With the support of UNAIDS, AFPPD organised a parliamentarians’ session at the South Asia Regional Workshop on the Prevention of HIV related to Drug Use in Kathmandu, Nepal, on 17-18 March. Parliamentarians shared policy framework in their own country and exchanged best practices.

The workshop was organised by Response Beyond Borders and Youth Vision Nepal. The parliamentary panel featured Mr. Mohanmad Serajul Akbar, MP, Bangladesh; Mr. Ali Mohamed, MP, Maldives; Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, MP and Minister of Construction and Engineering Services, Sri Lanka; and Dr. Pinit Kullavanijaya, Senator of Thailand and Secretary-General of AFPPD, who also addressed the opening session. The panel was moderated by Mr. Patrick O’Gorman, Consultant with Asian Harm Reduction Network and European Expert with UNDP led BUMAD and SCAD programmes, Nottingham, United Kingdom. Also in attendance was Mr. Manohar Bhattarai, Acting Secretary-General, Constituent Assembly of Nepal.

The aim of the South Asian workshop is to bring together parliamentarians, civil society organizations, affected populations including drug users to review in depth the challenges faced in affecting policy change, reducing stigma and discrimination, and ensuring action and interventions will incorporate current capacity, identify gaps and respond cooperatively across country borders.

2.  AFPPD Secretary-General and Asia-Pacific Leaders Discuss HIV/AIDS

AFPPD Secretary-General Dr. Pinit Kullavanijaya, Senator of Thailand, attended the 7th Asia Pacific Leadership Forum on HIV/AIDS and Development (APLF) steering committee (SC) meeting in Bangkok from 19-20 March. The APLF was established as a result of the Ministerial Meeting on HIV/AIDS and Development in Asia and the Pacific held in Melbourne in October 2001 and responds to the commitment for strong leadership on HIV/AIDS agreed at the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS in New York in July 2001.

Chaired by the former first lady of Papua New Guinea Lady Roslyn Morauta, the SC meeting was addressed by Mr. Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS Executive Director; Dr. Nafis Sadik, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia-Pacific; Mr. Murray Procter, Australia’s Ambassador on HIV/AIDS; Mr. Wang Longde, President of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association; Marie Bopp Dupont, CEO of the Pacific AIDS Foundation (PIAF); Ms. Marina Mahathir, Former President of the Malaysian AIDS Council;.  Serge Dumont, Senior Vice President and President for Asia-Pacific, Omnicom Group, Inc.; and Ms. Geeta Sethi, APLF Manager, UNAIDS.

Mr. Sidibe addressed the current global context and the opportunities and challenges for regional advocacy on AIDS, urging the creation of space for dialogue and engagement with stakeholders in different sectors. SC members also presented their findings on advocacy visits in the region. The meeting also assessed APLF’s achievements and lesson learned thus far and produced recommendations for future programmes and work.

AFPPD was also represented by Mr. Shiwei Ye, Editorial Associate.

3.  Celebrating International Women’s Day

In her opening statement at the celebration of the Internatonal Women’s Day in Bangkok, Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, urged countries to invest in women as a part of their economic stimulus plan in the current financial crisis. “Investment in women and girls,” she said, “is fundamental not only to gender equality and women’s empowerment, but essential to poverty reduction and development.”

The celebration also featured a panel discussion moderated by Ms. Jean D’Cunha, Regional Programme Adviser, UNIFEM-ESEA. The panels included: Mr. Srawooth Paitoonpong, Senior Research Specialist at the Thailand Development Research Institute; Ms. Lucia Victor Jayaseelan, Executive Coordinator of the Committee for Asian Women; Ms. Lek Junya Yimprasert, Director of the Thai Labour Campaign; Ms. Nongluck Phinainitisart, President of THAICOM Public Company Limited; and Ms. Shamika Sirimanne, Chief of ESCAP’s Trade Facilitation Section.

In cooperation with UNFPA, AFPPD is currently planning a programme to engage men and male policymakers to advocate for the elimination of violence against women, including the establishment of a core group of male parliamentarians committed to eliminate gender-based violence in the Asia-Pacific region.

