The Association of Development Research and Training Institutes of Asia and the Pacific (ADIPA), Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), and Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM) jointly organized a training course at UPM from 24 July to 4 August 1995.
The aim of the course was to correlate the revolution in information technology with the perceived needs for addressing gender issues in the development process. The course was based on the ubiquitous and affordable developments in microcomputer technology, the science of information collection, compilation, analysis, interpretation and dissemination. It highlighted new applications of information technology and information systems that would benefit the professionals working in the areas of gender issues, networking, sustainable development and information management.
(Source: APDC Newsletter, August 1995, p.16)
FHI paper on integrated services
Family Health International's Women Studies Project recently published a working paper entitled From Rhetoric to Reality: Delivering Reproductive Health Promises through Integrated Services, by Karen Hardee and Kathryn M. Yount. The paper explores the benefit of integrated services and reviews lessons learned from past experiences with integration.
A free copy may be obtained by contacting: The Publications Coordinator, FHI, P.O. Box 13950, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, United States; Tel: (919) 544-7040; Fax: (919) 544-7261
(Source: Network, September 1995, p.28)
Women and HIV/AIDS
Women and HIV/AIDS: An International Resource Book, edited by Marge Berer and Sunanda Ray, sets out to present a decade of knowledge and experience regarding the impact of HIV/AIDS on women's health, sexual relationships, and reproductive rights.
The English edition is published by Pandora Press (Harper Collins United Kingdom). For information about discount rates and free copies, which may be available to groups in developing countries, please contact: TALC, P.O. Box 49, St. Albans, Herts AL1 4AX, United Kingdom; or (for Australia/New Zealand, Europe, and North America) Women and HIV/AIDS Book, 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9SG, United Kingdom.
(Source: Populi, September 1995, p.23)
Evaluation of IEC project
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP) will jointly organize a workshop at Tokyo from 13 to 15 December 1995. The objectives of the workshop are to review the UNFPA-supported IEC project (RAS/92/P12) of the last four years; review the relevance and usefulness of the regional/national IEC materials produced in the afore-mentioned period and actual utilization at the country level; exchange experiences; identify areas for improvement and IEC needs for the next phase, 1996-1999 period.
(Source: JOICFP News, November 1995, p.8)
UNFPA's Role
Gender, Population, and Development: The Role of the United Nations Population Fund, published by UNFPA's Gender, Population and Development Branch, provides a global summary of progress towards gender equity and equality and a region-by-region survey of UNFPA's role in promoting it. The report outlines the International Conference on Population and Development's recommendations and UNFPA's response to date. It is available in English, French and Spanish. For further information, readers may contact: UNFPA, 200 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, United States; Tel: (212) 297-5141; Fax: (212) 297-4915
(Source: Populi, September 1995, p. 23)
Family planning manager joins Internet
The Massachusetts-based Family Planning Manager has joined the Internet's World Wide Web, through which readers may order the publication, read about project initiatives in other countries, and communicate directly with Family Planning Management Development (FPMD) and colleagues around the world through electronic mail.
Full instructions are provided on how to use the service. The issues include detailed discussions on reducing client waiting time, increasing community participation in family planning, learning to think strategically, among other useful items on management initiatives. For more information, please contact: FPMD, Management Sciences for Health, 400 Centre Street, Newton, Massachusetts 02158, United States; Tel: (617) 527 9202; Fax: (617)965 2208; E-mail: fpmdpubs@msh.org
(Source: Open File, October 1995, p.32)
Family planning guide
The Pocket Guide for Family Planning Service Providers contains information about contraceptive methods. It has been made available by the Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Reproductive Health (JHPIEGO). The guide, intended for use by clinicians when they need immediate answers to questions about a client's condition or a contraceptive method, contains sections on providing services, specific contraceptive methods, and contraception for clients with special needs.
