Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Partners in Population and Development

Article: Salome Donkor
THE right to sexual and reproductive health is central to human freedom and development. Promoting reproductive health and rights and the full human rights of women is vital to efforts to build a more peaceful, prosperous and stable world.
Ghana revised its National Population Policy in March 1994, prior to the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt, the same year to incorporate new emerging issues.
The National Population Council (NPC) has the responsibility to oversee the implementation of the revised national policy, which covers a wide range of population and related issues. The current focus of the NPC’s programme is fertility reduction and integration of population variables into development planning.
The centrality of the ICPD Programme of Action (PoA) and key actions to the achievement of internationally agreed development goals is a central agenda for sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The programme of action adopted by the ICPD gave support to the concept of direct South-South co-operation to strengthen and deepen the impact and effectiveness of population and development programmes.
In line with these recommendations, 10 developing countries announced the establishment of Partners in Population and Development (PPD) as an inter-governmental vehicle for the promotion of South-South co-operation.
The PPD is an inter-governmental alliance with a current membership of 24 developing countries, including 14 African countries. It came into being in 1995 at its inaugural meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, to promote South-South co-operation in the area of reproductive health and population and development and its secretariat is based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Events organised by member countries have tended to promote better understanding and appreciation of the concept of South-South co-operation and strengthening national support for that co-operation in the areas of reproductive health, population and development.
The vision of the PPD is to drive the global reproductive health agenda to attain sustainable development by 2014 and to assist each member country and other developing countries to address successfully the sexual and reproductive health and rights and population and development challenges.
This is to be done through South-South collaboration by raising a common voice and sharing sustainable, effective, efficient, accessible and acceptable solutions considering the diverse economic, social, political, religious and cultural characteristics of our countries.
The focus areas of the PPD is to integrate MDGs and ICPD goals, promote reproductive health and rights, improve gender equality, strengthen the integration of reproductive health and HIV and AIDS, improving adolescent sexual and reproductive health and improving reproductive health.
Ghana became the 24th member of the PPD in 2008 and as part of efforts to strengthen South-South co-operation, the NPC, in collaboration with the PPD Secretariat, organised a national South-South support structure meeting in Accra. The meeting brought together stakeholders in reproductive health and population and development to discuss and map out modalities for the establishment of a national South-South support structure for Ghana.
In his address, the Executive Director of the PPD, Mr Harry S. Jooseery, said it was unfortunate that the funding of family planning programmes had fallen from 55 per cent in 1995 to seven per cent in 2005 which had hampered progress and plunged the populations of many developing countries into a situation of abject poverty, adding that in some parts of Africa family planning services were completely unavailable, while those services remained inaccessible in other parts where they were available.
He said it was true that some countries in Africa had recently achieved positive economic growth. However, there was a huge poverty gap existing between some African countries.
He touched on the rate of maternal mortality and mobidity in Africa, which he said was still the highest in the world, stressing that the average maternal mortality rate was 400 deaths per 100,000 live births and that it was more than 900 in some African countries.
He also said the use of contraceptives was 21 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa, while the world average was 59 per cent, adding that an estimated 22 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2007 and approximately 1.9 million additional people were infected with HIV during that year.
Mr Jooseery said with Ghana’s estimated HIV/AIDS prevalence rate reducing from 2005, with innovative programmes like “Stop AIDS, Love Life” Ghana was tackling the deadly disease in a timely manner, adding that the country had also made good progress in the achievement of the MDGs, since 2000.
According to him, healthy women whose human rights were protected could be fully productive workers and effective participants in their country’s political process, adding that only when women were healthy and empowered could they rise and educate healthy children.
To him, “these are the building blocks of stable societies and growing economies”, and pointed out that “in this time of economic uncertainty there is no more important investment to be made than investing in the rights of the women of our countries”.
The Executive Director of the NPC, Mrs Esther Apewokin, said the NPC had been involved in PPD programmes since 2007 when Ghana was invited to participate in the first partner country co-ordinators meeting of the Africa regional office in Kampala.
She said the NPC, in collaboration with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and with funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), had developed training modules on integration of population variables into development planning and the modules had been used to revise some district plans.
She, however, mentioned that the inability of Ghana to generate local funding for population, health and development programmes, as well as inadequate resources to train more personnel, high attrition of staff in the district offices, low knowledge of computer application among budget and planning officers, was a constraint to integrating population variables into development planning.
In an address read on his behalf, the UNFPA Representative in Ghana, Mr Makane Kane, said the ICPD agenda declared 15 years ago was to be implemented within each country in partnership with governments, civil society organisations, traditional leaders, students, women’s groups and development partners.
He was optimistic that working together, the 24-member PPD would command a cumulative wealth of knowledge and experiences which, when shared, would lighten some of the intractable problems on societies.
Professor F.T. Sai, expert/consultant, Population, Development and Reproductive Health, who chaired the function, said it was important to appreciate the need to put the various policies into practice to realise the principles and purposes of reproductive health, population and development.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Hail our illustrious mothers (Daily Graphic, Page 11. 09/05/09)

Article: Salome Donkor
Over the last few days the airwaves of local radio stations and television screens have been inundated with discussions by a number of people extolling the virtues of mothers, including their biological mothers and other women who have made invaluable contribution to their lives. This is in commemoration of Mother’s Day.
Those showering praises and adoration on mothers look up to a mother as an embodiment of love, the guardian angel of the family, the queen, the tender heart of love and the best friend anyone ever has, contending that mothers have a nurturing, caring and loving aspect that make them unique.
