UNIFEM- United Nations Development Fund for Women
*Provides finances and technologies to advance womens empowerment and gender equality.
Overall mission:
- Strengthening womens economic security and rights
- Ending violence against women
- Reversing spread of HIV/AIDS amoung women and girls
- Achieving gender equality in times of peace and war
Strategies:
-Support innovative ways to achieve these goals
-Serve as a catylyst with goals that ensure involvement of women in development strategies
-Play a role in in relation to the UNs overall system of development cooperation
(Taken from UNIFEM 2007-2008 Annual Progress Report)
History and how it developed:
UNIFEM was created by an UN General Assembly resolution in 1976, following requests from womens organizations attending the 1975 UN First World Conference on Women in Mexico City.
Who is involved in working at the organization:
UNIFEM has partners worldwide, Executive directors, ministries of finance and government and non-governmental organizations of people. Civil society, multilateral and bilateral communities, private sector contribute as well. There are Regional Program directors from all over the world (S. E. SE ASia,Pacific, Arab states, All parts of Africa, Mexico, central America, Cuba and Dominican Republic, Andean Region, Caribbean, Southern corn, Central and Eastern Europe, Commonwealth of Independent states. UNIFEM has liason offices, worldwide national committees (Australia,Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Phillipenes, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States) and NGOS from all around the world participating.
Resources:
58 different governments/ 9 UNIFEM national committees/Un agencies, Commonwealth Secretariat, Johnson and Johnson, Omega watches, world bank, Zonta International Organization etc. all contribute a significant amount of money to the fund.
Target:
Women in developing and developed countries who are marginalized, affected by violence and HIV, have ecomomic instability, and who overall need help to progress.
Accomplishments: (2007-2008)
· Built feul efficient stoves to minimize womens need to search for firewood outside of the home- in Rwanda
· Raising awareness in local communities
· Empowering women in politics in Mauritania- helping them gain 22% of parliamentary seats in 2007, expanding their influences on the countries decision making policies
· In India they helped initiate a national AIDs policy that calls for systematic protection of women, especially the groups that are more vunerable.
· Helping women in Morroco aquire new skills to give them an advantage in the information technology market.
· Providing jobs to women on Palestinian territories- establishing bakeries in UNIFEM supported centres- also goes to feeding children in local school
· Renewing communities through local involvement in Latin America
· Haiti implemented a successful ban on using sexual stereotypes in the media and music which lead to no cases of genderbased violence in 2008
· In Jamaica there are initiatives to changing abusive mens behavior (batterer intervention programs supported by UNIFEM)
Strategies used: In their 2007-2008 Annual report they stated a list of 29 grantees around the world. (I've chose 5 that I found the most interesting)
Africa: Raised awareness amoung sex workers on links between violence and HIV, to improve physical security and peer support groups for sex workers.
Asia: Study contemporary Khmer masculinity to inform more effective policy and programs, create community mens groups, improve access to legal aid and support
Pakistan: Helped the implementation of a new law treating honor killing as intentional murder
Russia: Responded to cases of violence against HIV-positive women and children with support groups.
Peru: UNIFEM provided training, conducted advocacy and developed health centre capacities to encourage safe behavior and reduce HIV related stigma.
Future goals:
By 2015, UNIFEM hopes to double their efforts to creating more equitable, prosperous socities by upholding gender equality.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Interview and Interactions with PPNEO
This is my own personal accounts and interview with PPNEO:
My own personal interactions with the Planned Parenthood in Akron have always been great. I have always felt comfortable and accepted even when I was going there as a teenager. The employers are considerate of your privacy and work to make the experience as non-stressful as possible. I will outline in more detail some more specifics of how people interact with this organization through use of their services but for now this is just my personal account.
My own personal interactions with the Planned Parenthood in Akron have always been great. I have always felt comfortable and accepted even when I was going there as a teenager. The employers are considerate of your privacy and work to make the experience as non-stressful as possible. I will outline in more detail some more specifics of how people interact with this organization through use of their services but for now this is just my personal account.