4.  Asian Parliamentarians at Climate Change Conference in Oslo

AFPPD arranged the participation of Asian parliamentarians at the European Conference on Climate Change in Oslo, Norway, from 23-24 March.  The conference was organised by the Norwegian All-Party Parliamentary Group in collaboration with the European Parliamentary Forum (EPF) and the Norwegian Association for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. The theme was “Climate and People: To what extent are climate change and population dynamics interrelated and what can European policy makers do about this?”

The conference brought together around 50 leading Parliamentarians from European Countries and experts in the field of environment and population to discuss the linkage between SRHR and climate change, to give an overview of current research and exchange information on best practices.

5.  Bangladesh to Boost Seats for Women

(IANS) - The number of seats reserved for women in Bangladesh Parliament would be raised to 100 from 45 at present, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said. She said the government will repeal all the laws that discriminate against women, the Daily Star reported recently.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the International Women’s Day at Osmani Memorial Hall, Prime Minister Hasina said: “We will reintroduce the National Women Development Policy adopted during the last Awami League government’s tenure. We gave nomination to a maximum number of women to contest the December 29 polls.”

“A maximum number of women have also been inducted in the cabinet. We believe in political empowerment of women to ensure their social dignity and contribution to economical activities. “It is not possible to establish women’s rights and stop violence against women only by enacting laws and observing women’s day. Rather there should be proper coordination at government and non-government levels,” Ms. Hasina said.

6.  PNG Women MP Quota Bill Defeated

On 11 March, the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Government failed to produce the numbers required to pass the historic motion to have women representatives in Parliament, reports The National. The Opposition, led by Sir Mekere Morauta, argued against the motion and voted against it, and its failure was virtually guaranteed by the absence of 33 Members from the House. The motion needed to be passed by a two-third majority of 73 votes in order to vote in the first woman nominee, Ms. Mary Toliman. The Government could muster only 60 votes, with 16 MPs voting against the motion. A total of 33MPs, most of them Government MPs, failed to turn up and vote for the Bill, although it was the subject of a heated debate in Government caucus earlier in the week.  

7.   US Federal Court Reject Decision to Limit Access to Contraceptives

NEW YORK (Center for Reproductive Health) – On 23 March, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York rejected the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision to limit over-the-counter access to the emergency contraceptive Plan B to women over 18, ruling that it was based on politics and ideology, rather than science. The court ordered the agency to reconsider its decision. It also ordered the FDA to act within 30 days to extend over-the-counter access, which is currently limited to 18 year olds and over, to 17 year olds.

This ruling “is a tremendous victory for all Americans who expect the government to safeguard public health," said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which brought the suit against the FDA.

"The message is clear--the FDA should put medical science first and leave politics at the lab door. We are encouraged that the agency, now under new leadership, will take that message to heart."

8.  Calendar of Events

• Conference on International Standards for Gender Policies in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, from 13-14 April, organised by UNFPA and the Government of Turkmenistan
• Partners in Population and Development (PPD) International Programme Advisory Committee meeting in Bali, Indonesia, from 19-20 April
• AFPPD parliamentarians session at the International Harm Reduction Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, from 20-23 April
• Asia Pacific Alliance on ICPD (APA) steering committee meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, from 27-28 April
• Forty-Second Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank in Bali, Indonesia, from 2-5 May
• APDA/AFPPD Asian Regional Seminar on ICPD+15 and AFPPD Executive Committee meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia,  from 2-3 May
• Second steering committee meeting for the 5th APCSRHR, in Beijing, China, from 15-16 May
• 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia-Pacific (ICAAP) in Bali, Indonesia, from 9-12 August, organised by AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific
• Global NGO Forum on ICPD at 15 in Berlin, Germany, from 2-4 September, organised by UNFPA and the Government of Germany
• 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Beijing, China, from 17-20 October
• International Parliamentarians’ Conference on ICPD+15 in Cairo, Egypt, from 20-21 October

This and previous editions of our E-News can be viewed on our website at http://www.afppd.org/information.html.