Table of contents:

• Burning Issue

• Regional Updates

• Global Updates

• Youth

• Upcoming Events

• Publications

• Member Profile - this month features Reproductive Health Training Center from Moldova

BURNING ISSUE

International support for Polish women who face a real threat of a total abortion ban

Early April ASTRA initiated a call to action on behalf of the Federation for Women and Family Planning, Polish ASTRA member and host of ASTRA Secretariat to gather international support. The solidarity action and Facebook Show solidarity with Polish women!event gained a lot international and national interest. Over 170 photos from around the world were received along with words of support and solidarity statements. The action is still ongoing and anyone interested is welcome to join - submit a photo of yourself with a coat hanger and holding paper with “Solidarity with Polish women” written on it. We also encourage you to use the hashtag #odzyskacwybor / #reclaimingchoice. You are also welcome to send photos on behalf of organizations or as individuals. Please submit the photos to Оваа е-адреса е заштитена од спамботови. Треба да ви е овозможено JavaScript за да ја видите. or post directly to ASTRA’s Facebook event.

• Parliamentarians from the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly expressed concern about the current situation of reproductive health in Poland - in written declaration No. 604, tabled by Belgian Senator Hon. Petra de Sutter, entitled "Reproductive health and women's rights in Poland" they called on Polish parliamentarians to go against these initiatives and protect women’s rights in Poland. Access the declaration here.

• The European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development published an open letter to the Speaker of the Polish Parliament voicing deep concerns over the draft law.

  A copy of the letter has also been sent directly to the Speaker, Hon. Marek Kuchciński. The letter, signed by senior EPF MPs, states that: “Academic studies, UN Reports, the World Health Organisation as well as country examples have on numerous occasions proved that legal barriers to abortion services do not decrease the rate of abortion, but increase the risk of maternal mortality.” Access the letter here.

• Catholics for Choice issued a statement in which they express “solidarity with those in Poland who provide abortion care, and we recognize the moral value of their work. We recognize and respect that some healthcare personnel may choose not to provide abortions, but we believe it is ethically imperative for them to ensure that a woman receives a referral to

  a willing provider. We believe there is a profound moral case for freedom of reproductive choice. We call on political parties, civil society and all citizens, both men and women, to stand up now against the terror that is being unleashed on Polish women”. Access the statement here.

• 38 Lithuanian parliamentarians (out of a total of 141 Members of the Parliament) signed

  a letter addressing the Marshal of the Polish Parliament, Mr. Marek Kuchciński. Thanks to strong leadership and women's rights supporter, MP Ausrine Marija Pavilioniene and Lithuanian ASTRA member - the Family Planning and Sexual Health Association, this was possible. Access the letter here. 

• Members of the Austrian Parliament, Members of the Parliament of Germany and Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom expressed their concerns in regard to the draft law and refer to the estimated number of terminated pregnancies at around 80 000 per year, and perhaps as much as 200 000 including illegal procedures and “abortion tourism”. They also name the case of Romania under the ruling of Nicolae Ceaușescu, who contributed to the death of more than 9 000 women in years 1965 – 1989 by introducing severe restrictions to the law on abortion. They call on the Marshall of the Sejm to reject this initiative, abandon the plans to end state fudning of IVF and keep emergency contraception to be available over the counter.

The “Stop Abortion” civic committee submitted a draft law introducing a complete ban on abortion and a new category into the criminal code – “prenatal murder”, which will  introduce penalty of
3 to 5 years in prison for women, doctors and anyone helping a woman to perform an abortion.
If abortion is unintentional the penalty will be up to 3 years. The Court will have the possibility to drop charges. In the rationale, the authors of the draft law quote the teachings of Polish Pope, John Paul II, refer to the Polish constitution which grants legal protection to all human beings (it doesn’t however clarify when human life begins) and also selectively quote the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Additionally they also propose to replace the term “human fetus” with “conceived child” where possible. The draft law doesn’t at all refer to the protection of woman’s life, health and wellbeing. The draft law was prepared by Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture. The Marshall of the Sejm registered the initiative in mid April. The initiative’s committee has now
3 months to collect 100 000 signatures to ensure that the law will be debated in the Polish Sejm – most possibly in early Autumn.

