|
Reproductive Health in Crises: Projects |
|
Current Projects
Reproductive Health Assessment (RHA) Toolkit for Conflict-Affected Women
Among the world’s 34 million displaced people, approximately 80% are
women and children and are vulnerable to abuses and negative health
outcomes during crisis. Women often become heads of households
because they are widowed or deserted during displacement and become
sole providers and caretakers of their families. It is essential to
have appropriate reproductive health services that will—
- Ensure safe pregnancies and deliveries,
- Meet family planning needs,
- Prevent and treat sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
and HIV/AIDS, and
- Respond to and prevent gender-based violence (GBV).
|
|
Order/Download the Toolkit
Toolkit Updates and Announcements |
Understanding the reproductive health needs of conflict-affected women
will enable organizations to implement and enhance programs and services to
improve the health of women and their families. The Reproductive Health
Assessment Toolkit (RHA) for Conflict-Affected Women provides
user-friendly tools to quantitatively assess the reproductive health needs
of conflict-affected women aged 15–49 years. The RHA Toolkit enables field staff
to collect data to inform program planning, monitoring, evaluation, and
advocacy. It promotes using the collected data to enhance services and
improve the reproductive health of women and their families.
The RHA Toolkit includes—
- Sampling instructions,
- Survey team training manual,
- Questionnaire,
- Public domain data entry program (CSPro),
- Pre-programmed analyses, and
- Suggestions for data use.
The Toolkit collects information about—
- Safe motherhood (current and past childbearing),
- Family planning,
- Sexual history,
- Sexually Transmitted Infections STIs,
- HIV/AIDS,
- Gender-based Violence GBV, and
- Female genital cutting.
Target Users
The Toolkit is intended for organizations such as government,
nongovernment, and United Nations agencies that provide or are interested
in providing reproductive health services to conflict-affected women. Field
staff and independent researchers who use this Toolkit should be familiar
with survey work, but it is designed to be used by staff with limited
survey expertise.
Pilot Tests
The Toolkit was pilot tested in 2004–2006 among refugees and internally
displaced populations in three countries in Africa and South America. Data
from one pilot test show—
- 26% of women are current users of modern contraception. Among
non-users, 14% reported barriers to use. These findings indicate a need
to develop or enhance family planning programs and ensure that women who
want to use family planning are able to do so.
- 17% of women have comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS. The
findings indicate a need to reinforce services to improve knowledge on
HIV/AIDS and address incorrect beliefs about the transmission of
HIV/AIDS.
- 26% of currently partnered women experienced intimate partner
violence in the past year. The findings indicate a need to develop
appropriate medical and psychosocial responses to survivors and create
strategies to prevent gender-based violence.
Trainings
CDC has developed a 2-day training on implementing the RHA Toolkit. For more information on future
trainings, visit the RHA Toolkit Updates page or email
cdcinfo@cdc.gov.
Past and completed research studies include—
- A Determination of the Prevalence of Gender Based Violence (GBV)
Among Conflict-Affected Populations in East Timor, 2002.
- Maternal Mortality in Afghanistan: Magnitude, Causes, Risk Factors,
and Preventability, 2002.
- An Assessment of Reproductive Health Issues Among Karen and Burmese
Refugees Living in Thailand, 2001.
- Azerbaijan Reproductive Health Study, 2001.
- Results from a Reproductive Health Survey Among Afghan Refugees
Living in Pakistan, 2000.
- Maternal Mortality Among Afghan Refugees in Pakistan, 1999–2000.
- An Evaluation of Poor Pregnancy Outcomes Among Burundian Refugees in
Tanzania 1997–1998.
For more information view our reproductive health
in crises published research or view our
international reports.
* |
Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links.
|
|