SRHR

CSBR Featured, News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights

Youth Voices: International Women Day 2019 #BalanceforBetter

Sarim, 26 - Member of VISION Pakistan's Youth Council — *Sarim, 26 – Member of VISION Pakistan’s Youth Council*

#BalanceforBetter

Aggregate action and shared duty regarding driving a gender balanced world is vital. International Women’s Day is a worldwide day commending the social, financial and political accomplishments of women, including trans women.

Now when we talk about the Gender Balance and Equality in Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights programs, we need to pay extra attention to trans women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. Reproductive health and rights –including the decision to have children or not–are basic rights regardless of gender identity, but gender identity is sometimes another barrier to accessing family planning services due to stigma and discrimination.

Family planning programs should address the unique needs of transgender people for reproduction and planning their families, including egg donation, gestational carriers, sperm donation, etc. I think the family planning needs of transgender people are an understudied but growing area of research. Sexual and gender minorities have family planning needs, both similar to and distinct from their exclusively heterosexual peers. In general, understandings of the distinct family planning needs for transgender people are limited and further research is needed, with particular attention to issues of overlapping health disparities related to status as sexual and gender minorities and other factors, such as race/ethnicity, that may add additional layers of stigma and discrimination. The barriers to overcome are fierce, and include not only lack of access to health services and insurance but also stigma and discrimination, harassment, violence, and violations of rights at every turn.

The SRHR of transgender individuals must be tended to with regard for the social, legitimate, historical, and political settings in which individuals are situated, with social, mental, medical, and lawful gender affirmation as a key need forming any mediation. Making the changes envisioned here is possible but it will require not only the advocacy, policy, programmatic and research directions presented here but also struggle and action locally, nationally, and globally. We can help empowering the transgender people with the knowledge and skills to advocate for their sexual and reproductive health & rights as these are important life decisions that shape their future and boosting a more Gender Balanced World.

CSBR CSBR Activities, News from Member Organizations, ODOS

6th CSBR “One Day, One Struggle”

November 9 2014 marks the 6th annual celebration of One Day, One Struggle. This time, every year, CSBR member organizations join forces to campaign locally and globally for sexual and bodily rights. Events will be happening around the world over the coming week, here are some:

Tunisia

Association Tunisienne des Femmes Democrates (ATFD) is launching a campaign to repeal article 227 bis of the plenal code and which allows a minor to marry her rapist.

Turkey

Women for Women’s Human Rights – New Ways, KAOS GL, and LambdaIstanbul are reading the Istanbul Convention through the lens of its emphasis on sexual and bodily rights. A series of informative and inspiring infographics and caps are distributed online and offline to highlight the importance of The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (a.k.a. Istanbul Convention) in the fields of sexual and bodily rights. The information is available in English and Turkish.

Bangladesh

The Centre for Gender, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, housed at the James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University are screening a 20 minute clip from Fauzia Khans film, “Je Golper Shesh Nei” on Sunday, November 9, 2014. The rest of the event will be an open discussion on what sexual bodily rights means in Bangladesh with questions to:

Neda Shakiba, Head of Student Affairs, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh
Joya Sikder, leader of the Sex workers union of Bangladesh
Tanvir Alim, Representative, Boys of Bangladesh
Naomi Mirza, Medical consultant, Maya.com.bd
Farhin S Kabir, Representative, Shombob (Bangladesh’s first LBT Rights Advocacy Organization)

Indonesia

GAYa NUSANTARA and the C2O Library are screening “Lovely Man.”

Pakistan

Aahung, SPARC & Madadgar are organizing an awareness raising session for parents and teachers on Child Sexual Abuse in a school for the underprivileged children.