Orders for purchasing the book may be sent to: JHPIEGO Corp., Materials Management, 1615 Thames St., Baltimore, MD 21231-3447, United States; Tel: (410) 614-0585; Fax:(410) 955-6199
(Source: Network, September 1995, p.28)
Women and HIV/AIDS/STDs
The Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Southern Africa AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAFAIDS) and World Health Organization (WHO) recently published a resource pack to provide policy makers, planners and programme implementers with information and ideas to help them to incorporate a gender-based approach to HIV/AIDS and STDs into their programmes. It comprises a 52-page publication, posters and tool cards. A gender-based response to HIV/AIDS and STDs, it focuses on how different social expectations, roles, status and economic power of men and women affect and are affected by the epidemic.
Its purpose is also to analyze gender heterotypes and explore ways to reduce inequalities between women and men so that a supportive environment can be created, enabling both to undertake prevention and cope better with the epidemic.
The publication is available from: KIT, Mauritskade 63, 1092 AD Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Tel:(3120) 5688 288; Fax: (3120) 6554 423; E-mail:acb@kit.support.nl
(Source: Open File, October 1995, p. 32)
New proceedings
Full proceedings from the 1993 International Population Conference held at Montreal, Canada, published by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), are now available in both French and English. The conference papers are contained in four volumes.
For further information, please contact: International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, rue des Augustins, 34 4000, Liege, Belgium.
(Source: Open File, October 1995, p.32)
MSc courses in population studies
The London School of Economics and Political Science has on offer two master of science (MSc) courses in Population Studies: the MSc in Demography is intended to provide state-of-the-art training for practicing demographers and relevant training for research in demography; the MSc in Population and Development is intended to provide a broad and intellectually stimulating training courses on the background, concepts and practical issues of population and development, for graduates in any relevant degree subject.
For further information, please contact: Graduate Admissions Office, London School of Economics, Houghton St., London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom; Tel: 44 171 955 7159/60; Fax: 44 171 831 1684.
(Source: Poster/leaflet of the London School of Economics and Political Science)
Population information in Viet Nam
Viet Nam's population information programme and activities were recently assessed by a United Nations team with regard to the flow, exchange and use of population information and materials. The situation of population documentation and information centres in the country, in terms of personnel, facilities and services, was also reviewed. The report, prepared an expert from ESCAP and one of the UNFPA Country Support Team Advisers based at Bangkok, proposed a mechanism for setting up an integrated nationwide population information network which will facilitate a more effective flow, exchange and use of population information and materials. The report served as an input to the Programme Review and Strategy Development (PRSD) exercise.
(Source: UNFPA Country Support Team for East and South-East Asia Newsletter, August 1995, p.8)
World Bank to invest in women
In his address to the Fourth World Women's Conference held at Beijing in September 1995, the World Bank President, James Wolfensohn, announced plans to commit US$ 900 million a year to the education of girls over the next five years.
He urged that all girls should be able to complete at least primary school and that an equal proportion of boys and girls should continue on to secondary school.
More education for girls will also enable more women to attain leadership positions at all levels of society: from health clinics in the villages to parliaments in the capitals. This in turn, will change the way societies deal with problems and raise the quality of global decision-making.
For the year ending June 1995, the World Bank approved more than US$ 450 million in loans to finance 24 projects related to population and reproductive health activities in 22 countries; this compares with only 16 such projects in the previous year. Initial estimates show that nearly US$ 900 million in lending commitments was made in 1994 and 1995 for family planning, safe motherhood, AIDS prevention and related activities.
For more information, readers may contact: Chantal Worzala, Human Development Department, World Bank Public Information Center, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, United States; Tel:(202) 258 5454.
(Source: Open File, October 1995, p.6)
UNFPA focuses on reproductive health
Linking the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) with the Fourth World Women's Conference, the 1995 State of World Population Report from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recently referred to the ICPD "the start of a new era in population and development". Subtitled Decisions for Development: Women, Empowerment and Reproductive Health, the 76-page report emphasizes that to be most effective, family planning services should be integrated into the wider context of reproductive health, rather than approached in isolation. Among other items, the report looks into prenatal medical care for pregnant women, types of cancer of the cervix linked to sexually transmitted diseases, breast cancer, and contraceptive use in the third world.
For further information, readers may contact: Population Communications International, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017, United States; Tel: (212) 687 3366; Fax: (212) 661 4188.
(Source: Open File, October 1995, p.4)