To ensure balance on the political scene pro-choice and women’s rights oriented Save the Women (Ratujmy Kobiety) social committee had been launched in early April. It aims to introduce safe and legal abortion on request, comprehensive sexuality education in schools, ensure access to modern methods of contraception and to health services for pregnant women. The social committee consisting of left-wing politicians, activists, scholars and other stakeholders is collecting endorsements to ensure its registration in the Polish Sejm. Even though the chances of success are currently small due to the right-wing and very conservative government this move will contribute to a discussion on women’s right to bodily autonomy.

As a response to the proposal backed by the Roman Catholic Church thousands of people protested on April 3^rd and April 9^th (Regaining Choice Coalition) in front of the Sejm in Warsaw. Several other cities in Poland and across Europe (London, Oslo, Bucharest among others) and in other regions (New York, Tokyo) organised solidarity protests. Without doubt this initiative has contributed to a social awakening and raised awareness on women’s reproductive rights.

REGIONAL UPDATES

Gender Alternatives influences the process of ratification of the Istanbul Convention  to in Bulgaria 

The Gender Alternatives Foundation, ASTRA member, received an invitation to appoint representatives to take part in an Inter-ministerial working group which aimed to prepare the necessary conditions for the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, including domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention). The invitation came from the Ministry of Justice. The ratification of the Istanbul Convention was discussed by the Bulgarian authorities during the Universal Periodic Review (May 7th, 2015, Geneva, Switzerland) and was later discussed by the Bulgarian Government to become a fact during the Bulgarian chairmanship of the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe.

GAF was actively involved in the process of motivating the Bulgarian authorities to ratify the Istanbul Convention giving its importance for the protection of the rights of women against gender based violence. Thelast step in the process was to present a Shadow report during the 23rd UPR session
(7 of May 2015, Geneva, Switzerland). The Report can be found here.

The Bulgarian Minister of Justice, Ms Ekatrina Zaharieva, signed the Istanbul Convention on April 21st. Bulgaria, currently chairing the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, became the 40th member state of the Council of Europe to sign the Convention. At this date, 21 States have signed and ratified the Convention. The Group of experts on action against violence against women and domestic violence (GREVIO) has initiated the evaluation of its implementation.

Source: Gender Alternatives, Council of Europe

Survey on attitudes towards abortion in Lithuania

Family Planning and Sexual Health Association (FPSHA), ASTRA member from Lithuania, carried out an anonymous online survey on attitudes towards abortion. 533 answers were collected. 71,9% of all respondents were young women (15-25 year olds), 21,6% were young adult women (26-35 year olds). 12,38% of all women who participated in the survey had an abortion, half of them (32 out of 66) were between 15 to 25 years old. For all results of the survey click here.

Source: FPSHA

Armenian Women's Rights Center provides Trainings on Domestic Violence

Women’s Rights Center, Armenian ASTRA member, implemented a series of trainings on domestic violence for Police Training Center officers, school teachers, social workers and students of Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University. Domestic violence types, reasons, contributing factors and negative impacts were presented to the participants. During the training in Police Academy, trainers spoke about women’s expectations when they apply to police officers, as sometimes they have the same negative attitude as in their families. The negative impact of domestic violence on children was highlighted especially for school teachers as they meet such cases at schools. Much attention was paid to the structures supporting victims of domestic violence and the legal protection mechanisms throughout the training with the students of Slavonic University.

The demonstration of social films shot by Women's Rights Center made domestic violence issue clearer for the participants. Participants distinguished ''violence at home'', ''domestic violence'' and ''violence against women'' concepts. Focusing attention on the fact that raising awareness activities play great role in prevention of domestic violence as an example they said that they feel able to respond victims appropriately when they are aware of the issue. A workshop devoted to the provision of coordinated response to domestic violence cases is being organized for the participants of these trainings.

Women’s Rights Center also organises cultural outreach events for the children – beneficiaries of the victims of domestic violence programme run by the NGO. For more information click here and here.

Source: Women’s Rights Center      

The Republic of Moldova – a young country without young people?

