International Women’s Day 2005
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| Source: © 2000 Youssef Tawfik, Courtesy of Photoshare |
Looking Back
March 8th, 2005, marked International Women’s Day, a celebration of women’s political, economic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and social achievements. International Women’s Day provides an opportunity to remember past struggles, celebrate success, and identify potential future directions.
The United Nations (UN) began celebrating International Women’s Day in 1975. In 1977, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution proclaiming for the day to be observed by all member states in accordance with their historical and national traditions. With this resolution, the General Assembly formally recognized the role of women in peace and development efforts and increased its support for women’s full and equal participation. For more information on member states’ observation of International Women’s Day, go to the United Nations Web site.
This year’s theme was "Looking Back." USAID's Office of Population and Reproductive Health has been working for more than four decades to improve the health and lives of women worldwide. The Office of Population and Reproductive Health (PRH) celebrated International Women’s Day by highlighting some of our successful programs as well as providing a number of new and useful resources.
Selected USAID Program Examples
India: Men’s Involvement in Partner’s Pregnancy Yields Health Benefits
In India, men are often the primary decisionmakers regarding women’s health care, but they remain poorly informed about women’s health. A USAID-funded project conducted a study on the effect of men’s supportive involvement in their partner’s pregnancy. The study assessed the effect of men’s involvement during antenatal and postnatal care on the couple’s use of family planning and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention. The intervention took place at six government-affiliated clinics in New Delhi.
At the clinics, a total of 2,836 consenting women and 1,897 of their husbands received couple, individual, or same-sex group counseling on pregnancy care and danger signs, family planning, postpartum infant care, breastfeeding and lactational amenorrhea method (LAM), the symptoms and prevention of STIs, and correct condom use.
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| Source: © 2002 CCP, Courtesy of Photoshare |
Findings show that men were interested in participating in maternity care. Family planning use increased significantly at intervention sites compared with control sites. Use of family planning by women six months postpartum was 14 percentage points higher in the intervention sites as compared with the control sites. The corresponding figure for men was 17 percentage points greater. Condoms were the most frequently used method, used by 66 percent of women and 71 percent of men among the subset using any method in experimental clinics. The proportion of men and women who intended to use a method in the future was also higher in the experimental sites. [Source: Frontiers 2004] Read more at the Population Council Web site. This intervention demonstrates that when men are given relevant information and access to health care, they can be supportive advocates for their partner's and newborn's well-being. They also are much more willing to accept responsibility for family planning.
Jamaica: Adolescent Mothers
A USAID-supported program in Jamaica addresses the needs of adolescent mothers. In Jamaica, negative social attitudes often cause teen mothers to drop out of school, and they are more likely to experience repeated pregnancy, as well as be exposed to many other health risks. Moreover, low levels of education limit women’s future employment opportunities and increase their reliance on men for economic support. The USAID-supported program helps adolescent mothers complete their education, prevent a second pregnancy during their teenage years, and assist them with employment opportunities. In the mid-1990s, almost 50 percent of Jamaican mothers under the age of 16 were enrolled in the education program, where they received academic instruction and vocational training in crafts, fish farming, and vegetable gardening. Life skills education topics included reproductive health, family planning, STIs/HIV, child health, parenting, and women’s legal rights. The program also reaches out to “baby-fathers” by enrolling the partners of adolescent mothers in the program. To promote their active involvement in parenting, “baby-fathers” were encouraged to attend the centers and participate in discussions with staff and counseling.
A program evaluation conducted in 2002 showed that program participants were more effective in family planning use compared to adolescent mothers not enrolled in the program. It also showed that 55 percent of girls in the program returned to regular schools, compared with nonparticipant mothers. In addition, most fathers felt that they were doing a better job parenting than their fathers had done with them, and many felt that a separate program for men could help them communicate with their sons about reproductive health, sexuality, and personal development. [Source: The IGWG ‘So What’ Report PDF, 864KB].
South Africa: Involving Men in Maternity Care
A USAID-sponsored project recently conducted a three-year operations research study in South Africa to assess and help increase men’s involvement in maternity care. The clinic-based intervention sought to improve antenatal care services and invite partners of pregnant women to attend counseling sessions during and after pregnancy. Results showed that a third of the couples surveyed participated in the counseling sessions. This is a large success given that the idea of involving partners is a new concept. The intervention significantly changed couple communication, partner assistance during pregnancy-related emergencies, and commitment to consistent and correct condom use. Men were increasingly willing to be involved in maternity and postnatal care of their pregnant partners, and expressed commitment to family planning use at six-month postpartum. View the study [PDF, 1.3MB]
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| Source: © 1996 Henrica A.F.M. Jansen, Courtesy of Photoshare |
USAID’s Interagency Gender Working Group
USAID’s Interagency Gender Working Group (IGWG) is a network comprising of USAID and its implementing partners as well as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The IGWG works to promote gender equity within population, health, and nutrition programs, with the goal of improving reproductive health/HIV/AIDS outcomes and fostering sustainable development. The IGWG serves as the focal point on gender integration in reproductive health/HIV/AIDS programs. It is engaged in gender equity education, advocacy, development of operational tools, and collection and dissemination of best practices. In particular, IGWG activities focus on gender-based violence, youth and gender, gender implications and vulnerabilities of HIV/AIDS, and male involvement and dual protection.
Resources
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