JOICFP NEWS NO.255 SEPTEMBER 1995
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- JOICFP NEWS NO.255 SEPTEMBER 1995
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No. 254 September 1995
ISSN 0911-0755
JOICFP NEWS
ringing Women into the Mainstream
Reproductive health & rights
and women’s empowerment
are key words for JOICFP
The Japanese Organization for International
operation in Family Planning (JOICFP) was
established in 1968. The organization, which
grew out of the Japanese postwar experiences in
community-based family planning/maternal and
child health, has developed into the largest
Japanese NGO engaged in international
cooperation activities in the field of population
and reproductive health including family
planning. JOICFP has been involved in
projects in 25 developing countries where
project design and implementation are tailored
to meet the needs of the community people.
The organization receives most of its funds
from UNFPA and IPPF with some support from
the government of Japan. It is also actively
engaged in its own fund-raising activities.
A major focus of JOICFP’s current
activities is implementing the Program of
Action of the International Conference on
•ulation and Development (ICPD). The
people-centered focus of the document works in
well with the humanistic approach taken by
JOICFP in its efforts to promote health and
improve the quality of life at the grass roots.
Involving the community and working
closely with local NGOs are central to the work
of JOICFP which places special focus on
women. One important way that JOICFP aims
to promote women’s empowerment and
reproductive health and rights is through
awareness creation and IEC material
production. JOICFP actively seeks to achieve
self-reliance of projects through such strategies
as fee-charging, which also serves to raise the
quality of services, and the use of local
volunteers. To further promote sustainability
and ensure that projects can continue without
outside assistance, JOICFP emphasizes
capacity-building through training. The sharing
of experiences through South-to-South
exchanges is an important part of this process.
JOICFP seeks to raise the effectiveness of
projects at the
grass roots by
fostering
collaboration
between
government and
NGOs and
gaining the
involvement of
experts and the
media. In areas
where JOICFP
projects are
implemented, a
tiered system of
steering
committees is
established to
JOICFP promotes reproductive health including family planning and education
involve all levels
to help young women avoid the pitfalls of early marriage and childbirth that
of authorities
rob adolescents like this young mother in Tanzania of a better quality of life.
from the village
up to the central
level and enhance collaboration and support.
is one of the ways that JOICFP seeks to create
This system of committees is also contributing
access to services. Another key strategy is the
to mainstreaming women in policy making and
promotion of health care on a mass scale as a
decision making. While women have always
means to save costs and motivate and educate
been a focus of JOICFP’s activities, the
communities. This approach has been
organization is now concentrating on creating
particularly successful in Asia where the
an environment to ensure that women do not
community spirit is strong and the concept of
just function as project implementors or
privacy is not as deeply held as in other regions.
recipients, but are involved from the earliest
As an NGO, JOICFP works to link up the
planning stages.
Japanese government and NGOs in developing
Using the Japanese experience as a base,
countries and help the government understand
JOICFP developed an approach that utilizes
needs at the grass roots. JOICFP also assists
parasite control as a quick, visible means to
NGOs to apply for ODA earmarked by the
improve health and pave the way for the
Japanese government for NGOs. JOICFP’s
promotion of family planning/maternal and
NGO status also gives it more flexibility than
child health integrated with community welfare the government to meet rapidly changing needs,
and development activities. The organization's
particularly in sensitive areas such as
approach today varies considerably in each of
adolescent health/youth fertility and women's
the countries and regions, but the concepts of
health issues including RTIs and HIV/AIDS.
community participation, education and the
By adapting to meet needs at the grass
integration of health and welfare components
roots, JOICFP has developed successful
needed in each community remain central to the approaches out of pilot projects. JOICFP’s
projects. Reproductive health is a focus of all
efforts have paid off in many countries where
JOICFP’s activities.
strategies have been adopted and applied by
Establishing outreach services in rural areas NGOs and governments.
Jr
1
China
Involving Women at All Levels
and satisfying such basic needs as health,
treatment system has also helped raise the
education and safe drinking water. The project
quality of services and contribute to project
promotes reproductive health rather than merely self-reliance.
Women have been involved in management controlling population in line with the
One of the positive aspects of the project
and implementation of JOICFP’s Integrated
resolutions of the International
Conference of Population and
Project (IP) from the grass roots up to the
Development of Cairo.”
central level since it was launched in 1984.