The Demographic Research Center in partnership with UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund in the Republic of Moldova, launched the third Demographic Barometer entitled “The Situation of Young People in the Republic of Moldova: From Desiderata to Opportunities”. The launching took place during the Final Conference of the Academy of Young Workers, organized by the National Youth Council of Moldova.

When presenting the results of the analysis, Mariana Buciuceanu-Vrabie - the author of the analysis, researcher in the Demographic Research Center, declared that the Republic of Moldova registers a high level of social exclusion of young people - about 29% are not enrolled in any form of training or professional development and are not employed, thus, the Republic of Moldova has, in this respect, the worst indicators among the countries in the region. Over 31% of the employed young people have informal jobs. 10.4% of young people work without an individual employment contract.

According to the Barometer, in 2011-2012 the number of young people studying abroad was of 20,538, and this number increased in 2013-2014 up to 24,642. At the same time, over 16% of young people from the Republic of Moldova are working or are in search for a job abroad.

The public discussion about the results of the Barometer focused on the recommendations aimed to enhance the quality of life of young people from the Republic of Moldova, as well as on the solutions aimed to ensure a healthy young generation.

Despite the fact that the Republic of Moldova implements the National Strategy for Youth Sector Development 2020, the limited financing for the planned activities has not ensured yet the achievement of the expected results. The delay of socio-economic and political reforms worsens the situation even more. Therefore, the integration of young people’s problems in the sectoral policies at the stage of their development, but also monitoring the implementation of policies and actions from other fields, such as education, health, labour market, and welfare could become efficient mechanisms to ensure the rights of young people and improve quality of their life.

The expansion of high quality social and health care services, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health, development of psychological support services (counseling and therapy) and family life education are some of the other important recommendations.

Demographic Barometer 

Source: www.unfpa.md

National Agency for Youth Programmes, Activities Development to be created in Moldova

A National Agency for the Development of Youth Programmes and Activities will be created in the near future, in order to ensure the proper implementation of youth policies and programmes. A statement to this effect was made during the meeting of the governmental commission for youth policies, chaired by the Prime Minister Pavel Filip on April 26th, 2016. Filip praised the government’s collaboration with non-governmental organizations that develop youth policies, identify challenges and find solutions to develop this sector. “The active participation of young people in the enforcement of governmental policies is the best way to develop the country. The cabinet backs the participation of youth in the improvement of youth policies, so that they play a major role in the modernization of the society,” Filip said.

The members of the commission have also tackled the consolidation of Youth Centers, financing of youth projects through the annual Grant Programme managed by the Youth and Sports Ministry, as well as the adoption of a new legislative framework to regulate this field. The new draft law on youth will offer them equal opportunities and possibilities to enhance their knowledge, competencies and practical abilities.  During the meeting, the prime minister proposed the creation of a working group in charge of assessing and monitoring the involvement of young people in sector policies and also in charge of submitting proposals that could boost up the degree of their participation. Young people account to 25 per cent, or 860 thousand people, of Moldova’s total population.

Source: Government of Republic of Moldova

NGOs condemn statements made by the Metropolitan Bishop of Chisinau and Moldova

A number of civil society organizations condemn the statements made by the Metropolitan Bishop of Chisinau and all Moldova, His Holiness Vladimir, in the April 27 meeting of Parliament and the toleration and even supporting of these by some of the MPs. The NGOs class these statements as discriminatory, IPN reports. In his speech in Parliament, His Holiness Vladimir pleaded for the abrogation of the Law on Equality of Chances, saying this protects the rights of the sexual minorities and such laws lead to the destabilization of the situation in society and failure of the Christian values. A number of MPs applauded this call. The NGOs say the statements made by the Metropolitan Bishop violate the limits of a religious speech. “We note that the Republic of Moldova is a secular state. His statements seriously affected the equality and human dignity of the persons of the LGBT community, who, in the Metropolitan Bishop’s view, do not deserve to enjoy equal treatment. The statement is erroneous as it limits Law 121 to one protected group. The reaction of the MPs who applauded shows lack of responsibility and respect for the principles of equality and nondiscrimination,” says a statement signed by representatives of the NGOs.

