NGO Advocacy on Women's Health and Rights in Southeast Asia
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development. Copyright © 2003 Society for International Development (www.sidint.org). 1011-6370 (200306) 46:2; 33–37; 033494. NB When citing this article please use both volume and issue numbers. SAGE Publications (www.sagepublications.com)
SID On-line Dialogue
NGO Advocacy on Women’s Health and Rights in Southeast Asia1 RASHIDAH ABDULLAH
ABSTRACT Rashidah Abdullah highlights strategies used in advocacy work by women NGOs in the Southeast Asia region based on the work of ARROW. KEYWORDS ARROW; gender rights; media monitoring; violence against women
Introduction The Asia-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) is a regional women’s NGO committed to promoting and protecting women’s health rights and needs, particularly sexual and reproductive health and rights. The focus of ARROW is to advocate for countries to adopt a gender and rights approach through accessible, affordable, comprehensive health, reproductive health and population policies and programmes. They aim to do this by strengthening women’s movements and encouraging civil society organizations to become stronger and more effective in holding governments accountable to international commitments, influencing policy agendas and gaining sustained representation on decision-making structures. Their particular concern is how to improve the lives of poor and marginalized women and girls through advocacy, particularly in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights, including violence against women. ARROW carries out research-based monitoring for policy advocacy, strategic information and communications work (for NGOs and government), and capacity building of women NGOs and other NGOs in advocacy, monitoring and information. ARROW works in collaboration with committed NGOs who share the same objectives and strategies, and that ideally work at national levels as well as at the grassroots with poor women. Women’s reproductive health situation in Southeast Asia Arrow’s review of seven Southeast Asian countries with women NGO partners found that a belief in and commitment to women’s right to a high level of health
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has not yet been expressed by Southeast Asian governments in their national health, women’s health, population, or women’s development policies, with the exception of the Philippines (ARROW, 2001). Overall, there has been no increase in the availability, accessibility and affordability of primary health services, although in Malaysia and Thailand primary health care services are available to almost all of the population. In fact, the costs of childbirth, medication and reproductive health services have increased with the introduction of user fees as part of privatization, health sector reform and globalization. Reproductive health services remain less accessible to poor women, migrant women, and indigenous women and are largely unavailable for unmarried women and young women and older women. Governments have b
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