The project seeks to mobilize
They are also the major recipients of the
the community with parasite
project, which seeks to promote reproductive
control (PC), a quick, visible
health including family planning (FP) as a
means to arouse interest in health
means to improve health and the quality of life
issues. Provided on a mass scale,
at the community level rather than as a means
PC paves the way for health
of population control.
education and other services such
The project integrates such components as
as FP. It also helps mobilize the
maternal and child health (MCH), education
community to improve environ
and primary health care and promotes
mental sanitation and establish
community development. It is implemented in
safe drinking water sources.
cooperation with the State Family Planning
The project is particularly
Commission (SFPC) of the Chinese
beneficial for women, who are the
government and China Family Planning
main targets of health education
Association (CFPA) with funds from IPPE
mortality through such activities as regular health checkups.
and benefit from the reduction of
Today the IP is promoted in 18 areas of 16
abortion rates through acceptance
provinces and autonomous regions where it
ofFP. By 1992, the contraceptive prevalence
covers a target population of more than 3.4
has been its success in getting government
rate in project areas of Yunnan
departments such as health, education and FP to
Province had risen to 93% from
work together. It has also encouraged NGOs
61%. Meanwhile, one IP area in
and bodies such as the FP association, youth
Yunnan recorded a drop in the
league and women’s league to collaborate with
number of induced abortions from 17 government departments.
in 1987 to 4 in 1991. Similarly, the
One of the newest aspects of the project is
number of abortions in an IP area in
the Taicang IP Center which is delivering
Liaoning Province fell from 21 in
integrated services on a fee-charged basis and
1992 to 12 in 1994.
offering training. The center, which is
By organizing women into
providing parasite examination and treatment
groups such as mothers’ clubs, the
on a mass scale to all junior high school and
project paves the way for education
primary students in Taicang City, has become a
on such reproductive health issues as model for project sustainability and quality of
safe motherhood and prevention of
care for other areas.
RTIs, a serious problem in
many areas. Women’s groups
>4 pregnant woman is examined in a project area when
are also targeted for such
safe motherhood is stressed in services and education.
income-generating projects as
animal raising and vegetable
gardens, which benefit members as well
million. Its innovative strategies and goal of
as the community as a whole. Women,
service sustainability have won it an
particularly FP association members, are
endorsement from the central and local
also trained as community volunteers.
governments, which actively support activities.
Women are the main focus of health
Commenting on the project. Dr. Peng Yu.
checkup services provided through local
vice minister of SFPC and chairperson of the
health centers or on an outreach basis
National Steering Committee of the IP. said,
under the project. When the mobile van
"The IP is well-suited to the situation of China.
arrives in a village, it is typical for
It is helping to realize the recommendations of
women to form long lines for checkups,
this year’s World Summit on Social
A strategy of the IP is to reach parents by providing
despite the fee charged for such
Development held in Copenhagen in terms of
education and services to children.
services. The thorough checkup and
economic development, eliminating poverty
Project in China wins
endorsement of government
2
JOICFP NEWS. September 1995
Asia
Women as Decision &
Policy Makers
Asian regional project focuses
on women as planners, agents
and recipients of services
established from the
village up to the central
level to implement the
project. While men are
involved in these,
JOICFP has been implementing the
particularly community
UNFPA-supported Community-based
leaders, JOICFP aims to
Sustainable Family Planning/Maternal and
ensure women have
Child Health (FP/MCH) Project with Special
positions with decision
Focus on Women in the Asian Region since
making power. This has
1992. This regional project is being promoted
JOICFP seeks to empower women such as these in Nepal by
in Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal and the Philippines. been particularly effective
getting them to work together to improve the quality of their lives.
in Bangladesh, for
TCFP is also involved in projects in China
and Vietnam.
example, where men are
project activities, the mass approach is
involved in the top level of the project and
The emphasis placed on women in the
promoted smoothly and generally does not
therefore endorse the activities, but women are
regional project reflects the aim of making
conflict with the quality of care issue.
in charge of decision and policy making.
them the center of the project, not only as
Training and education is another major
Today, in all of the six projects in Asia, women
health agents or recipients of services, but as
area of JOICFP’s work in Asia. The promotion
policy-makers, decision-makers and evaluators. are involved at the managerial level.