The signatories remind that the Law on Equality of Chances protects all the persons who are on Moldova’s territory from discriminatory treatment, regardless of race, color, nationality, ethnic origin, language, religion, sex, age, disability, opinion, political affiliation and any other similar criterion. The promotion of discriminatory messages against any group of people is unacceptable in a democratic state with the rule of law where the rights and freedoms of all the people are equally protected, in accordance with the Constitution and international treaties.

Source: IPN

Free screening to prevent cervical cancer in women in the Republic of Moldova

All women between 25 and 61 years of age are encouraged to take free cervical cancer screening so as to prevent the disease or detect it early. Between May 10 and August 25, the primary medical institutions of the country will run prophylactic gynecological testing by a new method –liquid-based cytology. According to the Ministry of Health press service, each woman from the target group must go to the prophylactic gynecological testing office to have the test. If a disease is detected, the patient will be examined additionally by colposcopy. The medical personnel responsible for the examination of women will be trained to recruit patients and to take liquid-based cytology samples. The cervical cancer screening is provided free once in three years and is fully covered by the mandatory health insurance funds. Nearly 80% of cervical cancer cases can be prevented by it. Up to 350 new cases of cervical cancer are annually recorded in Moldova, with about 180 women dying annually from this disease. Cervical cancer is the seventh most spread oncological disease in Moldova.Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women worldwide. Globally, this causes the death of 275,000 women, with over 530,000 women developing it yearly. There are about 60,000 newly detected cases and 30,000 deaths annually in Europe, with the highest incidence reported in Eastern Europe countries.

Source: IPN

Access to full range of sexual and reproductive health services endorsed once again by the European Parliament

On April 28, the European Parliament approved in plenary its resolution on ‘Attacks on hospitals and schools as violations of international humanitarian law’. The final text ‘Stresses that the right to health is a human right […]; calls for a global commitment to ensuring that women and girls are safe from the start of every emergency or crisis by addressing the risk of sexual and gender-based violence, by raising awareness, by taking steps to prosecute the perpetrators of such violence, and by ensuring that women and girls have access to the full range of sexual and reproductive health services, including safe abortions, in humanitarian crises, rather than perpetuating what amounts to inhumane treatment, as required by international humanitarian law and as foreseen in the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols’.

To read the EP’s final resolution, please click here.

Source: DSW Newsletter  

New ODA figures reveal EU and its Member States as leading aid donor

On April 13, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published preliminary Official Development Assistance (ODA) figures for 2015. According to the OECD’s report: ‘Development aid totaled USD 131.6 billion in 2015, representing a rise of 6.9% from 2014 in real terms as aid spent on refugees in host countries more than doubled in real terms to USD 12 billion.’ 
The preliminary figures also show that the EU and its Member States collectively remain the world's biggest development aid donor in 2015. EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, said:  ‘the EU remains the world's leading provider of ODA clearly demonstrates our firm commitment to financing for development and supporting the new Sustainable Development Goals. In 2015, faced with an unprecedented migration crisis, the EU and its Member States were able to increase both their support to refugees as well as their development aid to developing countries.’

In a reaction to these OECD's preliminary figures, CONCORD stated: ‘Growing spending on in-donor refugee costs masks real cuts in European aid. By counting these inflated elements of aid – which CONCORD maintains is not ‘real’ aid as it does not contribute to sustainable development in developing countries – donors were able to technically report record levels of aid in 2015’.
 
To read OECD’s press release, please click here.

To read the EC press release, please click here.

To access the EC factsheet about these figures, please click here. 

To read CONCORD’s reaction, please click here.

Source: DSW Newsletter  

GLOBAL UPDATES

49th session of Commission on Population and Development

The sixtieth session of the Commission on Population and Development took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 11 to 15 April, 2016. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world will attended the session with priority theme: Strengthening the demographic evidence base for the post-2015 development agenda.

A strong demographic evidence base is critical to leaving no one behind in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, opening the forty-ninth session of the Commission on Population and Development. “When people are not counted, they are excluded,” he stressed, noting that people were at the heart of the 2030 Agenda. This session of the Commission was a landmark one, as it was the first to be held since the 2030 Agenda’s adoption last September.

Report of the 49th CPD session is available here.

