NO. 222 DECEMBER 1992.pdf

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extracted text
No. 222 December 1992
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COMMUNITY HEALTH CEU
326, V Main, I Block
Koramangala
________ 8«ngalore-560034

ISSN 0911-0755

JOICFP NEWS
Sai Speaks Out for Choice
IPPF president sees active, vocal role for IP PF in the 1990s and beyond
and status of women; the IPPF should be
a major advocate for women’s rights,
women’s equality and women’s
opportunity. Linked to this is the right
and freedom to choose — and this extends
to all FP methods. We also think we
should not be quiet anymore about the
ravages of unsafe abortion. We should
make known what unsafe abortion is
doing to women’s lives and families’
well-being around the world and, if
possible, help do something about it.
Another area is sexual and
reproductive health. We think for too
long the word “sex” has been removed
from the FP vocabulary. An under­
standing of human sexuality should be
the basis of our counseling work,
especially in relation to sexually
transmitted diseases including AIDS
and in relation to adolescent sexuality
and reproductive health.
Dr. Fred Sai, newly reelected as president of IPPF.

Dr. Fred Sai, president, IPPF, was in
Tokyo from November 11 - 18 to affirm
cooperation with the Japanese
government and related agencies. Sai
spoke withJOICFP NEWS on November
17 about the Sixth Members’ Assembly
of IPPF, held in New Delhi, India, from
October 21 - 26 and the IPPF Strategic
Plan for the 1990s. Below is an outline
of the interview.
One of the major things that came out
at the Family Planning (FP) Congress of
the Members’ Assembly was the fact that
FP programs have on the whole been
quite successful in many parts of the
world. They have been successful in
terms of their contribution to health and
family well-being and also in terms of
reducing fertility and the total numbers
of people. An estimated 400 million
people would have been added to our
current population if not for FP programs.
The second thing that came out was
that there is still a major need for FP, and
because of this need, there is an
opportunity for us to do better. There are
large numbers of women who would like

to postpone their next birth by at least two
years, or who do not want more children —
and many of whose last child was unwanted.
Yet they have no access to FP.
We looked at contraceptive
technologies and noted that although the
current technologies are not perfect, they
have been improved sufficiently for us to
be quite confident about them —: provided
that the delivery systems respond to the
real-life conditions of the people; that we
respect the people and involve them. In
other words, we need to make the delivery
systems and technologies accessible
socially, culturally, financially — in every
possible way.
We also agreed that the human resources
need to be developed a lot more both in
terms of quality and quantity. The amount
of funding going to the field will not be
sufficient to do this, so we are calling upon
the donor countries to provide more support.
Out of all of these, we decided our
challenges for the 1990s and beyond—our
strategic plan. The IPPF Strategic Plan has
certain major components. One is the
emphasis on the improvement of the role

Unmet Needs

Finally, we want to expand our
coverage and the actual service provision
of the IPPF system, particularly to
underserved areas and to people who are
neglected, especially the adolescents, the
illiterates and people in scattered rural
communities. These are the basic planks,
but of course we will be always
strengthening the system itself to be able
to cope with these challenges.
As for the 1994 International
Conference on Population and Deve­
lopment, the major thing we would like
to see is a conference that accepts and
emphasizes again the freedom and rights
to fertility regulation by everybody and
one that emphasizes governments’ duties
and responsibilities — whether or not
they are providing support — to ensure
that education, counseling, services and
a supportive environment are available
without restriction to everyone. We
would also like a conference which then
goes on to discuss how we can make this
a reality rather than whether it should be
a reality.
[J]
1

IPPF

Spreading the Word in Japan
“In those countries with high
maternal and infant morbidity!mortality,
the provision of family planning (FP)
information and services has demon­
strably improved maternal health by
providing the means to postpone child
bearing until after adolescence, to space
births, to prevent high-risk pregnancies
and to reduce abortion,” said Dr. Fred
Sai, president, IPPF. Addressing
members of the Nagano Chapter of the
Japan Women s League on November
12, Sai said,“It is estimated that
worldwide there are30-40 million legally
induced abortions every year, plus some
10-20 million clandestine ones, the latter
killing about 200,000 women each year
in developing countries.”
The Nagano lecture, titled “Women
and children in developing countries and
the role of Japan,” was organized by the

Nagano Chapter of the Japan Women’s
League with the support of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, IPPF and JOICFP. Some
160 representatives from all over Nagano
attended the meeting.
Sai focused much of his lecture on
women’s issues, calling on Japanese
women to speak out on FP issues that
affect women in Japan by working
through parliamentarians, administrators
and the mass media. He also encouraged
the grassroots efforts being made by the
Nagano women to support small-scale
health and development activities in
developing countries such as Vietnam.
Sai was also guest speaker at another
special lecture on November 17 in Tokyo.
Titled “Towards the International
Conference on Population and
Development 1994 — expectations of
Japan,” the Tokyo event was organized by