One of the challenges for JOICFP in Asia is of South-to-South collaboration has been
By working to mainstream women in all levels
particularly effective for sharing experiences
to ensure quality of care in
the provision of reproductive and information. JOICFP facilitates such
exchanges within Asia and interregionally.
health care services
JOICFP also produces a variety of IEC
including FP at the
materials
for the region including a broad range
community level. The
of
printed
materials, films and videos. One of
quality of care issue is a
JOICFP’s latest projects, the still-photo video
particularly important one
series, Asia's Path to Development, portrays
since JOICFP seeks to
Asian traditions that contribute to the well
provide access to services in
being
of community people and form the basis
rural areas through outreach
of strategies for project promotion in the
services rather than clinics,
region. This innovative series focuses on such
and aims to promote project
aspects of Asian culture as the community
self-reliance through fee
spirit, which is an ideal building block for
charging.
projects in Asia. In providing insights into the
The projects promoted
Asian approach to development, JOICFP
by JOICFP are community
In Bangladesh, JOICFP recruits young women to work as family
presents a different model of development than
based and seek to mobilize
development volunteers to promote reproductive health services
the Western one. The series also offers valid
the community people to
and education in communities.
experiences that can be applied in other regions.
work together to help
themselves. Utilizing the
community spirit and bringing people together
of the project, JOICFP seeks to redress gender
for mass health-care activities is particularly
imbalances that often characterize the planning
well-suited to the Asian context where the
of projects aimed at raising the health and
concept of privacy is not as deeply held as in
status of women.
other regions. In Laos, Vietnam and Nepal, for
In each of its projects, JOICFP aims to
example, women assemble for mass education
create an environment where women will be
and eagerly take part in interactive sessions
able to continue their involvement in activities
once outside assistance is withdrawn. To create concerning such sensitive issues as
contraception. In Laos, women can be seen
such an environment, JOICFP focuses on
involving men, while ensuring that women have speaking out at such meetings to offer personal
experiences and help others with similar
positions of power at all levels of the project.
problems. The open nature of these events is
One way that JOICFP seeks to achieve this
Women volunteers are trained to work
viewed as positive and encouraging for women.
is by positioning women at each level of the
as counselors in Laos.
tiered system of steering committees that are
While individual counseling is still part of the
JOICFP NEWS, September 1995
3
Africa
ction for Women by Women
JOICFP is active in five countries in Africa where the main focus of its activities is to improve health and raise the quality of life
through the promotion of reproductive health including family planning. While the components of the integrated projects and
implementation varies in each country, women are a major focus of all JOICFP projects in Ethiopia. The Gambia, Ghana. Tanzania and
Zambia. Some examples of JOICFP's approach in three African countries are outlined below.
Ethiopia
JOICFP launched its project in Ethiopia in
cooperation with the Ministry of Health in
1990. Despite significant political change in
the initial
years, the
project
continued
with the
support of
the
community
Construction of sanitary
people and
water supplies has reduced
is today
the workload of women.
being
implemented in two areas with a population of
60,000. The community-based project
integrates reproductive health including family
planning (FP) with maternal and child health,
nutrition, education, parasite control and
environmental sanitation.
The project has contributed to raising the
contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) in the rural
project area from 0.95% in 1989 to 11.8% in
1994, and in the semi-urban area from 17.0% to
25.4%. The national average CPR, at 5%, is the
lowest in all of Africa. While women were
chosen as the target of the project, an awareness
of the importance of gaining male support and
working smoothly with local traditions has
guided implementation.
One of the ways the project has created
favorable conditions for women’s participation
and acceptance of FP, has been by bringing
them together for income-generation projects.
The health posts of IP villages function as
vocational training centers, shops for selling
produce and FP promotion centers.
The project has also assisted women
through the construction of covered spring
water wells and the establishment of the
‘’Bamako” pharmacy. While promoting FP as a
means to improve the health and quality of life
of women, the project continues to develop and
embrace new aspects to further the process of
women’s empowerment.
Zambia
The Integrated Project was initiated in
Zambia in 1984 and covers a target population
of 72,000 in three areas. Implemented by the
Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia
(PPAZ) and Flying Doctor Service, the project
places priority on reducing the maternal and
infant/child mortality through the promotion of
reproductive health including family planning,
maternal and child health, nutrition, education,
Traditional birth attendants and
community-based distributors use
bicycles to reach out to communities.
parasite control and environmental sanitation.
