Event (DC): Frontline Innovations in Maternal Health Care: Meeting Africa’s Urgent Need for Skilled Midwifery and Fistula Repair

The International Center for Research on Women and AMREF are pleased to present a seminar on

The provision of effective maternal health care has very clear health system requirements. The first is that community health care facilities must function and provide the basic services that save mother and newborn lives, including skilled staff, essential commodities and regular supervision from the district level. The second is linkages to a functioning referral system to ensure that women get appropriate care in the event of complications.

AMREF’s recent review and extensive experience supporting management of health services in East Africa indicate that these elements are not yet adequately addressed in existing health systems. In response, AMREF has crafted three strategies to address this urgent need: working with government to revitalize community health centers, creating virtual approaches for upgrading the skills of nurses and midwives, and strengthening regional capacity for the treatment of fistula. Speakers will discuss the response focusing on this strategic approach.

When:
Thursday, June 10, 2010, 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Where:
International Center for Research on Women
1120 20th St N.W., Suite 500 North
Washington, D.C. 20036

Speakers:
Dr. John Nduba, director, reproductive and child health, AMREF
Ms. Angela Nguku, coordinator, virtual nursing training school, AMREF
Dr. Weston Khisa, project manager, regional fistula repair project, AMREF

Please RSVP to Sherla Allen, sallen@icrw.org by Tuesday, June 8.

Publication: Bridging the Gender Divide; How Technology Can Advance Women Economically

Intention and innovation can generate real economic benefits to women in the developing world. In a groundbreaking study, ICRW examines technology initiatives that have enabled women to develop their economic potential, become stronger leaders and more effective contributors to their families, communities and domestic economies. Specifically, these efforts helped women increase their productivity, create new entrepreneurial ventures and launch income-generating pursuits. The report also offers innovators practical recommendations on how to design and deploy technologies that women can’t afford not to use.

By: Kirrin Gill; Kim Brooks; Janna McDougall; Payal Patel; Aslihan Kes (ICRW)

Access here

News: Rekha Mehra and David Kauck, ICRW, on issues facing women’s farmers

Rekha Mehra, director economic development, and David Kauck, senior gender and agriculture specialist, provide an insightful analysis on practical measures needed to address critical issues facing women farmers (particularly given the release of the new US govt. hunger and food security initiative) at the Katrine Chronicals Blog.  Go to the post or read the text (pasted below)

Source: Katrine Chronicals Blog

“Most notable about Feed the Future, the US government’s recent initiative to tackle global hunger and food security, is its emphasis on women – unprecedented in the US and timely. More than three decades of work on women and agriculture at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) suggests that improving women farmers’ access to appropriate resources, technologies, markets and land will pay multiple dividends in the form of increased agricultural productivity and, ultimately, improved household nutrition. In fact, according to the US state department’s, Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative consultation document, economic output could be increased by 15%-40% and under-nutrition reduced by 15 million children by providing women with assets equal to those of men.

Women are crucial to the health and wellbeing of their families and communities, and national economic growth. Take, for example, India’s economic transformation: according to the World Bank, Indian states with the highest percentage of women in the labour force grew the fastest and had the largest reductions in poverty. However, the barriers are considerable – women in Africa constitute the majority of farmers, yet they receive less than 10% of small farm credit and own just 1% of land.

It is then an exceptional opportunity that the US government has stated explicitly that not only will consideration of gender be a cross-cutting priority in all of its investments and activities, but also that it will help partner countries and implementing agencies strengthen their ability to address the negative impact of unequal access to and control over assets that affect women at all stages of the agriculture value chain. It is time to use the momentum and turn rhetoric into an action plan for implementation.

The critical next steps to consider in addressing gender issues and ending global hunger are three-fold: how to practically improve women’s access to agricultural resources such as seeds, fertilisers, credit; how to improve women’s access to agricultural information, services and training and how to help women farmers become better integrated into wider commercial markets.

ICRW has ideas and recommendations about the “how to” based on our research and through talking directly with women farmers in developing countries. Here are our six recommendations:

Event (DC): Expanding Stigma-Reduction Strategies to Strengthen HIV Programs: The Case of Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission

Don’t miss ICRW’s next Insight to Action seminar, Wednesday, March 31, 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m

Reducing stigma and discrimination can dramatically improve the lives of people affected by HIV. With more than 33 million people living with the virus and an estimated 2.7 million new infections in 2008, the need for intensified action has never been greater. Scaling up current efforts to reduce stigma would also optimize investments in HIV prevention, care and treatment. However, funding realities mean prioritizing investments. And increasingly, decisions about where to invest rely on data about the likely costs and effects of programs.  So a key question is just how much does stigma-reduction interventions affect outcomes, such as preventing infections or deaths? ICRW’s Laura Nyblade and Cathy Zimmerman of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine will present new findings that estimate the potential impact of stigma on prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programs. Findings suggest one-third to one-half of mother-to-child transmission may be attributed to stigma.  The presenters also will discuss the facilitators and barriers to expanding the response to stigma. When: March 31, 2010 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Where: ICRW, 1120 20th Street N.W., Suite 500 North Washington, D.C. 20036 This is a brown bag seminar, with drinks and light snacks provided. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Traci Eckhaus at teckhaus@icrw.org or call 202.742.1259.