An Advocate of Women’s Rights
Dr. Fred Sai, president, IPPF, paid a
courtesy call to the Ministry of Health and
Welfare while in Tokyo and held discussions
with officials of the Children and Families’
Bureau on November 13. Sai took the
opportunity of the meeting to speak to the
officials about the postponement of the
release oflow-dose oral contraceptive pill in
Japan. The ministry, which was expected to
authorize sale of the pill in Japan this year,
abruptly postponed its release, citingfear of
an AIDS epidemic as the reason.
Taking issue with this decision, Sai
explained to the ministry officials that Japan
remains the last country in the world not to
have authorized the low-dose pill as a form
ofcon traception. Noting that over 60 million
women worldwide are presently using the
pill, Sai said that the contraceptive’s safety
has been proven in the more than 30 years
since it was first developed, adding that the
pill’s side effects are no longer an issue.

Pill vs. AIDS

Commenting on the government’s decision
to postpone the pill’s release, Sai stressed
that it is a false assumption that authorizing
the pill will lead to an increase in AIDS
cases. He said the decision of the government
shows a disrespect for the women of Japan
since it assumes that women will neglect to
use condoms and will contract AIDS. The
IPPF head stressed that by banning the pill,
the government takes away an effective
means for women to protect themselves from
unwanted pregnancy and forces them to rely
more on male methods such as the condom
and, thus, men for contraception. This

2

situation, he said, severely restricts choices
for women. Noting that the government has
authorized use of the IUD, Sai asked the
officials why the ministry has made an
exception of the pill. He said that as a medical
doctor and the former chairman of the
International Medical Advisory Panel of
IPPF, he could see no reason why the pill is
linked to AIDS and banned, while the IUD is
freely available to women in Japan.

Sai addresses the Nagano women.

the Family Planning Federation of Japan
(FPFJ), JOICFP, Council on Population
Education and the Population Problems
Research Council of the Mainichi
Shimbun (newspaper). The lecture was
attended by some 40 people including
representatives and experts ofpopulationand FP-related fields and the mass media.
In Tokyo, the IPPF head had
appreciative words to say about the stand
taken by Japan and other countries in
continuing their support of IPPF and
UNFPA after the U.S. withdrew funding
in the mid-1980s. Commending the
Japanese acceptance of safe abortions as
a choice for women, Sai also praised
widespread condom use and efforts taken
to market and provide education about
condoms in Japan. He said that Japan
should be part of the world community
which speaks out for issues concerning
individual rights, particularly with respect
to equality for women.
[J]

Negative Information
During the meeting, the ministry officials
told Sai that according to their research, only
5% of Japanese women would take the pill if
it was authorized. In reply, Sai said that
Japanese women do not have enough
information on the pill and what information
they do have is often negative. He added that
despite this situation, it is significant that 5%
of women would still like to take the pill.
Sai also told the Japanese officials that the
government ban puts the IPPF in an awkward
position. While Japan restricts access to the
pill domestically, it is a major funding source
for IPPF’s FP programs in other countries
which are actively promoting the pill as a form
of contraception.
Sai also spoke about IPPF’s activities and
the current population situation worldwide.
He said that it was time for everyone to think
about fundamental issues such as education,
health, equitable income and freedom—issues
that contribute to the situation of women around
the world. Noting that most women do not
even know freedom, Sai said that providing
basic education to women would do much to
raise their status and bring them more rights.

In a meeting with former Prime Minister
ofJapan and President ofJOICFP Takeo
Fukuda (left), IPPF President Fred Sai
expressed his appreciation for the
contributions ofthe Japanese government,
parliamentarians and Japanese people to
supporting IPPF and other multilateral
agencies involved in population activities.
The IPPF president also conveyed his
hope for Fukuda’s continued support for
population activities and urged theformer
prime minister to encourage the Japanese
government to take a leadership role in
making the 1994 International Conference
on Population and Development a
practical, action-oriented meeting.
JOICFP NEWS, December 1992

India

Brave & Angry Population Insights in India
After 40 Years Japanese parliamentarians deepen ties with Indian counterparts
The IPPF observed its 40th anniversary
with its Sixth Members' Assembly from
October 21 - 26 in the country in which it was
founded in 1952, India. The over 300 senior
family planners and health experts in
attendance adopted the Delhi Declaration
renewing IPPF’s “Brave and Angry”
commitment to fightfor rights ofindividuals
worldwide to plan their families. Two
directors ofthe Family Planning Federation
of Japan (FPFJ), Akiko Domoto, member,
House of Councilors, and Dr. Minoru
Muramatsu, former president, Saitama
College of Health, attended the assembly.
Under the theme of “Meeting challenges:
promoting choices,” a special Family
Planning Congress focused on the key issues
of the effectiveness of family planning (FP)
programs, policy and ethical dimensions,
women’s perspectives and service delivery,
the unmet need for FP, contraceptive
technology, AIDS prevention and the
challenges for the 1990s.