One of the challenges of the Zambian
project has been to involve women in activities,
while avoiding a clash with traditional values.
Gaining the support of men has been an
important step towards achieving this goal.
With one in five children dying before the
age of 5 years in Zambia, efforts to reduce
malnutrition are well-received. Targeting
women, the project fosters women’s groups and
volunteers and provides education on nutrition
and cooking and promotes garden clubs for
growing a range of vegetables. Today, there are
40 women’s clubs in project areas that ease
promotion of other aspects such as FP.
Nursery schools have also helped free
women from some of the burdens of child
rearing and provide a window for considering
the benefits of child spacing.
Each activity promoted under the project is
selected for its own practical merits and as a
means to bring women together, raise their
health and contribute to their empowerment.
4
Ghana
JOICFP works in Ghana with the Planned
Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), a
pioneering NGO in the field of reproductive
health including family planning. PPAG, which
is taking the lead in cooperation with the
government to expand the community-based
distribution (CBD) system in rural areas, has
been implementing JOICFP’s Integrated Projc
since it was initiated in 1987. The project,
which covers a population of 35,000 and 34
villages, focuses on women as agents to
improve health and the quality of life.
The project targets women with services
and education, mobilizing volunteers and
women’s groups, while also fostering male
support. It involves a range of components
including reproductive health and FP, maternal
and child health, health education, nutrition,
environmental sanitation and parasite control.
A local steering committee based in the
community serves as the driving force to
involve local governments, community leaders,
school teachers and women’s groups and to
identify needs and elicit community support
and participation. Since the project was
initiated, the contraceptive prevalence rate har
more than doubled in the pilot areas.
One effective way in which the project
seeks to raise the status of women is through
skills training. In Awatsu and Bontrease
villages, for example, young women are trained
to become
tailors using
donated treadle
sewing
machines from
Japan. In
Bontrease, the
apprentices are
An apprentice tailor
taught by a
practices
on a donated
woman leader
treadle
sewing
machine.
trained as a
dressmaker.
Currently there are 12 apprentices and of the
four graduates, three have established their own
shops. In Awatsu, the 18 apprentices receive
training from a tailor. Six women have so far
graduated from this school.
JOICFP NEWS, September 1995
Latin America
Improving Health &
Empowering Women
Women remain a focus of
JOICFP activities in the region
JOICFP’s activities in Latin America and
the Caribbean have focused on women since
they were first initiated in Mexico in 1980.
Today, JOICFP strives to promote reproductive
health including family planning (FP) and
empower women with region-wide activities,
while implementing country projects in Brazil,
Guatemala and Mexico in cooperation with
'al NGOs and government and with the
odpport of UNFPA and IPPE
One of the most effective aspects of the
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k
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Peer counselors are trained in Sao Paulo,
Brazil, to foster self-esteem among
adolescent women.
ional project is the production of IEC
materials, particularly audio-visual materials.
These include the joint Japanese-Mexican
adolescent health video series designed to assist
sex education. Other regional activities include
the organization of seminars and workshops
including those to foster the production of local
IEC materials, and the promotion of South-toSouth collaboration for sharing of experiences
and information among developing countries.
In each of the three project countries,
JOICFP’s approach varies to reflect the needs
of community people. In Brazil, where the
project was initiated in 1983, JOICFP works
with CMI/PF (Centro Materno-Infantil/
Planejamento Familia) in urban slum areas of
Sao Paulo that are difficult for government
services to reach. To approach the large
proportion of adolescents in the population, the
project incorporates sex education and
orientation for youths. This is particularly
important for young women, who are most
affected by early and unwanted pregnancy. A
JOICFP NEWS, September 1995
serious problem in Latin America,
unwanted pregnancy often destroys
education and career opportunities for
adolescent women.
One way that the project seeks to
answer the needs of adolescents is
through the “Adolescent Space,” which
Traditional birth attendants learn how to recognize
was opened in the project area in Sao
low-weight infants in Guatemala.