Whenever I have interacted with this organization I have always felt well-informed about my options and also knew that there would be someone I could speak to about any issues I might have. I had my first STD test there and have been using birthcontrol and other services from here for over 5 years. I have never had any issues with them, and would like to get more involved in their organization if I had the time. They have always been great about financing options as well. For awhile, the insurance I had wouldn't cover birth control and I was able to go through them, and currently being a student and not covered by insurance I am able to be on a donation basis with all the services they offer, including birth control, testing and exams.
Below is my interview with Education Outreach Specialist Jenelle O'Malley (This was not a recorded conversation and is summarized by myself):
What are some specific services the outreach education center provides?
There are 2 separate sections within the Outreach Education center. The section focusing on Outreach mostly works as traveling to different schools and areas speaking and doing types of “one shot wonders” to produce a change in thought and try to welcome people to what PP stands for and what they offer. This section targets mostly just a knowledge change while the education center trys to target not only a knowledge change but a change in behavior. They have more curriculum based programs such as PATTHS (Parents are teaching and talking about healthy sexuality) which targets parental knowledge and behavior change in adoptive and foster parents as well. There is also Teens Talking to Teens, which has a training program that tennagers can go through and graduate to become a mediator or discussion leader in the program, which has recently become hugely popular. Another program is TACKLE which is a pregnancy prevention group. Both sections deal with a diverse population, not only crossing class, race and gender but also working with MRDD individuals and centers.
What kind of background do you need to work here? Volunteer here?
To work here as an education Outreach Specialist you have to have some kind of 4 year degree in family studies, health education, or social work. Most of our hires come from volunteers as well, which go through an interview and application process as well as sometimes interning there for awhile. We look for highly self motivated individuals, who are comfortable talking about sex and are assertive and knowledgable.
Are there any current lobbying are legislative battles being fought?
April 22nd is lobby day! Staff and those in the community concerned about womens health can join in the lobbying with our legislators. The bill to be lobbied on is Ohio’s First Sex Education bill in over 15 years. It is called the Prevention First Act. This act will ensure state funding for comprehensive sex education. Information Below:
Prevention First Lobby Day 2009
9 am-4:30pm, April 22nd, 2009
YMCA Downtown
65 S. Fourth St, Columbus, OH 43215
*You must Pre-register for this event ($20 standard, $10 students)
What are some future programs or events people in the community can become involved in?
There is the Lobby Day. A women’s luncheon coming up put on by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, also Party Polictics is still going on ( you can find info on these activities→)
We just finished our Undercover Competition for ’08 which is a low cost event targeted towards college age students. It is basically a design competition for a condom package. This gained a lot of involvement from the design and art crowd but not many others. Whoever wins the competition has their design printed and distributed on condoms given out in matchbook covers.
What intitiatives does Planned Parenthood have to get men and boys interested in supporting reproductive rights and other issues?
With a title 10 expansion grant planned parenthood is able to expand the base of people they reach. They hired 2 male workers recently that work mostly with high risk populations of men and boys, such as those who have sex with men (whether or not they identify as homosexual) and those in minority populations perhaps without comprehensive sex education, also target male dominated rehabilitation facilities such as Oriena House etc. PP started offering services to males in 1997. When they started to be able to test STD’s through urine, we had an increase of men using services, partly because it was a simpler process and we could also bring the services to them easily instead of them coming to us. At the clinic we also offer HIV testing and testicular cancer screenings. Possibly in the future they will open a male clinic.
Do you ever have to deal with people who are against what PPNEO stands for? How is it handled?
There have definitely been problems with picketers from people against abortion but very few at the Akron branch because we do not have surgical abortion services. Most of the problems happen at Bedford or Rocky River branches. The police are always called and most often it is handled pretty well. In Akron we have had a few scares, either bomb threats or threatening mail. At another one of our branches we had the new office building burned down by someone (who they did catch), but they have recently rebuilt it. All of our neighbors are really helpful with watching out for suspicioius activity and making sure we are safe.