Drag It to the Top is hosting a series of workshops on bodily rights and human rights starting in Lahore in November 2014. The first workshop will be held at the Institute of Peace & Secular Studies (IPSS) in Lahore. The aim of the 2-hour workshop is to create comfortable safe spaces for expression and dialogues leading up to body acceptance, body positive and fat-positive attitudes. The workshop will be moderated by Hadi Hussain and Aisha Haleem. A human rights activist, Hadi is one of the founding members of the Organization for the Protection & Propagation of Rights of Sexual Minorities (OPPRSM) and teaches women and gender studies at a public sector university in Lahore. Aisha, also a human rights activist is another founding member of OPPRSM and a well-known motivational speaker. Aisha manages business processes for US consultancy firm isiFederal. The event is admitting and registering participants by invitation-only. The program entails a mix-and- match of interactive discussions and activities focused on understanding body politics of daily life. Drag It to the Top administrators will also be live tweeting key messages exchanged amongst the moderators and participants of the workshop under the #JHIH hashtag which expands to Jismani Haqooq, Insani Haqooq (Bodily Rights, Human Rights). Anyone on Twitter can join the conversation by including the #JHIH hashtag. A short documentary-film, “That’s What She Said,” will also be screened during the workshop.

Malaysia

Women’s Aid Organization and Sisters in Islam are kicking off the campaign at 10am until 9pm on 9 November 2014. Follow @SistersInIslam and @womensaidorg on Twitter (if you haven’t already), #SBR4ALL, #WhySexEd, #EndChildMarriage, #abortionmyths, and #sexbodyrights. You may also follow Sisters In Islam on Facebook.

Let’s work together and get as many people involved in our fight for Sexual and Bodily Rights for all!

For more information on each event, write to coordinator@csbronline.org and follow @sexbodyrights.

Keep checking in for more announcements!

CSBR Statements

Women’s Rights Activists Welcome UN Agreements on Ending Violence Against Women

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 15, 2013

Today, the UN Member States resoundingly committed to ending violence against women and girls, including strong agreements on promoting gender equality, women’s empowerment, and ensuring reproductive rights and access to sexual and reproductive health services.

The Agreed Conclusions of the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women represent another important step forward, building on the global momentum of the past twenty years, which has created a strong framework by which to end all forms of violence against women, young women, and girls.

Women’s health and rights organizations congratulated the governments who have defended the human right of women and girls to live free from all forms of violence. We have seen two weeks of intense negotiations, in which culture, tradition, and religion have been used to try to deny women their rights.

In this context an important outcome of the Agreed Conclusions is the recognition accorded to women human rights defenders, who often come under attack when they defend universal human rights, including sexual and reproductive health and rights.

The Agreed Conclusions explicitly call for accessible and affordable health care services, including sexual and reproductive health services such as emergency contraception and safe abortion, for victims of violence. For the first time the CSW Agreed Conclusions have urged governments to procure and supply female condoms. The CSW reaffirmed previous commitments made in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and in the Programme of Action at the International Conference on Population and Development and the key actions for its further implementation.

Governments have also recommitted to important strategies such as comprehensive sexuality education, the need to end harmful practices perpetuated in the context of negative culture and traditions, and the need to focus services based on the diverse experiences of women and girls, including indigenous women, older women, migrant women workers, women with disabilities, women living with HIV, and women who are held in state custody. The links between HIV and violence against women was noted throughout the Agreed Conclusions. The Agreed Conclusions condemned and called for action to prevent violence against women in health care settings, including forced sterilisation.

Violence against girls is also a major theme throughout the document. The Commission calls for an end to child, early and forced marriage, which is an increasing problem in many countries. Worldwide, 67 million girls are forced into marriage before the age of 18. Countries also committed to improving safety of girls on their way to and from school, at school, and in playgrounds; ensuring educational opportunities for girls who already married and/or pregnant; and preventing, investigating, and punishing acts of violence against women and girls that are perpetrated by people in positions of authority, such as teachers and religious leaders.

The Agreed Conclusions emphasize the role of men and boys in ending violence against women, and call for national policies to counteract gender stereotypes that present women and girls as subordinate to men and boys. The CSW calls on governments to engage, educate, encourage, and support men and boys to take responsibility for their sexual and reproductive behaviour and become strategic partners and allies in the prevention and elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls.