tour was organized by
JPFP and APDA in
cooperation with JOICFP,
UNFPA and IPPF.
During their stay, the
lawmakers held dis­
cussions with leading
politicians including
Vice President Kocheril
Raman
Narayanan,
Speaker of Lok-Sabha
(Lower House) Shivraj
Vishwanathrao Patil, and
Minister of Health and
Family Welfare Makhan
Lal Fotedar as well as
Parliamentarians meet Indian women in Agra.
Indian parliamentarians
The seven members of a delegation of concerned with population and
the Japan Parliamentarians Federation development issues. They also met with
for Population (JPFP) deepened their Erling Dessau, representative of UNDP
understanding of population and deve­ and UNFPA in India.
One of the highlights of the tour was
lopment issues in India during an eightIncrease in FP Users
day study tour, held October 18-25. A a meeting with Jamsetji Tata, one of the
valuable mission for strengthening most prominent figures in the Indian
Estimating an increase in FP users from
around 300 million at present, to more than exchanges among parliamentarians business world and a pioneer in the field
600 million by the year 2000, the declaration concerned with the issues of population of FP. Tata, who was awarded the UN
called on family planning associations (FPAs) and development in India and Japan, the Population Award this year, pinpointed
to work with governments to try to meet the tour included meetings with political two main obstacles to reducing population
huge need for information and services, leaders, parliamentarians and repre­ growth in India: illiteracy, particularly
particularly among poor urban communities sentatives of international organizations, among women, and the practice of early
and those living in remote rural areas. It also and took infield trips to areas to observe marriage. The best way to solve
called for greater emphasis on services for health and family planning (FP) related population problems of India, he said, is
young people and stressed the need for highto provide basic education to everyone,
activities.
quality, caring services that offer a wide
particularly to women.
The
tour
coincided
with
the
Sixth
choice of contraceptive methods.
Member
’
s
Assembly
of
IPPF,
held
in
New
Pledging to intensify its efforts at the
NGO Flexibility
Delhi from October 21-26. In a show of
international, regional and national levels,
IPPF reasserted its commitment to be the support for the work of IPPF, the mission
The mission schedule also included
“conscience” and the “leader” of the FP attended the assembly’s inauguration
movement in the non-governmental sector.
ceremony on October 21 and conveyed a observation of FP activities of a planned
The federation urged its member FPAs to
message from former Minister of Foreign parenthood clinic operated by the Family
highlight the nature and extent of unsafe Affairs Taro Nakayama, present chairman Planning Association of India (FPAI)
abortion, which affects the lives of hundreds
of JPFP. In his message, Nakayama said, where the delegates were impressed with
of thousands of women every year, and also
“I believe that the resolution of the the flexibility and effectiveness of the
vowed to gain equality for women in all
population issue is most important to non-governmental organization (NGO).
aspects of IPPF’s work.
Source: IPPF
The mission also took in a field trip to
ensuring the future of humanity and the
earth. We must make courageous a slum area in Bombay that is home to 1
resolutions to seriously address the million people, and included field trips
population issue on a global scale.” and observations of activities of a
Nakayama also reaffirmed JPFP’s com­ government-run public health center in
Agra and a UNFPA-supported project in
mitment to solving the population issue.
Seven parliamentarians took part in the Jaipur.
At the conclusion of the tour, the
mission which was lead by Dr. Eimatsu
Takakuwa. The other parliamentarians delegation members agreed that the study
were: Minoru Mizuta, Osamu Ikeda, tour had convinced them that women’s
Yoshio Yatsu, Kayoko Shimizu, Akiko education, particularly for young girls,
was one of the most effective means to
Domoto and Kentaro Koba.
Accompanying the mission was promote FP and that greater emphasis
The Japanese mission at the opening Hirofumi Ando, director, Information and needs to be placed on health and education
[j]
External Relations Division, UNFPA. The in social development efforts.
of the IPPF Members’ Assembly.