We also have to deal with Organizations such as ABC (Abstinence the Better Choice), or Crisis Pregnancy Centers in the area. In public settings we are always courteous to them but there is some tension at times and a different tone when I tell them I work for Planned Parenthood. The Crisis Pregnancy I don't really have a problem with because they do provide needed services and as long as the women are informed about other options and they know they can go to either us or them for their reproductive health needs I am ok with it. I do however have a problem with the organizations pushing for abstinence only education. These programs flourished under Bush, were given lots of money that went to basically giving children candy and enticing them in different non-substantial or uninformative ways to be abstinent. We have had problems in the past in conservative school districts who will not allow us to come talk to the students but perhaps need something from us, we had one school district who needed to use our robotic baby dolls, but really wanted nothing else to do with us because it would cause trouble in the community.
So there are definite frustrations that come along with this job but it is something I really believe in and that makes it worth it.
I read about the international work PPFA is doing in India, are there other intiatives to help women from around the world? Has this program grown since it started?
Yes, the sister site in India is definetly growing. This project is a major passion of the Vice-President and CEO of PPFA so they will not give up on it. They take a lot of trips and sponsor a lot of events to involve the local Indian commnities. Hopefully there will be more projects like this one in the future but as for now it is the only one, but they are helping a lot of people there.
What are some specific services the outreach education center provides?
There are 2 separate sections within the Outreach Education center. The section focusing on Outreach mostly works as traveling to different schools and areas speaking and doing types of “one shot wonders” to produce a change in thought and try to welcome people to what PP stands for and what they offer. This section targets mostly just a knowledge change while the education center trys to target not only a knowledge change but a change in behavior. They have more curriculum based programs such as PATTHS (Parents are teaching and talking about healthy sexuality) which targets parental knowledge and behavior change in adoptive and foster parents as well. There is also Teens Talking to Teens, which has a training program that tennagers can go through and graduate to become a mediator or discussion leader in the program, which has recently become hugely popular. Another program is TACKLE which is a pregnancy prevention group. Both sections deal with a diverse population, not only crossing class, race and gender but also working with MRDD individuals and centers.
What kind of background do you need to work here? Volunteer here?
To work here as an education Outreach Specialist you have to have some kind of 4 year degree in family studies, health education, or social work. Most of our hires come from volunteers as well, which go through an interview and application process as well as sometimes interning there for awhile. We look for highly self motivated individuals, who are comfortable talking about sex and are assertive and knowledgable.
Are there any current lobbying are legislative battles being fought?
April 22nd is lobby day! Staff and those in the community concerned about womens health can join in the lobbying with our legislators. The bill to be lobbied on is Ohio’s First Sex Education bill in over 15 years. It is called the Prevention First Act. This act will ensure state funding for comprehensive sex education. Information Below:
Prevention First Lobby Day 2009
9 am-4:30pm, April 22nd, 2009
YMCA Downtown
65 S. Fourth St, Columbus, OH 43215
*You must Pre-register for this event ($20 standard, $10 students)
What are some future programs or events people in the community can become involved in?
There is the Lobby Day. A women’s luncheon coming up put on by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, also Party Polictics is still going on ( you can find info on these activities→)
We just finished our Undercover Competition for ’08 which is a low cost event targeted towards college age students. It is basically a design competition for a condom package. This gained a lot of involvement from the design and art crowd but not many others. Whoever wins the competition has their design printed and distributed on condoms given out in matchbook covers.
What intitiatives does Planned Parenthood have to get men and boys interested in supporting reproductive rights and other issues?
With a title 10 expansion grant planned parenthood is able to expand the base of people they reach. They hired 2 male workers recently that work mostly with high risk populations of men and boys, such as those who have sex with men (whether or not they identify as homosexual) and those in minority populations perhaps without comprehensive sex education, also target male dominated rehabilitation facilities such as Oriena House etc. PP started offering services to males in 1997. When they started to be able to test STD’s through urine, we had an increase of men using services, partly because it was a simpler process and we could also bring the services to them easily instead of them coming to us. At the clinic we also offer HIV testing and testicular cancer screenings. Possibly in the future they will open a male clinic.
Do you ever have to deal with people who are against what PPNEO stands for? How is it handled?