The Agreed Conclusions emphasize the need to abolish legislation, policies, and programs that discriminate against women or have a discriminatory impact on women. The CSW also calls for women and girls’ unimpeded access to justice and to effective legal assistance. The Agreed Conclusions also recognize that small arms and light weapons aggravate violence against women and girls.

Importantly, the Agreed Conclusions recognize new issues in the campaign to end violence against women, including the need for strategies to address the role of new media; the impact of climate change on women; the need for measures to encourage businesses to act on workplace violence, but also their responsibility to support workers experiencing violence in the home; and the need for multisectoral responses to end violence against women.

In addition, discussions at this CSW showed high levels of support for governments to address violence against women and girls based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. There was also widespread support for addressing the problem of intimate partner violence. Although Member States at this year’s CSW failed to agree on specific language about these issues, human rights groups are confident that consensus that has been achieved on these matters throughout the UN system and will soon be reflected in Agreed Conclusions of the CSW.

However, civil society groups expressed deep concern over attempts by conservative members to derail negotiations during the CSW. Thankfully, many governments held firm on commitments to women’s rights. A statement signed of concern signed by feminist organizations during CSW is available online at http://cwgl.rutgers.edu/program-areas/gender-based-violence/csw57/statement-on-outcome-document.

The UN Commission on the Status of Women meets annually in New York and in 2013 has focused on the elimination of violence against women. Comprised of 45 Member States the CSW is the principal global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women with the sole aim of promoting women’s rights in political, economic, civil, social, and educational fields. Its mandate is to ensure the full implementation of existing international agreements on women’s human rights and gender equality.

Cross-posted via the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC).

CSBR CSBR Activities, Statements

بيان من الكتلة العربية المشاركة في أعمال الدورة السابعة و الخمسين للجنة وضع المرأة

نعربُ، نحن، ممثلو الكتلة العربية االمشاركة في أعمال الدورة السابعة و الخمسين للجنة وضع المرأة؛ من افراد و منظمات، عن قلقنا البالغ إزاء دور قيادات بلادنا في المفاوضات المفصلية المتعلقة بقضية العنف ضد النساء و الفتيات. اذ قامت حكوماتنا في هذه الجلسة و بشكل متزايد باستخدام حُججاً تستند إلى الدين، و الثقافة، و التقاليد، و القومية، لتبرير استمرار العنف و التمييز، واستمرار انتهاكات حقوق الإنسان دون محاسبة او عقاب. نحن نتحدث هنا عن العنف الذي يستهدف بنحو خاص النساء، والفتيات، والأقليات العرقية و الدينية، والأشخاص الذين يحيدون عن و يتحدون الهويات و الادوار المعيارية الخاصة بالجنس و النوع الاجتماعي .

إن المواقف التي أبدتها بعض البلدان العربية في هذا الاجتماع لا تمثل تطلعات المجتمع المدني و طموحاته، و لا تقرب الى الممارسات الفُضلى المتعلقة بالقضاء على العنف ضد النساء و الفتيات، في واقع الأمر إن قلقنا ينبع من أن العديد من الحكومات تتبنى مواقفا من شأنها تقويض جوهر الإعلان العالمي لحقوق الإنسان، ألا وهو عالمية حقوق الإنسان وكونها غيرَ قابلةٍ للتجزئة.

إننا، كمنظمات غير حكومية، نخوض نضالاً يومياً من أجل تقديم خدمات الصحة الجنسية والإنجابية؛ وإصلاح القوانين التي تشرِّع التمييز وتنتهك حقوق الإنسان، كالحقوق الجنسية والإنجابية؛ و تقديم التربية الجنسية المتكاملة؛ كما نقاوم من اجل التصدي للعنف ضد النساء والفتيات، بما في ذلك الاغتصاب الزوجي والاعتداء الجنسي؛ ومد يد العون والحماية إلى الجماعات التي تواجه التهميش والإقصاء على أساس العرق، والمذهب الديني، والنوع الاجتماعي والهوية الجنسية؛ كما نعمل على كسر المحرَّمات الثقافية والاجتماعية المتصلة بالجنسانية.

