July 2006

PGPD ACTIVITIES

PGPD Roundtable on sexual and reproductive health in the Australian Aid program - PANEL MEMBERS NEEDED

The Parliamentary Group on Population and Development is holding a roundtable on ‘Sexual and reproductive health and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Australian Aid program – the way forward’.

There will be two sessions, in room 2S3
- Monday 14 August 8:30- 12:30, and
- Monday 11 September, 8:30am- 12:30pm.

The purpose of the discussions is to raise awareness within the Australian Parliament about how improved sexual and reproductive health (SRH) underpins all of the MDGs. The outcome of the discussions will be to identify the PGPD’s future international advocacy priorities.

Presentations and discussion will provide an opportunity for contractors and practitioners working in the field, policy development specialists, academics, NGOs and relevant government agencies to discuss with parliamentarians key aspects of current thinking on SRH especially in the Asia Pacific region. This will include discussions on family planning, HIV/AIDS, maternal health, environmental degradation, adolescent health, men’s SRH, microbicides and SRH in conflict and emergency settings.

Click here for a copy of the invitation to make a submission to the PGPD. Please forward to any one who may be interested or provide the Secretariat with contact details of those you wish us to forward the invite to.

If you can assist by being on the Panel which will hear the presentations and facilitate discussion please contact the Secretariat: secretariat@pgpd.asn.au or phone (02) 6282 8922.

4th Asian-Pacific Women Parliamentarians’ and Ministers’ Conference 2006 "Gender Responsive Governance – the key to the population & development agenda."

PGPD members Senator Claire Moore, Senator Lyn Allison and Robyn Parker MLC (NSW) attended this meeting 11-12 June in Wellington NZ. Around 70 women parliamentarians and ministers from Asia and the Pacific region attended the meeting.

Participants formulated a collective action plan to address gender disparities in the region. View the Plan of Action

Robyn Parker MLC, Senator Lyn Allison, and Senator Claire Moore.

Both Senator Claire Moore and Senator Lyn Allison gave presentations in the session ‘Governance at the national level – successes and barriers across the region’. Senator Allison reviewed debate in Australia about the approval process of the abortion pill and Senator Moore gave a summary of the AusAID White Paper and the role of the PGPD.

Senator Lyn Allison giving a presentation

PGPD Meeting 31 May
At the PGPD meeting on 31 May Bruce Davis, Director General, AusAID, outlined some of the key initiatives in the White Paper on Australia’s overseas aid program and the 2006 AusAID budget:
 -  gender equality will be a consideration     that will apply across all aspects of the     strategic framework, 
 -  significant additional investment in     health strategies, including addressing the     health needs of women and children by,     focusing on maternal health, sexual and     reproductive health, access to     contraception based on informed choice,     nutrition and education for girls and     programs to combat gender-based     violence, and
 -  increased engagement of parliamentarians     and political parties in Australia and their     counterparts in the region.

Short analysis of the White Paper prepared for the PGPD is available from this link.
The White Paper is available here.

PGPD also discussed the upcoming SRH roundtable discussions and Duncan Kerr MP presented a report and photos regarding his participation on the PNG study tour with the NZ parliamentary group.

PGPD DIARY REMINDERS

14 August Roundtable Discussion on SRH and the MDGs
8:30-12:30 Room 2S3

16 August - PGPD meeting
4pm Room 1R4
- with the Hon Julie Bishop MP, Minister for Education and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Women's Issues (confirmed) and staff from the Department of Health and Ageing regarding pregnancy support measures (tbc)

6 September 12pm- State of World Population Report 2006 launch
The Hon Dr Sharman Stone, Chair PGPD, is hosting this year's launch of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) State of World Population report on September 6 at 12 pm. Ian Howie, UNFPA, will launch the report "A passage to hope: women and international migration", and Dr Siew-Ean Khoo, ANU, will speak about 'Gender and Migration in the Pacific Region'.
All PGPD members have been invited. Please respond to the Secretariat ASAP.
    A seminar will follow in the afternoon from 1:45pm, speakers include Dr Penny Kane (Melbourne University), Julie Mundy (Marie Stopes International) and Dr Lenore Manderson (Monash University). Invitations to members will be sent shortly.

11 September- Roundtable
8:30-12:30 Rm 2S3

13 September - PGPD meeting
4pm Room 1R4
- presentation and discussion on indigenous sexual and reproductive health (tbc)

COMING UP

International Parliamentarians' Conference on ICPD (IPCI): 21/22 November, Bangkok, Thailand >> more.
The Hon Dr Sharman Stone will represent the PGPD at this conference.