JOICFP NEWS, December 1992

COMMUNITY HEALTH CtU

326, V Main, 1 Block

Koramungcda
Bangalore-560034

3

Bangalore Meeting

FP — a Basic
Human Right r^|
FP and health issues concerning women
and adolescents highlighted at Bangalore
experts' meeting

Ji

The basic right of individuals and
couples to decide freely and responsibly
the number and spacing oftheir children
and to have the information, education
and means to do so, was reaffirmed at the
Expert Group Meeting on Family
Planning, Health and Well-being, held
in Bangalore, India, from October 26 30. One of six forums being held in
preparation for the International
Conference on Population and Deve­
lopment in Cairo, Egypt, in 1994, the
Bangalore meeting produced a series
of draft recommendations concerning
the issues of family planning (FP),
health and well-being.

rescuing
young girls
from becoming
mothers
before they
are physi­
cally and Participants at the experts’ meeting.
emotionally
ready. The high rate of abortion-related and suffering of women in fulfilling their
deaths among adolescents is tragically high. childbearing responsibilities continues
to be the scandal of all time.”
It could and must be radically reduced.”
The conference drew attention to the
This focus on adolescent health was
reflected in discussions at the conference. large disparities both within and among
Calling for governments to recognize the countries in the practice of FP, and that
special unmet needs of adolescents and to the lack of access to, and information
strengthen programs to minimize the about FP in many countries are reflected
Universal Access to FP
incidence of high-risk pregnancies, in high abortion rates. Participants called
sexually transmitted disease (STD) and for government and intergovernmental
The call for universal access to a wide HIV infection, participants stressed that organizations to recognize that abortion
range of safe, affordable and effective FP service providers need to be trained to be is a major public health concern and one
choices was also reiterated in a message more receptive to adolescents and that of the most neglected problems affecting
to the conference by Dr. Nafis Sadik, legislation should not inhibit the use of women’s lives. “Action is needed to
executive director, UNFPA. Drawing services by adolescents. It was agreed reduce the need for abortion, provide
attention to the traditional practice of that: “Young people should be involved in counseling, and expand access to safe
early marriage of girls in Asia, Sadik the planning, implementation and abortion services for women and
noted that formal education usually ends evaluation of programs designed to serve adolescents who request them,” urged
with marriage. “Ending early marriage them in order for services to be sensitive participants.
will not unfortunately put an end to early to their needs.”
Informed Choice
childbirth. Teenage pregnancy is a
The contribution that adoption of FP
growing problem in all countries, none makes to safe motherhood and child
Focusing on FP programs themselves,
the less severe for being ignored,” she survival was also highlighted by
said. “We must put all our efforts into participants who agreed that, “The death participants stressed that they should be
based on voluntarism and informed
choice. It was agreed that governments
should establish FP goals on the basis of
unmet demand for information and
services and that they should not impose
As one of only a few NGOs from the Asian pioneering role must be recognized by the
demographic goals on FP providers in
region represented at the Bangalore meeting, government.
Many of these points were reflected in the
JOICFP was able to share with participants
the form of targets or quotas.
its unique experiences gained in promoting summing up discussions at the conclusion of
Moreover, participants urged
community-based FP/MCH through the the conference. It was noted that, “FP program
governments and non-governmental
managers should consult with and encourage
Integrated Project (IP).
organizations (NGOs) to improve the
Among the lessons presented by JOICFP the participation of local community groups in
quality of FP services by incorporating
at the meeting were: FP promotion is more the design, financing, and delivery of FP
the user’s perspective and respect for the
effective when it is presented as an services wherever feasible.” Participants also
dignity
and privacy of the client. It was
integral part of MCH and other primary agreed that, “Increased involvement of social
noted that in IEC activities, emphasis
health care activities; the establishment of organizations and use of local volunteers,
should be placed on consumer-oriented
local steering committees which include greater decentralization of decision-making
approaches such as careful targeting and
leaders of the community has proven effec­ to local administrative structures that are better
tive in IP promotion; women play a major placed to respond to community needs, and
segmentation of unserved populations,
role in FP promotion; technical cooperation increased pluralism of institutions in the
proper design of communications
between developing countries (TCDC) is delivery of services may be among the more
strategies based on research and an
advantageous; and for NGOs to work promising strategies for increasing community
adequate mix of media and interpersonal
effectively, their unique advocacy and participation.”
communications.
[j]

Lessons from the Field

L
4

JO1CFP NEWS, December 1992

Exchanges

A Woman’s Place is...

Spotlight on

INSTRAW aims for change for women through research and training
Margaret Shields, director, United
Nations International Research and
Training Institute for the Advancement
of Women (INSTRAW), spoke with
JOICFP NEWS about women’s issues
and the activities of her organization on
October 4. Below is an outline of her
interview.
INSTRAW is an organization that
was formed out of the 1975 International
Women’s Year Conference. At that
conference, it was recognized that there
was an enormous information gap about
women’s activities and that it was not
possible, therefore, to even begin to look
for commonality, particularly between
the more-developed and less-developed
countries. People realized that in order to
have constructive communication in the
future, it was important to know more
about the situation of women worldwide.
It was also particularly important for
countries to have adequate information
of the situation of women within their
own boundaries which could be used as
a basis for policy change.