إننا نؤكِّد بأن المحرَّمات الاجتماعية وعملية تسييس المسائل المتعلقة بالجنسانية إنما هي عقبات رئيسية في سبيل العدالة بين الانواع الاجتماعية المختلفة والقضاء على العنف ضد النساء والفتيات في بلادنا، كما أن إنكار حدوث ممارسات جنسية بين الشباب ما قبل الزواج، وانكار حدوث علاقات جنسية خارج إطار الزواج، وإنكار وجود عمالة جنسية، والممارسات الجنسية بين أشخاص من نفس النوع الاجتماعي؛ إنما هو تهديد خطير لسلامة مجتمعاتنا ومستوى الصحة العامة فيها. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، ومن خلال عملنا من أجل مجتمعات أكثر تقبلاً وعدالة ومساواة؛ فإننا نؤكد بأن التقاطعات بين العنف، والفقر، والعِرق، والأصل الوطني، ومفاهيمنا الجنسانية؛ يتعيَّن أن تكون أساس إطار عملنا، ومصدر خطابنا، والمرجع في المفاوضات المتعلقة بوضع النساء.

إننا قلقون من كون الصياغة التي اقترحتها بعض الحكومات إنما تدحض الغرض من هذا الاجتماع، بل تمثل في واقع الأمر رِدةً إلى الوراء بدلاً من أن تكون خطوةً إلى الأمام. كأعضاء وقادة في المجتمع المدني، فإننا نعتقد أن هدف اجتماع الأمم المتحدة هذا ينبغي أن يكون تعزيز الالتـزام وتقوية الخطاب المستخدم في هذا الميدان، و العمل على تعزيز حِراك المؤسسات والهيئات الحكومية ذات العلاقة في بلادنا.

إننا نرغب بأن تأخذ حكوماتنا في اعتبارها، أن اتفاقيات حقوق الانسان تبين بجلاء أنه حيثما وُجد صراعٌ مُفترضٌ بين التـزامات الدول المتعلقة باحترام حقوق الإنسان وحمايتها وتعزيزها؛ و بين الأعراف الاجتماعية والثقافية والدينية؛ أن الالتـزام باحترام حقوق الإنسان و حمايتها و تعزيزها ياتي أولا.

لذا إنَّ هذا يتطلب أن تكف حكوماتنا عن مواصلة التأكيد على الخصوصية الدينية والثقافية وعلى مسألة النسبية في التعاطي مع حقوق الإنسان، وأن تقوم بدلاً من ذلك بتكريس جهودها من أجل ضمان سياسات تصحيحية شاملة تتسم بالعدالة وإشراك مختلف الفئات، كما تعترف بالفضاءات المتقاطعة، والهويات المختلفة، والخلفيات المتباينة التي تحيا في سياقها اؤلئك النساء و الفتيات.

و بالنظر إلى الالتـزامات والتحديات التي أُشير إليها آنفاً، فإنَّ الكتلة العربية المشاركة في أعمال الدورة السابعة و الخمسين للجنة وضع المرأة تدعو الحكومات إلى:

الكف عن استخدام الخصوصية الدينية الثقافية والقومية وخصوصية التقاليد من أجل منع تقدم القوانين على مختلف المستويات، بما في ذلك ما يتصل بالقانون الدولي و بالدورة السابعة و الخمسين للجنة وضع المرأة هذه، فلا بد من تحدي مثل هذه الذرائع، لأن العنف الذي تتسبب به غير مقبول و لا يمكن السماح به أو التسامح معه.
وضع حد لاستخدام الدين و التقاليد و الثقافة على نحو مسيء لحماية الممارسات التي تؤدي إلى استمرار ممارسة العنف ضد النساء و الفتيات.
التأكيد على الالتزام بالاتفاقيات والقرارات التي سبق توقيعها، والاعتراف بحقوق النساء و الفتيات التي تُحترم بالفعل في بلادنا، والسعي إلى تعزيز هذه الحقوق، لا الانتقاص منها.
تبني تعريف للعنف ضد النساء يشمل العنف الذي تواجهه النساء في جميع مراحل حياتهن، بحيث يشمل الفتيات.
الإدانة الصريحة لجميع الممارسات التي من شأنها إدامة العنف ضد النساء و الفتيات، بما في ذلك تلك التي تتخذ من التقاليد والدين والثقافة أساساً لتبريرها، والعمل على القضاء على تلك الممارسات، بما في ذلك الختان، الزواج المبكر و القسري، الاغتصاب الزوجي، قتل النساء، و عنف الشريك.
الاعتراف بالوضع الخطير والخاص للنساء والفتيات في البلدان التي تواجه وضعا انتقاليا (مثل مصر، وتونس، وليبيا)، واتخاذ جميع الإجراءات الضرورية بالتعاون مع الفئات الفاعلة من المحليين لضمان احترام حقوق النساء و حمايتها خلال المرحلة الانتقالية.
ضمان قيام المجتمع الدولي و الحكومات بالتحقيق في جميع الانتهاكات التي تستهدف النساء و الفتيات، ولا سيما العنف المتصاعد خلال المرحلة الانتقالية, وبشكل خاص حالات النـزاع المسلَّح (كما هو الحال في سوريا و العراق)، و وضع حد لإفلات الجُناة من الحساب و العقاب، سواءٌ كانوا من العناصر التابعة للدولة أم من الأفراد.
الاعتراف بحساسية وضع النساء الفلسطينيات اللائي يعشن تحت نظامٍ الفصل العنصري في دولة فلسطين المحتلة وفي إسرائيل، وضمان تحمل المجتمع الدولي والحكومات مسؤولياتهما المتعلقة بالتحقيق في جميع الانتهاكات ضد النساء اللائي يعشن تحت نظام الفصل العنصري، ووضع حد لجميع أشكال إفلات مرتكبي هذه الانتهاكات من العقوبة.
الاعتراف بالعنف الممارس ضد المدافعات عن حقوق الإنسان ممن يواجهن مخاطر حقيقية بسبب النوع الاجتماعي الذي ينتمين إليه والعمل الذي يقمن به، ذلك الموجه إما من قبل هيئات الدولة او الهيئات الفاعلة من غير أجهزة الدولة (مثل العائلة، وأفراد المجتمع، وجماعات برلمانية، والجماعات العسكرية، والجماعات المتطرفة، والعمل على حمايتهن من هذا العنف.

الموقعون:

الائتلاف من أجل الحقوق الجنسية والجسدية في المجتمعات المسلمة CSBR،

نسوية الدولية، لبنان

منظمة القوس، من أجل التعددية الجنسية في المجتمع الفلسطيني، فلسطين

الرابطة التونسية للنساء الديمقراطيات ATFD، تونس

المبادرة المصرية للحقوق الشخصية EIPR، مصر

الجمعية المصرية للنهوض بالمشاركة المجتمعية، مصر

جمعية النساء التونسيات للابحاث التنموية AFTURD، تونس

جمعية النساء العربيات AWO، الاردن

محامون من اجل العدل و السلام LJP، مصر

اتحاد مناهضة العنف ضد المراة FAVAW، مصر

منتدى المراة و التنمية FWID، مصر

الداعمون:

