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Sex work and HIV - Reality on the ground:
In October 2011, UNFPA, UNAIDS, SFH and a number of Namibian sex worker organizations conducted a series of rapid assessments on sex work and HIV in five towns in Namibia. The aims of the rapid assessment project were to engage sex workers in assessing barriers to HIV prevention and treatment and proposing relevant solutions in five towns in Namibia; to build the capacity of sex worker leaders and organizations at national and local levels; and to demonstrate good practice in community participation and empowerment approaches.
National Strategic Plans on HIV and AIDS in five global regions
In response to increasing acknowledgement of the importance of engaging men and boys within gender equality and HIV work, Sonke was commissioned by the UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund, to carry out a desk review of HIV and AIDS National Strategic Plans (NSPs), analysing the extent to which they commit to working with men and boys for gender equality and in relation to HIV and AIDS.
Assessing Progress in Africa Toward the Millennium Development Goals
While Africa has generally made positive progress towards achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), performance has been mixed across indicators and countries. Recent food, fuel and financial crises, coupled with threats from climate change and instability in North Africa, are likely to affect the region's MDG achievement. Based on current trends, the continent's overall pace of progress is insufficient to achieve the goals by the target date of 2015.
CARMMA
CARMMA, the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa, is an initiative of the African Union Commission to curb the continentally-high pregnancy-related deaths. Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is the number of pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births - or the number of women who die during pregnancy or within 42 days of delivery or termination, per 100,000 live births during that year. Globally, there are over 358,000 maternal deaths each year and Africa accounts for more than half (53 per cent).
Survey of Availability of Modern Contraceptives and Essential Life-Saving Maternal and Reproductive Health Medicines in Service Delivery Points in Sierra Leone
This first annual report of the ‘Survey of Modern Contraceptives and Essential Life-Saving Maternal and Reproductive Health Medicines in Service Delivery Points’ in Sierra Leone is part of the new reporting system of the Global Programme on Reproductive Health Commodity Security (GPRHCS). The survey was undertaken to provide benchmark data information which are essential for sound Reproductive Health Commodity Security (RHCS) planning and for making administrative and policy decisions about the same. Three outcome indicators in the reporting framework were assessed to obtain data for country level indicators.
Sexual and Reproductive Health in the New Aid Environment
Following the conclusion of the project “Strengthening country office capacity to support sexual and reproductive health in the new aid environment”, a series of four country case studies was undertaken in Malawi, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Senegal and Tajikistan in early 2011.
Maternal Death Review in Eastern and Southern Africa
Maternal Death Review (MDR) is a key element for improving the quality of maternal health care services by focusing on the preventable causes of deaths and what could have been done to avert the death. MDR does more than count maternal deaths; it looks beyond the numbers to study the causes and avoidable factors behind each death, leading to actions to improve quality of care and address factors that could have contributed to the death based on the findings. Universal reporting of maternal death is an important element of health management information systems as long as it leads to the allocation of resources to address the gaps.
Sub-Regional PMTCT Capacity Building Meeting On Primary Prevention of HIV & Prevention of Unintended Pregnancies
The Eastern and Southern African sub-region has more than 60% of the globalburden of preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT)of HIV and has 15 of the 25 high burden countries. Additionally, HIV-related conditions have become the leading cause of maternal and child mortality. Remarkable progress has been made in the implementation of PMTCT strategies to reduce the risk of mother-to-infant transmission from nearly 40 per cent to under 5 per cent. However, much more needs to be done in the area of primary prevention of HIV and prevention of unintended pregnancies among women living with HIV, where UNFPA is expected to provide leadership.
The Global Programme to Enhance Reproductive Health Commodity Security
The Global Programme to Enhance Reproductive Health Commodity Security (GPRHCS) provided sustained multi-year support to 11 Stream 1 countries and funded targeted initiatives in 34 Stream 2 countries. In total, the Global Programme focused on 45 countries, a deliberately tighter focus than the previous year.
The State of the World's Midwifery 2011
The first ever State of the World’s Midwifery report is focused on 58 countries with high rates of maternal, foetal and newborn mortality. Its content has been largely informed by responses to a detailed survey that was developed to collect new or updated data and information in six areas: the number and types of practising midwifery personnel, education, regulation, professional association, policies and external development assistance.