Research & Training

There was general support for a
resolution that there should be a research
and training institute within the UN which
would focus on women. It is important to
note that there was also a resolution at
that stage to form UNIFEM, a funding
institution for women.
The aim of INSTRAW is to change
things at the grassroots, but we work
through governments and other agencies.
However, this is not a huge disadvantage,
because if we have got governments
supporting the use of our materials or
committed to collecting certain types of
statistics, it means they will be, to a
certain extent, committed to the
outcomes.
One of our most important programs,
which we are endeavoring to get funding
for, is a program to measure the value of
unpaid work. That seems to be a long
way from family planning (FP), but of
course it is not. First of all, if a woman’s
only role is seen to be reproductive, even
if that flies in the face of reality, her
worth will only derive from the number
of children she has. If a woman’s self
esteem is increased by the recognition of
the contributions she makes, not only to
having children, but by also helping to
JOICFP NEWS, December 1992

p TV

I

Margaret Shields
provide for them — and most women are
doing that already—then there will be less
pressure to increase the number of children,
more respect for women, a strengthening
of women themselves, and more
appreciation of their multiple role.
I think there is now areal understanding
of the fact that in most parts of the world,
it is not a question of including women in
development. Women are already up to
their necks in the development process —
where they are absent is from the decisions
about development and in the control of
resources. There needs to be a very strong
discussion about the nature ofdevelopment.
There needs to be more openness about
discussing the choices that are available to
governments and that discussion needs to
take place at the national level.
Human Tendency

MCH & AIDS
Reflecting the growing concern in Japan
about the issue of AIDS, the National
Convention of Maternal and Child Health
and Family Planning took AIDS as one of its
themes this year,focusing on transmission of
the disease from mothers to infants. Held in
Omiya City, Saitama Prefecture, on October
28 and 29, the 1992 convention marked the
first timefor the gathering to take up the issue
of AIDS. Featuring presentations and
discussions, the meeting highlighted the
significant increase in the number of AIDS
patients to 473 and people infected with HIV
to 2,077 (as of the end of April). According
to forecasts, the number of newly diagnosed
AIDS patients in Japan is expected to
increase 2.5-fold in 1992 over 1991.
The Omiya meeting was organized under
the joint auspices of the Ministry of Health
and Welfare (MOHW), Omiya prefectural
government, Family Planning Federation of
Japan (FPFJ) and Boshi Aiiku Kai. The 27th
such event, the convention was attended by
some 2,500 people from the medical, public
health and family planning (FP) fields, as
well as students, representatives of the media
and members of the public.
AIDS Awareness

One of the highlights of the convention
was a quiz show organized by Dr. Yoshiki
Sakurai, specialist, AIDS Medical Information
Center. The quiz show, which involved the
entire audience, drew attention to the
widespread misconceptions about AIDS
and demonstrated the importance of serious
efforts to create awareness on the issue,
particularly among young people.
The timing of the convention coincided
with recent efforts of the central and local
governments in Japan to create awareness of
the AIDS issue. Action on AIDS has also
been taken by non-governmental organi­
zations such as the Japan Family Planning
Association (JFPA) which has produced a
variety of innovative IEC materials to create
awareness of the issue under its “Stop the
AIDS” campaign.
[J]

There is a human tendency to regard
our own experience as natural and normal
and everybody else’s as different, better or
worse. These concepts are of very little
use when we talk about development
because each country’s development is a
function of its unique history and the values
that people have grown up with, and also
the forces that have borne down on that
society from other countries—particularly
the economic forces. I think if we just try
to transfer ideas that work for one society
onto another, we are indulging in a type of
imperialism which at best is inappropriate,
and at worse totally damaging. My feeling
is that change works best when it is the
product of local examination and discus­
sion of the best information that is avail­
able on choice.
[J] Students participate in an AIDS quiz.

