realm and eternity has been possible due to industrialization, and this is only possible by using natural resources and omitting the natural processes. In this artificial world most of activities are against nature. From Stone Age to the modern industrialized world, nature has suffered most, and human are crossing the limit of carrying capacity of Earth. Volcanoes, Earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, floods, raising sea levels, etc. are some examples of crossing capacity of nature. Environmental pollution, decrease in cultivation of crops, unseasonal rain and pandemic diseases are some warnings of nature. One cannot fully exercise his/her right regarding sex and reproduction. Health care facilities will be less prioritized relative to climate change. Also, most of the pregnancy related complications will ends at death within geographical territory due to unaccess to health services. This is closely related to ensuring the sexual and reproductive health services and right in the society.

Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.

Countries in the developing world least responsible for the growing emissions are likely to experience the heaviest impact of climate change, with women bearing the greatest toll. In tandem with other factors, rapid population growth in these regions increases the scale of vulnerability to the consequences of climate change, for example, food and water scarcity, environmental degradation, and human displacement. Over 200 million women want, but currently lack, access to modern contraceptives. As a result, 76 million unintended pregnancies occur every year. Meeting this unmet need could slow high rates of population growth, thereby reducing demographic pressure on the environment. There is now an emerging debate and interest about the links between population dynamics, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and climate change. Among the debates between solutions to climate change, population control might not be the solution. This fact can be proved since; developed countries have only 20 percent of the world population cause 80 percent of the accumulated CO2 built-up in the atmosphere. As well, population control erodes reproductive rights, victimizes the displaced, and is no substitute for gender justice. Hence, climate change has both direct and indirect effects on the perception and behavior related to sexual and reproductive health and right.

Momentum towards meeting the MDGs: 1,000 days of action remain

As of 5 April, only 1,000 days remain until the end of the 2015 target date for achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The eight MDGs – which range from halving extreme poverty to promoting gender equality to providing universal primary education by the target date of 2015 – form an internationally agreed blueprint which countries and leading development institutions have signed onto. Since their adoption in 2000, the MDGs have made a huge difference, helping to set global and national priorities and fuel action on the ground. They have raised awareness and shaped a broad vision for development work across the world.

The MDGs are not just abstract or aspirational targets. Achieving the Goals is about ensuring certain basic human rights for all, and making a real difference in people’s lives. UN Women is actively working on the achievement of the MDGs, for which women and girls play a pivotal role, as well as for MDG3, which specifically focuses on promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Read more at: http://www.unwomen.org/news-events/in-focus/mdgmomentum/