There have definitely been problems with picketers from people against abortion but very few at the Akron branch because we do not have surgical abortion services. Most of the problems happen at Bedford or Rocky River branches. The police are always called and most often it is handled pretty well. In Akron we have had a few scares, either bomb threats or threatening mail. At another one of our branches we had the new office building burned down by someone (who they did catch), but they have recently rebuilt it. All of our neighbors are really helpful with watching out for suspicioius activity and making sure we are safe.
We also have to deal with Organizations such as ABC (Abstinence the Better Choice), or Crisis Pregnancy Centers in the area. In public settings we are always courteous to them but there is some tension at times and a different tone when I tell them I work for Planned Parenthood. The Crisis Pregnancy I don't really have a problem with because they do provide needed services and as long as the women are informed about other options and they know they can go to either us or them for their reproductive health needs I am ok with it. I do however have a problem with the organizations pushing for abstinence only education. These programs flourished under Bush, were given lots of money that went to basically giving children candy and enticing them in different non-substantial or uninformative ways to be abstinent. We have had problems in the past in conservative school districts who will not allow us to come talk to the students but perhaps need something from us, we had one school district who needed to use our robotic baby dolls, but really wanted nothing else to do with us because it would cause trouble in the community.
So there are definite frustrations that come along with this job but it is something I really believe in and that makes it worth it.
I read about the international work PPFA is doing in India, are there other intiatives to help women from around the world? Has this program grown since it started?
Yes, the sister site in India is definetly growing. This project is a major passion of the Vice-President and CEO of PPFA so they will not give up on it. They take a lot of trips and sponsor a lot of events to involve the local Indian commnities. Hopefully there will be more projects like this one in the future but as for now it is the only one, but they are helping a lot of people there.
The How of Planned Parenthood of North East Ohio
Planned Parenthood of North East Ohio targets women and men from this area. Particulary youth or those who are in need of sexual health services but mostly cannot afford them. Strategies to target these individuals happens with school and community based intitiatives. They use these programs to target both youth and adults. Some interesting programs are below:
* PPNEO advocates strongly for the Ohio Prevention First Act which will work to expand access to sexual health services, reduce STD and teen pregnancy rates, reduce the need for abortion, provide greater access to emergency contraception, provide effective sexual education and insurance coverage for bith control. Theyhold events to support and lobby for this act to pass.
* Community based programs involve youth through art and design contests. The most recent one being a design for condom covers, this not only encourages youth involvement but donations and community involvement as well.
*PPNEO holds special events that spotlight important speakers and leaders within the community. Some people they have had talk include ohios governor and a leading plain dealer coloumnist that advocates for womens reproductive rights. They also hold luncheons honoring longtime founders and those who have been forefront in continuing the services that Planned Parenthood offers.
* Party Politics is an interesting community based program that PPNEO sponsors, these events are casual social events focusing on how to get more involved in the community, and build support for PPNEO.
PPNEO is a coilition of 5 affliates of Planned Parenthood around the North East Ohio. The decision to combine these 5 seperate organizations was one to ensure a stronger presence in Ohio. They are headed by a President & CEO, and also a board od directors including a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer. PPNEO is also supported by the United Way and Community Shares along with several private donors and foundations.
PPNEO recieves most of its funding for events and services through program services fees, relying mostly on the community who uses what they offer. The rest of the money Planned Parenthood receives is split between government grants, 3rd party insurers, and individuals and fondations.
An interesting side note is that Planned Parenthood of North East Ohio have global partners in the Tata Steel Family Intiatives Fondation in India and the Family Planning association of India. They have projects reaching 100,000 women and children in over 100 villages in India. Their goal there is to share expertise and encourage leaders to use information to create sustaining health programs. This is supported by the Timken fondation.
Picture is from http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ppneo/
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
What is Planned Parenthood of North East Ohio?