Mother’s Day is observed world-wide, just like International Women’s Day, which is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women, which is observed on March 8 every year.
The modern Mother's Day holiday was created by an American, Anna Jarvis, as a day for each family to honour its mother, and it's now celebrated on various days in many places around the world. It complements Father's Day, the celebration honouring fathers.
Started as a political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries (primarily Russia and the countries of former Soviet bloc). In some celebrations, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love to the women around them in a way somewhat similar to Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together. In others, however, the political and human rights theme as designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women world-wide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.
My interest in the on-going discussions relating to the attributes of a mother was heightened after watching a televised programme, The Stand Point, on Ghana Television on May 1.
The discussions on the programme, which centred on issues confronting wives who do not have biological children, were quite intriguing and aroused my interest. Two of the three penallists have no children and that resulted in the break- up of the marriage of one, while the third speaker had her first child eight years after marriage.
The two childless women however demonstrated their resolve not to allow their circumstances to control them and refused to be victims of circumstances.
The third woman also demonstrated that, during the eight years that she had to wait on God for a child, she relentlessly continued with her life and trained to become a doctor in psychology.
One thing that was clear was that all the three women have made positive impacts on the lives of people and contributed their quota to national development.
People all over the world have their own customs in celebrating motherhood to show appreciation to mothers as those who bring forth children and nurture them to life, as well as women who care for people and even sacrifice their lives for the need of others.
According to polls, Mother Teresa is the most respected woman in the world. Her name is a by-word for selfless dedication in the service of humanity. Mother Teresa has this reputation of holiness amongst many non-Catholics and even secular people. And her reputation is based upon her charitable work for the sick and dying in Calcutta.
Similarly for Mother Teresa, she became a symbol for virtue, so even in cartoons, jokes, movies, and television shows, if you want a synonym for selflessness and holiness she is always mentioned.
The Christian doctrine describes the church as a mother because she is a bride who is forever bringing forth children of light, pillars of holiness, sources of inspiration, challengers of truth, and defenders of the faith. Fervent souls look upon the church as a dispenser of grace through a sacramental system.
We could go on and on talking about the opinions and feelings of people about a mother, but what I found very interesting were these quotations by Danielle Hollister accessed on BellaOnline.
It describes a mother as someone who cares when others care less, someone who encourages when others ridicule, someone who defends when others condemn, someone with patience when others are impatient, someone who appreciates when others fail to notice, someone who gives security in a world of insecurity, someone who is accepting when others reject and a friend for all time, to cherish and protect.
Another web site, parenting.myLot.com says a mother can be almost any size or age. She has soft hands and smells good. She does not like having her children sick, temper tantrums, loud noise, or bad report cards. She can bake good cakes and pies, but likes to see her children eat vegetables. She is underpaid, has long hours and gets very little rest.
Another online piece, describes a mother as the laundry woman, the cook and anything you wish to call her for she can be jack of all trade inside her home, giving proper advice at home, as well as nurturing and supporting family members all the way.
Colleagues, religious leaders and some parents, who were interviewed to elicit their views on Who is a Mother?, gave varied responses and opinions. I wanted to know whether a mother is a woman who brings forth children and desert them to fend for themselves due to socio-economic problems, or a woman, who lightens a home, ensures that family members, both close and extended, benefit from her passion, skills and resources, or a woman who takes care of children who are not her biological children, or a woman who does not just bring forth children, but provide them with care, support and provide for the needs of the child.
A colleague said a mother was the light of the home, she reigns in it, she's foremost the educator of her kids, the financial officer, for she handles the budget for the family, the accountant, for every now and then she gives an accounts of what is needed in the house.
A-45-year-old mother of four, Maame Yaa, said, “I love being a mother to my four kids for I consider them the best gifts I received from God. I consider my being a mother to them as my greatest achievement in life”.
Reverend Dei Awuku of the Atomic Hills Presbyterian Church said, to call somebody a mother, goes beyond just nine months of carrying pregnancy and giving birth to children, adding that, a mother is a person people can come to for food, advise, care, protection and comfort.
He said a mother is that person who knows what to do most of the time, and evokes trust and confidence.
An Evangelist and the Head Pastor of the New Bethel Revival Ministry International, Mrs Alice Newman, said children needed to appreciate their mothers in whatever condition they were and show them love and care.
She said sometimes mothers failed to take care of their children because of the hurts and pains suffered from a divorce and left such children to fend for themselves.
She explained that children from broken marriages deserved to be loved and properly taken care of by both spouses because they were not to be blamed for a marriage that had gone wrong.
Mrs Newman advised mothers to sacrifice in support of their children’s psychological, physical and social development to ensure that they grew up to become responsible people in future.
She said if mothers became more responsible, the number of street children could be reduced and cases of children accusing their mothers of being witches due to the hardships of life, may be minimised.
There are some people who do not know the value of their mother because they want to listen to themselves and others when confronted with problems they perceive to be insurmountable. Consequently, some mothers are being kept as ‘witches’ in camps, while others end up with depression and psychological problems, as a result of domestic and other societal problems.
But Rev Awuku’s advise to mothers is encouraging. He said since we would never have a society without problems, it is important for mothers to appreciate the power and glory of the Lord and utilise their gifts from God with the conscience of reason and maximise God in life to fulfil their roles as women and mothers.
As we celebrate Mother’s Day, all mothers (not only those who have brought forth children) have to believe, trust, and have confidence in themselves as women and mothers to look within for the answers instead of looking elsewhere. Happy Mother’s Day to all peace-loving and industrious women.