Thematic Workshops

The course was held at the Centre of Population Studies, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine from the 22 July to 2 August, 1996. The participants were drawn from each of the UNFPA Country Support Teams with two participants from UNFPA New York. Dr. Salesi Katoanga represented the CST Suva.

The major focus of the workshop was on project appraisal. Some of the issues covered were : types of evaluation; development of indicators to suit each phase of the evaluation; development of indicators for quality of care; measuring of impact indicators; who evaluates, what, how and when to evaluate.

From 9-13 September 1996, the Expert Group on the 2000 World Population and Housing Census Programme met in New York to consider revisions to the Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses published in 1980 and the Supplementary Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses published in 1990.

With many Pacific island countries conducting a census in 1996, these updated principles and recommendations will be extremely useful for developing standard definitions and tabulations and in setting up effective census user services. For the longer-run, the discussions of the Expert Group will help in the development of census strategies for the new millennium, in the face of growing demands for statistics and indicators and the problems faced in funding the financial and human resources required to develop fledgling statistical systems.

In the past, the problems of the small Pacific countries in conducting censuses have been discussed in Pacific meetings convened by the South Pacific Commission and ESCAP. But for many years, at a loss to the Pacific, no support has been provided for such meetings.

Among the important issues discussed by the Expert Group were the planning, organization and administration of population and housing censuses; quality control; topics to be investigated; standards and definitions; data processing and databases; and dissemination and evaluation of results.

The CST was represented at the Expert Group by Mr. Laurie Lewis, Adviser on Population Statistics, who will be happy to answer any questions that readers may have.

The Adviser on Population Policies and Development Strategies participated in the Workshop on Quality of Care in Family Planning and Reproductive Health Programmes, co-sponsored by the UNFPA and the Population Council, at the Council's headquarters in New York, on 21-25 October, 1996.

The main objective of the workshop was to enhance participants' capacity to provide technical assistance to governments and UNFPA country offices in incorporating the concept of "Quality of Care" in family planning programmes and in moving these programmes towards broader reproductive health programmes.

The final session of the workshop allowed CST participants to make brief presentations of the situations in their regions, as portrayed in the papers they were asked to prepare in advance of the workshop. Mr. House presented a paper entitled: "Quality of Care in Family Planning and Reproductive Health Programmes: the Pacific Islands Situation".

In cooperation with WHO and UNAIDS, The UNFPA sponsored a thematic workshop for CST Advisers on Integrated RTI/STD/HIV/AIDS Prevention in the context of Reproductive Health at the Primary Health Care Level" at WHO, Geneva on 21-25 October.

The objective is to strengthen UNFPA country Support Team's capacity in responding to national needs for assistance in the development and implementation of integrated prevention programmes. The workshop was facilitated by a large group of experts from WHO, UNAIDS, and international NGOs.

Dr. Salesi Katoanga, CST Adviser in Reproductive Health/Family Plan-ning represented the CST Suva.