5

Views

A Voice for Women of the South
DAWN offers analysis of key development issues from perspective of Third World women
Peggy Antrobus, general coordinator,
Development Alternatives with Women
for a New Era (DAWN), spoke with
JOICFPNEWS on October 4 and offered
her views on women s issues. Below is
an outline of the interview.
DAWN is a network of Third World
women formed in 1984 to reflect on what
we had learned about development as a
result of our activities throughout the
Decade for Women. Out of those
discussions came a feminist critique of
what we termed “growth-oriented
development.” We saw that type of
development — which is focused on
economic growth and equates deve­
lopment with economic growth to the
exclusion of social, cultural and political
areas — as being very destructive and the
cause of a number ofcrises. We identified
these as the interlocking crises of debt,
deteriorating social services, environ­
mental degradation, food insecurity,

Population Think Tank
The chairperson of a newly established
international think tank on population said,
“Population is a multi-dimensional issue
closely related to the issues of environment,
education of women — especially young
women — and
quality of life.”
Speaking in
Tokyo on Oc­
tober 30, Maria
Pi ntasilgo,
former prime
minister of
Portugal, said
that in her new
role as chair­
woman of the
Maria Plntasilgo
“Independent
Commission on Population and Quality of
Life,” she is aiming to create awareness of
population issues around the world. The
new commission will be active for a twoand-a-half-year period during which it will
organize regional and sub-regional activities
to create awareness of population issues
and coordinate a panel of specialists on
population and quality of life. Pintasilgo
said named former Japanese Foreign
Minister Taro Nakayama as a likely member
of the 20-member group. She has been a
long-term admirer of the work of former
Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda and
described him as a leader of population
activities around the world.
6

militarism and political conservatism. All women’s education and fertility. But I
of these were making life very difficult for think even more than education, it has to
both human and natural environments.
do with how women perceive themselves
What DAWN tries to do is to come up and with the conditions under which
with an analysis of key development issues they bear and raise children. Women
from the perspective
tend to want to have
of poor women
children. But if they
living in the South.
have any choice,
A characteristic of
they choose to have
our analysis is that it
them where the
is holistic. Another
circumstances are
characteristic is that
conducive to raising
those children.
we try to reflect
There is a lot of
regional diversity.
One other very
diversity and divi­
siveness around the
important thing that
issue of population
DAWN does in its
and it is an issue on
analysis is to make
which women are
the link between the
divided. This really
micro level and the
came to a head in
macro level—that is
the context of the
to bridge the gap
Peggy Antrobus
debate on the
between the expe­
rience of the individual women in their environment. That is why Rio was a
households and communities and the special point of reference. Many people
macro-economic policies that shape them. argue that population pressure is a primary
cause ofenvironmental degradation. Itis
not. One of the dishonest things about
Access to Education
the Rio conference was the focus on
For instance, we would want to explore population and the complete exclusion
women’s lack of access to education and of much more serious causes of environ­
health and the macro-economic policies of mental problems.
I am talking specifically of nuclear
structural adjustment. These are policies
that have been urged on debtor countries testing. There was absolutely no
by the World Bank and IMF, and basically discussion of that in Rio, and I really
they are putting pressure on governments question whether any government can
say that they are serious about the
to make major cuts in social services.
In the field of population, reproductive environment if they refuse to discuss
rights and health, a lot of the discussion nuclear testing and militarism.
that emphasizes education is very
Free-market Ideologies
important, but how many of those
emphasizing women ’ s education make the
Another issue not discussed was the
connection or at least recognize that we are
operating within a very hostile environ­ impact of free-market ideologies on the
ment that has been systematically cutting environment. There was complete
off women’s access to education through exclusion from the discussion on
these macro-economic policies? Until you environmental degradation of the
make that connection between women’s Uruguay Round of discussions. The
lives and reality, and the structures — Uruguay Round has profound implica­
economic, political, cultural, social — that tions for the environment. Ifsuccessful, it
impact on women, then you are not going would put the environment at enormous
to be able to come up with any programs risk because, basically, it says that no
that are consistent in terms of achieving country can introduce any kind of
protective measures — that the corpora­
any objective at all.
Women’s education is very important tions must have complete control. And
because the one conclusive statement that we know that corporations can be very
can be made about fertility and women’s irresponsible when it comes to the
[j]
status is that there is a link between environment.
JO1CFP NEWS, December 1992