Sisters in Islam, Malaysia
Aliansi Remaja Independen (Independent Young People Alliance), Indonesia
Women’s Health Foundation, Indonesia
Youth Interfaith Forum on Sexuality, Indonesia
Drag it to the Top, Pakistan
Pilipina Legal Center, The Philippines
Women for Women’s Human Rights (WWHR) – New Ways, Turkey
Rural-Urban Women And Children Development Agency (RUWACDA), Ghana
Clóset de Sor Juana, México
Venezuela Diversa Asociación Civil, Venezuela
Sexuality Policy Watch, Brazil
Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre, Pakistan
Women’s Research and Action Group, India
Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML), International
Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW), International
Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice (RESURJ), International
Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), International
International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), International
Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL), Rutgers University
Secularism Is a Women’s Issue, International
Women’s Learning Partnership (WLP)
Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), International
Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), International

CSBR News on Sexual & Bodily Rights

Global Advocates: Family Planning Summit Must Put Women’s Human Rights First

Five international organizations urge world leaders to prioritize women’s human rights and comprehensive health care for all women at July summit

06/19/2012—(PRESS RELEASE) International human rights groups are urging world leaders attending next month’s global Family Planning Summit to ensure that any effort to increase the use of contraceptives be a part of a broader strategy to improve comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care and uphold sexual and reproductive rights for all women.

While contraceptive information and services are an essential part of the health services that women need throughout their lives, efforts to increase family planning services can have negative consequences if women’s fundamental human rights and reproductive autonomy are not protected—according to the joint statement issued today by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Amnesty International, the International Women’s Health Coalition, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), and Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice (RESURJ).

Experts at these respected organizations have long found that severely negative consequences— including forced sterilization and coerced use of contraception—can result from family planning policies that condone or unintentionally lead to pressuring women to use contraceptives. Further, the summit’s primary focus on contraception must not divert attention from other reproductive health challenges that women face, including the denial of essential health care services to young, poor, and marginalized women.

Over 320 organizations, groups and individuals from more than 80 countries have endorsed the call for the Family Planning Summit and its organizers—the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID)—to pay greater attention to women’s human rights.

“It is long past time world leaders came together to find solutions for the millions of women across the globe without real options and education when it comes to reproductive health and contraceptives,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO for the Center for Reproductive Rights. “This initiative is critical to that effort, but lasting solutions must improve the full range of sexual and reproductive health care services available to women, so they can make the best decisions possible about their health and their family’s health.”

“We welcome more funding for family planning services, but not if it comes with targets and incentives for doctors to pressure women to ‘accept’ contraceptives,” said Françoise Girard, President of the International Women’s Health Coalition. “That formula leads to coercion of women, plain and simple.”

The groups identified several critical steps summit organizers and attendees can take to protect women’s reproductive autonomy and human rights in family planning programs; including developing initiatives that do not have unnecessary contraceptive quotas that could lead to coercive measures.

“Women’s rights to health, to life, and to live free from discrimination must be at the center of any discussions regarding family planning—a failure to do so can have serious consequences, ” Rajat Khosla, policy coordinator for health at Amnesty International.

Women, including young women, must have a clear role in the development and implementation of family planning programs. The groups stressed the importance of accountability and the ability to track and monitor family planning programs’ impact on women and their rights.

“Family planning cannot be a silo provided by itself, but must be integrated into overall sexual and reproductive health services and with the utmost protection and promotion of women’s human rights,” said Gita Sen, executive committee member of DAWN. “Civil society organizations cannot act alone as a watchdog for these critical issues; programme monitoring and evaluation need to include strong in-built mechanisms and indicators to ensure the highest standards of accountability.”

“Sexually-active adolescent girls and young unmarried women must have access to condoms and other contraceptives methods to protect their health and avoid unintended pregnancies. Services that are tailored to adolescent and young women’s needs must be front and center at the Family Planning Summit,” said Ximena Andion, member of the Coordination team at RESURJ.

The Family Planning Summit, which is scheduled to be held on July 11 in London, has a stated goal of giving an additional 120 million across the globe access to family planning information, services, and supplies by 2020.

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The Center for Reproductive Rights is a global legal organization dedicated to advancing women’s reproductive health, self-determination and dignity as basic human rights.