Paulo in 1994. A place where young
people can gather and obtain correct
to seek a better quality of life.
information, the Adolescent Space utilizes
In Mexico, the project is implemented by
volunteers and trains peer counselors to provide
the Mexican Foundation for Family Planning
sex education and orientation on issues such as
STDs including HIV/AIDS to other adolescents (MEXFAM) and is the most well-established of
JOICFP’s projects in the region. As such, it has
in their communities.
gained considerable experiences and
The project in Guatemala was launched in
1988 and is implemented in an area where 90% information that are now shared with other
countries in the region and other regions.
of the population is indigenous. Most of the
Women serve as health agents and
target population live in poor, rural areas which
volunteers
in communities where MEXFAM
are not well served by the government health
implements the project, which also encourages
network. However, while infant and maternal
the active involvement of men. Integrating
mortality are extremely high and contraceptive
reproductive health including FP with primary
prevalence is low, the close community ties
health-care and community development
make it difficult for outsiders to approach local
components, the project emphasizes education
people with health messages.
To reach the women of the project areas,
the implementing agency, Family Planning
CONSULTORIO MEDICO FAMILIAR
• •
Association of Guatemala (APROFAM), has
“TB"
recruited the assistance of traditional birth
attendants (TBAs). Well-respected in their
communities, these women are trained by
APROFAM in safe motherhood and other
aspects of health care and work as effective
agents for mobilizing women to accept health
messages and join project activities.
Health kits and bicycles have been provided
Community doctors work with FP volunteers
under the project to enhance the work of these
under MEXFAM’s program to provide a range
important health agents who also use special
of services to women in rural communities.
Maternal and Child Health Handbooks
developed for non-literate users. These
and utilizes fee-charging towards sustainability.
handbooks are effective to assist TBAs
MEXFAM also focuses on adolescents
disseminate information among female clients.
through its innovative Gente Joven program.
Another aspect of the project that has
Gente Joven is a comprehensive approach to
contributed to women’s empowerment is the
adolescent health that seeks to involve
establishment of sewing academies for
adolescents, teachers and parents in the learning
vocational training. Utilizing treadle sewing
process. This approach, which creates an
machines donated from Japan, these schools
provide training in dressmaking for local
interactive situation for sharing information, is
effective for deepening understanding among
women and enable them to produce items for
parents and adolescents and promoting dialog
sale to raise funds. The academies have also
between them. Gente Joven also uses peer
proved effective for bringing women out of
counselors to reach out to young people with
their homes and strengthening the women’s
correct information.
network, an important step to mobilizing them
5
I EC Materials
Power Through Education
The impact that lack of choice and power
has on the lives of three adolescent women in
three different countries is the focus of
JOICFP’s fourth Still Photo Video, Adolescent
Women—
Voices
Unheard.
The video,
I
developed
as an
educational
material
ahead of the
Beijing
Fourth
World
Conference
Moni
on Women,
documents
the lives of the three adolescents with still
photos which have been fused together with
advanced techniques to create a cohesive story.
The video contains photos of that capture the
actual lives of the adolescent women and
comments made by them.
Moni is a young wife in a remote rural
village in Bangladesh. Married at 13, she did
not begin menstruation until six months after
her marriage. At 14, Moni must do all the work
in the household for her husband’s family of 12
members. She had no control over her marriage
and now has no control over her life which is
destined to remain one of drudgery. “If I have a
child, I hope it is a boy,” comments Moni.
“Life for a woman is never happy.”
Luz is a resident of Mexico City. At 15 she
met her boyfriend and had sexual relations
without understanding the consequences that
early pregnancy would have on her education
and life choices. Forced to leave school after
getting pregnant, Luz married her boyfriend
only to separate very soon afterward. Today
she is a single mother with a 2-year-old
daughter. “I wish I had known better,” she
comments. “I never want to make the same
mistake again.”
Despite her young age, Nagor at 19 has a
tragic life story. Born the youngest of nine
children in a small village in Thailand, Nagor
went to Bangkok when she was 15, following in
the footsteps of her sister and other village
girls. She was lured into prostitution where her
life had little value. “I did not know that going
to the city would end up in prostitution,” she
says. “I just wanted to
help my family.”