Mexico

Innovative
Approaches to
Self-reliance
MEXFAM implements unique
franchise system for clinic operation
Alfonso Lopez, executive director, MEXFAM
Family Planning Foundation of Mexico as an en­
(MEXFAM), stopped in Tokyo on his terprise.
way to attend the Members’ Assembly of The idea is
IPPF as well as the Expert Group Meeting that the Women listen to FP messages outside a MEXFAM clinic.
on Family Planning, Health and Family manager
Well-being in India. He spoke with of each branch does not feel that he/she is texts to schools and recreation centers.
JOICFP NEWS on October 20 about his an employee of a central office, but We are presently introducing modern
organization’s approach to promoting considers his/her own branch to be more or marketing techniques to MEXFAM’s
family planning (FP) in Mexico. Below less his/her property. Thus, it is in his/her operations and are in the process of going
interests to develop the branch, get more into communities to see if there is a
is an outline of his interview.
demand for our products.
One of the ways that MEXFAM is customers and expand activities.
The independent clinics using
trying to achieve self-reliance is by
Total Quality Management
promoting the formation of autonomous MEXFAM’s trademark are operated like a
organizations in every part of the country. franchise — just like McDonald’s. In
MEXFAM is putting efforts into
Our aim is to run every branch of order for them to use our name, they must
comply with our requests. If they do not, improving quality, but we do not ap­
we take our trademark from them, and we proach the issue through “quality
stop supplying contraceptives and educa­ control,” an old concept whereby people
tional materials. For our part, we continue controlled the results at the end of the
supervising activities and visiting the process. Instead, our approach is “total
r
j
I V
clinics. The five or six managers that have quality management” which is based on
gone independent have a seniority of at the principle of prevention. The idea is to
i
least seven years in MEXFAM and each of prevent mistakes before they occur and
them is very good at his/her job and very the best way to achieve this is to convince
staff to do things well from the begin­
compliant with our rules.
ning. Quality is important to the selfreliance of activities because it means
Community Doctors
the effective use of resources. If you do
(From left) Fumio Komukai, deputy
MEXFAM has a policy not to build things well, you avoid mistakes and
director, and Terutoshi Sano,
new facilities. Instead, we help other avoid wasting money. Also, if you pro­
director, VDIA Office, with Lopez.
organizations or individuals to set up vide quality services, you are going to
During his two-day stay in Japan, Alfonso
have more customers.
3
Lopez presented a report of the progress of offices. For instance, we go into a poor
area
and
find
a
doctor
who
is
already
the Mexican Integrated Project (IP) in
providing services. We provide medical
Tokyo and paid courtesy calls to member
equipment and furniture, remodel the
MEXFAM Takes Honors
cities of the Municipal Coordinating
facility and allow it to use the MEXFAM
Committee for Overseas Bicycle Assis­
In recognition of its significant
logo. We provide the community doctor
tance to express his gratitude for the cities’
achievements in the field of FP over
donation of 150 reconditioned bicycles to
with contraceptives and educational
the last three years, MEXFAM was
support the activities of the IP in Mexico.
materials. His/her only duty is to promote
presented with the Cadbury Award on
On October 20, Lopez paid a courtesy call
FP with special emphasis. We also have a
October 22 at the Sixth Members’
to Mayor Shindo Takahiro of Omiya City
policy not to pay doctors’ salaries and
Assembly of IPPF in New Delhi, India.
and on October 21, he met with Mayor
leave it up to the doctors to set their own
The first recipient of the award,
Endo Masanori of Bunkyo City. The IP
fees. We tell them, “if you charge too
MEXFAM was selected from among all
director also paid a courtesy call to the
much, people won’t visit your clinic.”
family planning associations (FPAs)
Voluntary Deposit for International
worldwide. The award was instituted
One way MEXFAM raises funds is by
Assistance (VDIA) Office, Ministry of
three years ago by the IPPF in honor of
selling such items as educational mate­
Posts and Telecommunications, on Octo­
the contribution that the chocolate­
ber 21 toconvey his appreciation for funds
rials and contraceptives. Among the most
making family made to the cause of
to purchase medical equipment to promote
popular items in MEXFAM are the films
FP. In comments to JOICFP NEWS,
clinic self-reliance. He met with Terutoshi
produced with JOICFP’s support. In
Alfonso Lopez said that the award was
Sano, director, and Fumio Komukai, deputy
particular, the adolescent health series is
very symbolic for MEXFAM.
director, at the VDIA Office.
selling well. We also sell sex education

i

JOICFP NEWS, December 1992

7

Voice of Voices
By Chojiro Kunii

1

A Reflection of Goodwill
Recently, JOICFP has been receiving
items donated by people in Japan to
support the Integrated Project (IP) and
contribute to the self-reliance of activities.
The donations reflect the goodwill of
individuals in Japan and their sincere
wishes for the success of the project.
Among the donations are treadle sewing
machines and reconditioned bicycles
which are utilized in IP areas to support
income-generating activities and as
transport for midwives and public health
nurses. Other items that have been
donated include footwear and stationery
items such as pencils and notebooks.
According to the reports, the donations
are warmly received. Despite their small
scale, these activities are indeed very
valuable and illustrate the genuine
concern among the people in Japan.