The International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) promotes and protects the sexual and reproductive rights and health (SRRH) of all women and young people, particularly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, by helping to develop effective health and population policies, programs, and funding.

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than three million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide.

Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) is a network of feminist scholars, researchers and activists from the economic South working for economic and gender justice and sustainable and democratic development.

RESURJ is an international alliance of feminist activists seeking full implementation of international commitments to secure all women’s and young people’s sexual and reproductive rights and health by 2015.

CSBR News on Sexual & Bodily Rights

Kuala Lumpur Call to Action: Asia and the Pacific NGOs Call for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for Sustainable Development

3rd May 2012; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

(Posted via ARROW)

More than 120 activists, advocates and representatives from CSOs across movements and generations from 27 countries in Asia and the Pacific who gathered in Kuala Lumpur from 2-4 May 2012 have spoken! The Kuala Lumpur Call to Action outlines our 12-point Call to governments, international organisations, including UN agencies, development partners and other duty bearers, for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for sustainable development.

The Kuala Lumpur Call to Action is the outcome document of the regional meeting, Beyond ICPD and MDGs: NGOs Strategising for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Asia-Pacific Region, which was organised by the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) along with our partners the GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The Call was formulated by a drafting team composed of representatives from Aliansi Remaja Independen (ARI, Indonesia); ARROW (Regional); Asia Pacific Alliance for SRHR (Regional); Asia Pacific Council of AIDS Service Organizations (APCASO, Regional); Centre for Health Education, Training and Nutrition Awareness (CHETNA, India); Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM, Fiji/Pacific); Mongolian Family Welfare Association (MFWA, Mongolia); Pacific Sexual & Reproductive Health Research Centre (PacSRHRC, Fiji); People’s Health Movement (Bangladesh); Youth Action Nepal (Nepal); and YP Foundation (India). Independent activists and representatives from groups who participated at the conference supported this Call (for the full list, please see page 4 of the Call).

Please disseminate this widely! The link is at: http://bit.ly/Iw8VTB

To support this Call, volunteer to translate it in your language, or get print copies for distribution, please get in touch with any of the following ARROW staff: Ambika Varma (ambika@arrow.org.my), Maria Melinda (Malyn) Ando (malyn@arrow.org.my), Nida Mushtaq (nida@arrow.org.my) and Rachel Arinii Judhistari (rachel@arrow.org.my).

The participants of the meeting also formed the Asia-Pacific Partnership for SRHR and Sustainable Development – an alliance to ensure the action-oriented follow-up of the meeting. The Partnership will take forward the youth, sub-regional and regional advocacy action plans developed at the meeting, to advance the SRHR agenda in the Asia-Pacific region in the lead up to 2014/2015.

Watch our website and facebook pages for further updates and a full report of the meeting.
We are very thankful to all those who participated in the meeting and to those of you as well who were here with us in spirit!

CSBR CSBR Activities

Call for Applications: 5th CSBR Sexuality Institute 2012

September 18-23, 2012 | Alexandria, Egypt | Submission Deadline: May 20, 2012.

As the only international network working on sexual and bodily rights in Muslim societies, CSBR has succeeded in creating an alternative discourse and progressive spaces in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. The CSBR Sexuality Institute brings together leading sexual and reproductive rights activists, academics and researchers. Held previously in in Turkey (2009), Indonesia (2010), and Malaysia (2008/2011), with participants from 23 countries throughout Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the institutes include lectures, group work, round-tables, panels, site visits and film screenings, as well as a methodology to engage participants’ own experiences around sexuality.

Designed as an intensive six-day participatory group training, the Institute will be limited to 20-22 participants. Do you have a minimum of 2 years experience working in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights? Are you committed to undertake efforts to promote sexual and bodily health and rights at national and international level? Do you represent an organization/institution engaged in sexual and reproductive health and rights advocacy, research or fieldwork? Please submit this form online and send a C.V. to coordinator@csbronline.org by May 20 2012. Continue reading “Call for Applications: 5th CSBR Sexuality Institute 2012” →