Sub Progamme Review Meetings and
Annual Regional Review
Integrating Population Factors into
Development Planning
Improving
Quality of Care in Reproductive Health: A Pacific Perspective
Using Energising Games for
Participatory Advocacy
Niue: Halting Population Decline
| Vol. 7 No. 2 | Southpac NewsUNFPA Country Support Team for the South Pacific |
Dec 1999 |
Sub Programme Review Meetings and Annual Regional Review These meetings were called to review the progress made in implementing the sub-programmes in Advocacy and IEC, and in Reproductive Health. since the current Regional Programme for the South Pacific began in 1998. The meetings followed on from a series of missions to 10 of the 14 countries covered by the Suva Field Office to conduct situation analyses at the individual country level. The sub-programme review meetings (SPRM) were attended by the programme managers of the country-based RH projects together with officials from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) which is implementing the Advocacy and IEC sub-Programme, WHO officials from Manila and Vanuatu, staff of international NGOs, UNFPA Field Office staff, UNFPA CST advisers and staff, and officials from institutions which are implementing regional compo-nent projects, including the University of the South Pacific, Wan Smolbag Theatre from Vanuatu and the Fiji School of Medicine. The meetings were graced by the presence of Mr. Luke Rokovada, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Fiji and Ms. Guilio Vallese, the UNFPA Programme Officer. The Annual Regional Review (ARR) Meeting was also attended by representatives of donor agencies as well as regional participants from media organizations. Dr. Salesi Kato-anga, CST Adviser in Reproductive Health (Pro-gramme) served as the principal resource person for the RH/FP-SH review while Ms. Susan Aradeon, CST Adviser in Population Advocacy and IEC, and Dr. Ezekiel Nukuro, SPC Regional Population and Reproductive Health Advocacy & IEC Adviser, were the principal resource persons for the Advocacy and IEC review. The main findings highlighted by Dr. Katoanga during the PRMs were: maternal mortality/ morbidity; integration of the components of RH/FP-SH care services; status of contraceptive prevalence rate and adolescent reproductive health issues; emerging problems of teenage pregnancy and STIs; the need to upgrade RH/FP information systems and logistics support; mainstreaming gender; and national capacity building. The main discussion focussed on the encouraging results that have been attained, constraints, best practices and lessons learned. The annual regional review, for which Mr. William House, CST Adviser in Population Policies and Development Strategies and Dr. Jimmie Rodgers, SPC Deputy Director, were the main contributors, provided a regional perspective on how successful the countries have been in meeting the goals of the ICPD PoA. They identified numerous constraints including falling financial resource flows from traditional donors as a major constraint on maintaining success in meeting the goals of the ICPD PoA. One area of concern identified by these meetings is the poor state of RH/FP-SH data in the region, particularly in the area of contraceptive usage. This is a problem which could be addressed by UNFPA by providing technical assistance to the countries through its Country Support Team.
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