In addition to
Hands-on Reproductive Health Education
providing insights into
these lives, the video
The Magnel Kit is a powerful educational kit jointly
highlights the needs
developed by Japan Family Planning Association (JFPA) and
concerning the
JOICFP. The kit, a bold visual aid, consists of a metallic folding
empowerment of
white panel with male and female reproductive organs featured
women. Equal
on either side and 35 magnetic vinyl images that adhere to the
educational
panel and to each other. Extremely durable and lightweight, the
opportunity, access to
kit can be carried with ease and used indoors and outdoors, for
reproductive health
large and small groups.
information and
The Magnel Kit is designed to be used by educators to teach
services, and a means
a range of topics as diverse as male and female physiology, the
of economic
menstrual cycle, fetal development and contraception use and
independence are
failure. Educators can write and wipe
highlighted as basic
messages off the white board, or
requirements for
create their own story by placing
empowering women.
images in sequence. It is an excellent
One remarkable
tool for teaching audiences in any
aspect of the video is
language or low-literacy groups.
the way it conveys the
While the anatomically realistic
impact that lack of
parts have been slightly enlarged for
knowledge and power
educational purposes, the kit is ideal for providing a clear picture
has on the three
of reproductive mechanisms and rolling away prejudices and
adolescent women.
misconceptions. The kit is available from JOICFP.
Despite the very
different cultures and
I
I
6
I '&
Nagor
societies, all three suffer because of the lack of
control they have over their lives. In doing so,
the video provides a convincing argument for
education as a means to empower women
Luz
around the world. Available with English
narration, the video is an effective tool for
sending the voices of neglected young women
worldwide to opinion leaders, decision makers,
administrators and donors.
Visual Impact
The development of audio-visual materials
is one of the most important areas of JOICFP’s
IEC material production. JOICFP offers a vast
resource of videos and films developed to assist
education of a range of subjects such as
reproductive health including family planning
and women’s empowerment. One of the newest
additions to these resources is the Women’s
Health and Status Series of three animated
films. Set in Thailand, My Way focuses on
adolescent sexuality and features four teenage
women and the choices they face. Twin Lotus is
set in China and focuses on reproductive health
through the problems encountered by a newly
married couple. Rakhee and Mausee, which is
set in India, focuses on early marriage and
education and economic self-reliance for
women. It features a girl of 14 who is helped
by a friendly widow. Each film was developed
jointly with Japanese technical staff and local
animation artists and production crews.
Contact JOICFP for information.
JOICFP NEWS, September 1995
Domestic Activities
Active within Japan
JOICFP is the largest Japanese NGO
working internationally in the field of
population and reproductive health including
family planning, and has the longest history of
involvement in this field. Since its
establishment in 1968, JOICFP has not only
been active abroad, but has established a large
cooperative network in Japan involving experts,
Volunteers count donated used prepaid cards
which are sold to raise funds for JOICFP activities.
government agencies and local governments,
parliamentarians, the media and Japanese
public. JOICFP utilizes its unique position as
an NGO to create awareness of population and
related issues such as reproductive health and
rights and women’s empowerment and to
broaden the support base within the country.
JOICFP jointly founded the Municipal
ordinating Committee for Overseas Bicycle
resistance (MCCOBA) in 1988. The body, an
association of 15 local governments and
JOICFP, grew out of an awareness of the need
in developing countries for a non-fuel means of
transport to mobilize health workers in the
often rough and sparsely populated rural areas.
To answer these needs, MCCOBA began a
scheme of shipping reconditioned bicycles from
Japan with spare parts to areas of developing
countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America
where JOICFP projects are implemented. The
scheme quickly grew, attracting funding for
shipping costs and donations of other items
such as treadle sewing machines, stationery
goods and toys.
The scheme has helped focus attention in
Japan on the health and welfare needs of
community people, particularly women and
children, in developing countries. In recipient
countries, the bicycles have given health-care
workers a practical means of transport and
raised their status within their communities.