This is a diverse organization that is connected by common goals that affect every person. The mission of this organization is "Planned Parenthood of North East Ohio strengthens individuals, families and communities by promoting healthy and responsible decision making about parenthood, relationships and sexual healtlh"(taken from distributed pamphlet). The major goals of this organization include prevention and treatment of reproductive issues. These issues include:
*Preventing unintended pregnancy through education and providing options for birth control *Prevent breast and cervical cancer through providing screenings and early treatment
*Preventing sexually transmitted diseases through education, outreach and testing
*Offer gynecological exams to diagnose and treat urinary tract or vaginal infections
*Offer midlife services as well (include menopause education and treatment)
*Offer HPV vaccinations
*Support comprehensive sex education
*Referrals to other specialists if needed
*Offer first trimester medical and surgical abortion services
This organization through the work that they do encourage the right to be healthy, safe and educated in regard to sexual reproduction issues. Within this organization I doubt that this ideal varies much. I believe that all involved in this organization are well-educated on the goals and issues central to it. There would probably be a rift between the issues important to the nurses or doctors side versus the educators. I would assume that the doctors and nurses would be more involved in prevention and treatment in regards to sexual health. The educators would be more invested in how to reach those in need of these services, provide funding, and educating through events and speakers.
*Preventing unintended pregnancy through education and providing options for birth control *Prevent breast and cervical cancer through providing screenings and early treatment
*Preventing sexually transmitted diseases through education, outreach and testing
*Offer gynecological exams to diagnose and treat urinary tract or vaginal infections
*Offer midlife services as well (include menopause education and treatment)
*Offer HPV vaccinations
*Support comprehensive sex education
*Referrals to other specialists if needed
*Offer first trimester medical and surgical abortion services
This organization through the work that they do encourage the right to be healthy, safe and educated in regard to sexual reproduction issues. Within this organization I doubt that this ideal varies much. I believe that all involved in this organization are well-educated on the goals and issues central to it. There would probably be a rift between the issues important to the nurses or doctors side versus the educators. I would assume that the doctors and nurses would be more involved in prevention and treatment in regards to sexual health. The educators would be more invested in how to reach those in need of these services, provide funding, and educating through events and speakers.
They do vary in regards to other groups who work for women's sexual health. There are Pregnancy centers who advocate for womens health but do not offer nearly as many options as Planned Parenthood. Most often because of religious reasons, some people within organizations like these do not believe in comprhensive sex education or other options for birthcontrol besides abstinence, as well as having issues with abortion services. They narrow down the ways in which women and girls can have control over their bodies. Also with regards to the state, although this is a community service organization they recieve little or no funding for the work that they do. Also there are arguments about other roles Planned Parenthood should play in protecting the women and men that they serve. Many believe that the confidentiality Planned Parenthood holds for their patients with regards to issues such as rape is harmful to the protection of other individuals. By not releasing names of those that enact crimes to authorities, some people may see this organization as not doing their part in advocating for womens safety.
These different groups however have differnt interests and motives involved that do not aline themselves with the ultimate goals of Planned Parenthood.
These different groups however have differnt interests and motives involved that do not aline themselves with the ultimate goals of Planned Parenthood.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Who is Planned Parenthood of North East Ohio?
Planned Parenthood of North East Ohio is dedicated to providing accsessible sexual health care services and education for individuals, families, and communities. In this section of my blog I will go into more detail about the Who, What, and How of this orginization.
The people who make up this organization are diverse, not only through race, gender, and class but also age, education, and expertise. There are of course trrained staff such as doctors and nurses as well as secretarys. Also they are very much reliant on men and women volunteers from the North East Ohio area for events and other work. Anytime I have ever gone to Planned Parenthood it seems to be a majority of women working there, but there is a male secretary of the board and they have events with male speakers. Many of their events and services work not only for women but also to encourage men and boys to have a healthy reproductive life.
The different groups define this organization through advocating and encouraging the use of the wide range of reproductive health services to women and girls. They do recognize the need for men's reproductive health as well and offer services to men and boys too. This organization cuts across class lines as well. Those that use the services provided by Planned Parenthood most often cannot afford or do not have insurance for these crucial services. Most often youth and people of a lower class standing use these services because they offer flexible payment options and income or donation based rates.
Picture is from http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/abortion-4260.htm
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