PGPD approves new members
Following the state elections in South Australia and Tasmania, a number of new members have joined the PGPD. The PGPD welcomes the following new members to the group: Gay Thompson MP (SA), Vickie Chapman MP (SA), Isobel Redmond MP (SA), Lindsay Simmons MP (SA), Michelle Lensink MLC (SA), Russell Wortley MLC (SA), Mark Parnell MLC (SA), Ian Hunter MLC (SA) and Doug Parkinson MLC (TAS).

A current list of all federal and state PGPD members is available from the PGPD website.

NEWS

WORLD POPULATION DAY

World Population Day was celebrated on 11 July under the theme "Young People".

• Half of the world’s people are under the age of 25. Some three billion children and young people are, or will soon be, of reproductive age.

• In 57 developing countries, including the Solomon Islands and East Timor, over 40 per cent of the population is under 15.

• Half of all new HIV infections occur among young people—6,000 every day, and young women are disproportionately affected. Among people living with HIV/AIDS under 24, two thirds are young women.

• Pregnancy is a leading cause of death for young women aged 15 to 19 worldwide, with complications of childbirth and unsafe abortion being the major factors.

Read statements from UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UK hearing on population and MDGs
The UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health is holding hearings on ‘Population Growth - its impact on the MDGs’. A large number of groups and individuals responded and hearings are now complete.
The report will be launched at the end of the year. For more information, click here.

UNGASS wording frustrates Annan
UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan has accused some countries of putting their "heads in the sand" in failing to spell out the truth about HIV/AIDS. He told the BBC he was disappointed that the declaration at the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on AIDS did not specify that homosexuals, sex workers and injecting drug users (IDUs) were also at risk. However, Annan still said the declaration was better than he had expected.
    There has however been a strong recognition in the declaration of the alarming feminisation of the pandemic. Commitments were made to ensure that women can exercise their right to have control over their sexuality and to the goal of achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015.The declaration commits countries to work towards universal access to AIDS care by 2010. It also recognises this target will cost upwards of $23 billion to achieve, but does not specify how this will be raised. >> more

Launch of a new Danish strategy on SRHR
In May 2006, the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation launched a new Danish strategy on population: “The Promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights – Strategy for Denmark’s Support”.
    At the launch of the new strategy the Minister stated “Our future efforts will be promoted within the Millennium Development Goals’ (MDG) framework. Thus, our focus will be on contributing towards achieving gender equality, reducing maternal mortality and combating HIV/AIDS. Underscoring these priorities is the rights-based approach.”

Copies of this excellent strategy will be mailed to members and is available from this link.

Launch of 2006 report on global AIDS epidemic
On the eve of the UNGASS review meeting, UNAIDS launched its 2006 report. In the Oceania region of the southern Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand, there were an estimated 78,000 people living with HIV at the end of 2005 while an estimated 3,400 people died of AIDS-related illnesses in the region last year. View the report at the UNAIDS website.
    Papua New Guinea's HIV-AIDS epidemic is spreading at an alarming rate with PNG accounting for more than 90 per cent of HIV infections in the southern Pacific region. HIV diagnoses had been increasing by around 30 per cent annually since 1997. High levels of sexual violence against women were reported in PNG, paid and casual sex liaisons featured prominently and condom use was generally erratic.
    While the AIDS epidemic appeared to be slowing down globally, new infections continued to increase in certain countries including PNG, China, Indonesia and Vietnam in the Asia-Pacific region. An especially troubling situation had emerged in the Indonesian province of Papua where a serious HIV epidemic was under way, the UN report said.

UN Millennium Project releases SRH report
The UN Millennium Project launched a sexual and reproductive health report at the Global Health Council's annual conference on Tuesday, 30th May. "The report underscores the importance of investing in better sexual and reproductive health as an integral part of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and must be integrated in national development strategies to reduce poverty and promote human development," said Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the UN Millennium Project and special adviser to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the MDGs. >> more

Australian Nobel Prize winner Peter Doherty has accused US President George W Bush of being "unrealistic" by advocating abstinence as the best way to avoid HIV/AIDS. Professor Doherty, who won the 1996 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Switzerland's Rolf Zinkernagel for their discovery of how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells, criticised the Bush administration on Thursday for ignoring human sexuality through its program to bring the disease under control globally. >>more

Study: rising chlamydia infections in Pacific
The number of HIV/AIDS cases remains low on most Pacific islands, but rising sexually transmitted infections could help spread the virus in populations where condom use is low, according to a new study. The report by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and WHO looks at HIV/AIDS in Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. While no HIV infections were detected during the survey, chlamydia infections were found in nearly one in five pregnant women, reaching 29 per cent in Fiji. The rates were highest among women younger than 25. >>> more

PGPD WEBSITE

The PGPD website www.pgpd.asn.au contains information on members, PGPD's activities, reports and photos from conferences and meetings, resources on current population and development issues. A membership brochure for parliamentarians interested in joining PGPD can also be downloaded.

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