JOICFP NEWS, September 1995
A Role for
JOICFP in CD
This has been beneficial for women in African
villages, for example, where bicycles are
As a pioneering Japanese NGO
usually used by men for business. Over 60% of
the bicycles sent abroad are used by women.
internationally involved in the population and
As of June 1995, 14,000 reconditioned bicycles reproductive health field, JOICFP has been
with spare parts had been sent to 35 countries.
playing an active role in the Japanese
The donation of treadle sewing machines
government’s Global Issues Initiative (GII) on
has also mobilized support in Japan and
Population and AIDS. Announced in February
brought benefits to community people in 1994, the GII came out of the common agenda
developing countries. In most recipient
developed by Japan and the U.S. It earmarks
countries, the sewing machines are used US$3 billion of Japanese ODA over seven years
to train women to become tailors and
(1994 - 2000) for population and HIV/AIDS
earn income for themselves or
activities in developing countries. In
announcing the GII. the government outlined a
community projects. In some African
countries, for example, one machine can commitment to working closely with NGOs in
the field and focusing efforts in a
support an entire family and is worth
“comprehensive” or integrated approach that
two or three times the cost of a bicycle.
Meanwhile, stationery goods are
seeks to tackle related issues such as women in
development, education and children’s health.
contributing to literacy and health-care
Twelve countries have been nominated as
record-keeping, while toys are proving
useful for attracting
children and mothers to
nursery schools, mothers’
clubs and other activities
promoted under the project.
In 1993, JOICFP launched its
prepaid card campaign, a fundraising scheme that has focused
media attention across Japan on
the situation in developing
countries. By seeking the
donation of used prepaid cards
rather than cash, the campaign
sparked a dramatic response from
The GII emphasizes a comprehensive approach to
individuals, institutions and
population assistance including education for the girl child.
businesses. Cards sent to JOICFP
JOICFP is cooperating with the government to provide an
are sold to collectors. As of
NGO perspective to ODA activities under the GII.
August, JOICFP had received 6
million cards with those that have
been sold generating approximately ¥33.2
priority countries under the initiative.
JOICFP has already contributed to the GII
million (US$338,000 at an exchange rate of ¥98
by participating in project formulation missions
to $1). The campaign has been carried by all
major newspapers across the nation and
to Indonesia, the Philippines and Bangladesh.
It developed country situation analyses of
featured on TV and radio. One of JOICFP’s
Mexico. Ghana and Senegal, providing an NGO
strategies has been to utilize media attention to
perspective in recommendations. JOICFP also
provide simple messages on what the value of
provides course leaders for human resource
one used prepaid card means in terms of
development training on the GII.
improving the quality of life in a recipient
Since March 1994. JOICFP has been one of
country. This approach has been effective for
the participants of regular meetings between the
deepening understanding within Japan.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and
The innovative donation schemes are part
of what JOICFP calls its domestic campaign.
Japanese NGOs. Held to discuss progress of
the initiative and share information, the
These and other activities such as publications,
meetings allow NGOs to actively contribute to
seminars and meetings continue to do much to
the GII process.
raise awareness and support in Japan.
7
■■■■/
health and status.
However, during the 1960s and 1970s, the
original concept of family planning (FP) — as a
means for individual women to exercise their
basic human rights and claim an equal footing
with men — was lost. Family planning was
used instead as a tool to solve population
problems in developing countries. Family
planning was incorporated into national
population policies, thus departing from the
true concept of ensuring individual
choice
and rights.
The original idea of FP as a means to
improve the health and well-being of
individuals was overlooked during these
decades and FP became a slogan used by
governments to create a more positive image
cooperation, U.S. Embassy in Japan, visited
for top-down population control policies.
Family planning, which had come to symbolize
a means to achieve a happier life for women,
was utilized to solve population problems.
Despite considerable controversy, the
Program of Action was adopted at the
International Conference on Population and
Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994. This
was indeed a victory, since the majority of
recommendations embody women’s
perspectives. The phrase “reproductive health
and rights” was adopted as a central focus of
the program despite strong opposition,
particularly from the Catholic church.
Looking back, I can see that this opposition
was a significant challenge for the brave and
angry women in the conference hall. When I
looked at these women, I could feel the same
shared sense of anger that united the women in
Bombay 42 years ago. This anger is today
uniting women as a force for the Fourth World
Conference for Women in Beijing.
National Family Planning and Population
HOIC^-P ‘Wtomen s Mealtfi andStatus Series
9 seminar on FP in Japan, IEC development and
A New Animated Film
VOICE OF VOICES
By Chojiro Kunii
Brave and Angry Women —
from Cairo to Beijing
Once again, "brave and angry women” are
coming together. Their shared goal is to make
their voices heard at Beijing.