Cooperative Network
Toshima City in Tokyo has served as
an inspiration for much of these activities.
It was Toshima that began the project in
cooperation with JOICFP to donate
bicycles to other countries in 1988. From
these initial efforts, a movement was
launched and a cooperative network has
gradually spread to take in other cities
inside Tokyo and in neighboring
prefectures such as Saitama.
Another very innovative project
initiated 1991 is the Voluntary Deposit
for International Aid (VDIA) Scheme.
Coordinated by the Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications, the scheme
supports activities of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) in developing
countries with funds collected from
interest of deposits held in special
VDIA accounts at post offices. Under
the scheme, JOICFP has been allocated
funds to support activities of the IP in
certain countries in Asia, Africa and
Latin America.
Although the VDIA scheme has only
been in existence for two years, it has had
a significant impact on the activities of
clinics and maternal and child health
(MCH) centers in various areas. Efforts
are now being made to take this progress
a step further and establish formal
foundations of disease prevention and
MCH in these areas. To this end, JOICFP
has been working in close cooperation
with counterpart governments, academics
and NGOs to provide Japanese know­
how and has the full agreement of

8

■
(From left) Takeshi Yonese, deputy
general manager, and Kuniharu
Kuwasawa, managing director,
Okamoto Industries, Inc., with Abate
Gudunffa.
In a gesture of appreciation, Abate Gudunffa,
head, Department of Family Health, Ethiopia,
paid courtesy calls to the mayor of Setagay a
City, Tokyo, and to officials of Okamoto
Industries, Inc. while in Tokyo recently.
Gudunffa met with Mayor Keiji Oba of
Setagaya on August 7 to express his
appreciation for the city’s donation of 50
reconditioned bicycles to support UNFPA
activities in Ethiopia. Meanwhile, on
September 15, the Ethiopian official paid a
courtesy call to Okamoto where he met with
Kuniharu Kuwasawa, managing director,
and Takeshi Yonese, deputy general
manager. Gudunffa expressed his gratitude
for the company’s generous donation of
10,000 sneakers to the people of IP areas.
The shoes would be used as a practical
means to strengthen health education
activities and prevent diseases such as
hookworm in the community, he explained.
UNFPA and IPPF in this endeavor.
It took Japan almost 50 years to become
what it is today from the devastated country
it was at the end of the war. Today, many
developing countries welcome cooperation
from Japan. I hope that the small-scale
goodwill efforts of the Japanese people
can be expanded upon and serve as a
model for further international cooperation
activities.
[j]

DIARY

exchange information with UNFPA, the
Department of Health and other concerned
agencies on project development.
*
*
%
Alfonso Lopez, executive director,
MEXFAM, was in Japan from Oct. 19-21 to
exchange information with JOICFP and meet
with officials of the Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications and MCCOBA.
*
*
*
A 10-member mission from China headed
by Dr. Guo Deming, director, FP
Commission of Hubei Province, was in Japan
from Oct. 12-25 to study FP/MCH. The
mission was joined by Ding Xiaoming,
deputy chief. General Affairs Division,
Department of Foreign Affairs, State FP
Commission, who will be staying on in Japan
for a six-month period to carry out research
on population and FP/MCH issues.

Notice
The English-language version of the film,
“The Awaking Kowloon" is now available.

JOICFP DOCUMENTARY SERIES
NEW DOCUMENTARY FILM

The Awaking Kowloon
Village Women in Vietnam
Color/Vietnamese & Japanese version: 39 min.
English version: 32 min.

Despite the many years that have passed
since the end of the Vietnam War, the people of
Tan Buu Commune still have no bridge to
replace the one that was destroyed in a bombing
raid. Each day, children cross the river by boat
to go to school along with women volunteers
who promote family planning and maternal and
child health among the community people.
The Awaking Kowloon — Village Women in
Vietnam documents the struggle of the Tan
Buu people to rebuild their bridge and the vital
role that women play as agents of change.
Distributed by

Sakura Motion Picture Co., Ltd.
Yoyogi Center Bldg., 57-1 Yoyogi 1-chome, Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo 151, Japan Tel: 81-3-3320-6311 / Fax: 81-3-3320-7666
Telex: J34799 ITCINBTH / Cable: "SAKURAMOVIES TOKYO"

Dr. Toshio Kuroda, director emeritus, Nihon
University Population Research Institute
(NUPRI), JOICFP Program Officer Ryoko
Nishida and staff member Mayumi Katsube
were in Thailand from Sept. 29 - Oct. 4 to take
part in activities related to JOICFP’s regional
aging project including a preparatory meeting
organized in collaboration with ESCAP on
Oct. 1 and 2.
*
*
*
Twelve participants from 12 countries took
part in a half-day seminar on Oct. 8 conducted
by JOICFPon the IP under the Farm Household
Development 1992 program of JICA.
*
*
*
Program Officer Nishida was in Thailand and
the Philippines from Oct. 4 - 11 to gather and

[

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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, Sadohara-cho, Ichigaya
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162 Japan
Phone: Tokyo 3268-5875
Telex: 2324584 JOICFP J
Cable Address: JOICFP Tokyo
Facsimile: Tokyo 3235-7090

JOICFP NEWS, December 1992

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