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World YWCA Launches Global Programme to Improve

Reproductive Health and Rights for Young Women

27 July 2009    

The world is confronted with staggering statistics related to women’s health on a daily basis: an unacceptable number of girl-child marriages; women dying in childbirth; and young women exposed to sexually transmitted infections and HIV. The World YWCA, with support from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, has launched a global effort to build and mobilise young women's leadership programmes that can provide an accelerated response to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) issues and address the intersections of these issues with HIV and Violence Against Women (VAW).

The initiative will build the leadership of women and young women to empower them to respond to their SRHR, especially marginalised and disadvantaged girls, women, and communities. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation will provide a one million dollar (US) grant over two years towards this World YWCA effort.

The grant has three main objectives:

1. Building and strengthening the leadership skills of women around SRHR
2. Improving advocacy skills and results of advocacy activities around SRHR and sustaining and expanding advocacy training programmes of 10 African YWCAs
3. Creating and distributing quality materials and health information around SRHR to the target constituents in these programmes

"This grant comes at a time when the women of the world are seeking real investment in their voices, lives and leadership. We are grateful to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for affirming the leadership role of women in advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights. As the World YWCA, this collaboration affirms our strength as a community-grounded organisation, and yet it also provides possibilities for amplifying national, regional and global policy actions,” said Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, World YWCA General Secretary.

The World YWCA has a long history of work in the area of HIV and Violence Against Women. The 2007 International Women’s Summit on HIV and AIDS, which brought together over 2,000 participants, strongly called for greater recognition and adoption of approaches that bring the response to the intersection of SRHR, HIV and Violence. For the period, 2008-2011 the World YWCA is convening a series of regional training institutes under the common theme ‘Women Creating Safe and Secure Communities’ to contribute to the movement’s strategic framework by developing regional strategies for programme delivery including advocacy on SRHR, HIV and VAW.

The World YWCAs new strategy on SRHR, HIV and VAW focuses on comprehensive prevention approaches; provision of safe and inclusive spaces for women and girls; and leadership development for advocacy. “All women and young women have the right to live in a safe world, free of violence and HIV, where their reproductive health and rights are respected,” said Gumbonzvanda.

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