In 1952, IPPF was founded in Bombay,
India, by “brave and angry women” from all
over the world including Margaret Sanger from
the U.S., Rama Rau from India and Shidzue
Kato from Japan. The goals then set by the
organization were to bring freedom to
suppressed women and improve women’s
DIARY
O
O
- Dr. Fred Sai, president, IPPF, was in Tokyo
to give a keynote speech at the symposium to
commemorate World Population Day on July
11 and to meet and exchange information with
JPFP parliamentarians and officials of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was
accompanied by Mark Laskin, assistant
secretary general, IPPF.
-Richard Frank, president, Population
Services International (PSI), visited JOICFP on
July 13 to exchange information.
- Thirty-four participants from 10 countries
and representatives of WHO and UNICEF
attended the 17th APCO Parasitologists’
Meeting organized by Japan Parasite Control
Association (JAPC) in cooperation with
JOICFP in Tokyo from July 18 - 20.
- Representatives of eight NGOs including
JOICFP attended the NGO Meeting with the
DAC Appraisal Mission headed by Eugenio
D’Auria, premier councilor, Permanent Dele
gation of Italy to OECD, in Tokyo on July 20.
- Dr. John Rogosch, director, Office of
Population, Health and Nutrition, and Paul
White, minister counselor for development
Q
dp JOICFP on July 21 to exchange information.
o - Ben Messaoud Fathi, director general,
C)
() Board, Tunisia, visited JOICFP to attend a
o international cooperation on July 27 and 28.
o -JOICFP staff member Tetsuo Kato was in
RAKHEE and MAUSEE
o Guatemala and Mexico from July 16-30 to
o attend the Latin America Regional IEC
12 min., Color/English, Hindi, Bengali, Nepali
C)
on Adolescent Women’s Health in
o Workshop
Guatemala and conduct project monitoring and
o coordination in Mexico.
o
-Peter Donaldson, president, Population
V Reference Bureau (PRE). U.S., visited JOICFP
July 31 to exchange information. He was
o on
accompanied by Machiko Yanagishita, senior
o demographer, PRB.
o - Dr. Hirofumi Ando, deputy executive
o director, and Jyoti Singh, deputy executive
Education is a key to improving the health and
status of women. The process of change begins
with learning how to read and write. As women
use these skills to earn money, they gain the power
to make decisions for a better future.
RAKHEE AND MAUSEE is a joint Indian-Japanese
production and part of the women's health and
status series of animated films. The theme is early
marriage and the story concerns 14-year-old
RAKHEE whose fate is changed by an independent
woman called MAUSEE.
G
UNFPA, visited JOICFP on Aug. 2 to
o director,
exchange information.
o - Rokhsana Khondler, executive director,
()
Khan Foundation, Bangladesh, visited JOICFP
o
on Aug. 7 to exchange information.
Distributed by
Sakura Motion Picture Co., Ltd.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••a
Yoyogi Center Bldg., 57-1 Yoyogi 1-chome
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151, Japan
Tel: 8I -3-332O63II/Fox: 8I -3-332O7666
16mm-VTR~(Beta, VHS/NTSC, PAL, SECAM)
Government Commitment
•
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•
•
•
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At the International Conference of Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in
1994, the leader of the Japanese delegation, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yohei
Kono, stressed Japan’s commitment to providing assistance to promote reproductive health in
developing countries. This significant endorsement was reiterated by Japan’s Prime Minister
Tomiichi Murayama at the Social Development Summit held in Copenhagen in March 1995. At
home, the government recently passed a supplementary resolution concerning the Eugenic
Protection Law that includes the terms reproductive health and rights and is actively seeking the
partnership of NGOs in ODA activities. These developments and the government’s increased
funding to multilateral agencies and organizations such as UNFPA and IPPF show an
encouraging commitment to implementing the ICPD Program of Action.
8
•
JOICFP NEWS is a monthly newsletter published by
the Japanese Organization for International
Cooperation in Family Planning, Inc. (JOICFP).
•
JOICFP NEWS welcomes your comments,
suggestions and contributions. Please mail to:
•
•
JOICFP NEWS
Hoken Kaikan Bekkan
1-1, Ichigaya Sadohara-cho
Shinjuku-ku. Tokyo 162 Japan
Phone: 81-3-3268-5875
Facsimile: 81-3-3235-7090
JOICFP NEWS, September 1995
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