Source: UN DESA Population Division

Chile lawmakers lift abortion ban introduced by Pinochet

Chile's lower house of Congress has approved a proposal that lifts a ban on abortion in cases of rape, when there is health risk for the mother, or when the foetus is not viable. The draft, which was submitted by Michelle Bachelet's government, needs Senate approval to become law. Despite being predominantly Catholic, Chile allowed abortion until 1989, but the practice was banned by General Augusto Pinochet in one of the last acts of his military government.

Opinion polls say most Chileans approve the change. "This is an historic day. We see the political will to let women make their own decisions," said lawmaker Karol Cariola of the Communist Party, which is part of Ms Bachelet's governing coalition. The proposal was approved by 66 to 44 votes.

Source: BBC

YOUTH

Launch of the report analysis for the optional school subject Health Education - Sexuality Education component in Romania

Early April, Society for Reproductive and Sexual Education (SECS) member of Astra Youth, in partnership with the Coalition for Gender Equality and Romania and the Youth Council in Romania, organized the round table, where the outcomes of the analysis of the optional Health Education subject were discussed. Besides the presentation of the report, diverse institution’s representatives discussed their views: the Presidential Administration, the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research, Romania Youth Council, Youth and Sports Ministry, as well as representatives of World Health Organization and NGOs.

Teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and gender-based violence are current realities in the Romanian society. International and national legislation recognizes the need for sexuality education in schools. The report points out that sexuality education module included in the optional subject Education for Health isn’t a comprehensive sexuality education program. Shortcomings are evident in the subject’s content, teachers’ training, as well as monitoring and evaluation of the subject. Very few students participated in health education classes (6% in 2014-2015, according to the Ministry of Education), and even smaller number had access to sexuality education. Other survey findings underline that combating gender violence isn’t included in the classes’ objectives and children don't learn prevention of sexual abuse and violence. During the classes extended family and traditional gender roles are described on the basis of gender stereotypes. Moreover, the information on disclosing HIV status or impact of stigmatization of HIV positive persons is not included in the content of lessons. Teachers don’t recognize the diversity of individuals, beliefs, attitudes, behaviours, norms and values of society. Preparation to teach sexuality education isn’t a part of the training of all teachers and the quality of teaching sexuality education isn’t taken into account.

The report is available in Romanian on SECS’s website here.

Source: Coaliţia pentru Egalitate de Gen

Training of CSE peer educators in Macedonia

In February – March a big process of accreditation was implemented for peer educators in the field of Comprehensive sexual education by HERA Macedonia. A call was launched for interested young people and it was promoted on the social media. 21 people have applied and 17 were accepted. They have passed 2 days theoretical and interactive training in Skopje for all 7 components of the CSE. After this, they had 2 weeks of time for studying and consultation with the more experienced educators, the coordinator of the youth program and the program director of HERA. Afterwards, the examination process was organized for 3 days and the second part of this training has also covered workshops on communication and risk assessment. 14 new educators have been accredited after this process and already 2 of them are implementing the workshops in high schools in Skopje, where HERA has the pilot program for CSE peer education.

Source: HERA

Annual meeting of HERA Youth 2016

In the end of March HERA Youth, the volunteer sector of HERA had their annual meeting, where they have revised the official documents of the youth group and developed a new action plan for 2016. HERA Youth has also decided to restructure from 3 sectors to 2 sectors. During the meeting, HERA Youth has also formed two groups for application on the Vision 2020 fund and activities which will be conducted on 18 May 2016 and this year’s topic is comprehensive sexual education. The process for application was closed on 3th of April and it awaits decision on which group of HERA Youth is going to implement their project on the Vision 2020 fund. The group currently consists of 70 volunteers. HERA Youth is one of the most important sectors in HERA and the moving young force.

Source: HERA

UPCOMING EVENTS

Women Deliver Conference and ASTRA panel

Women Deliver’s 4^th Global Conference will be taking place on 16-19 May 2016 in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is going to be the largest gathering on girls’ and women’s health and rights in the last decade and one of the first major global conferences following the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The focus of the conference will be on how to implement the SDGs so they matter most for girls and women, with a specific focus on health – in particular maternal, sexual, and reproductive health and rights – and on gender equality, education, environment, and economic empowerment. The conference will bring together world leaders, advocates, policymakers, journalists, young people, researchers, and leaders of corporate companies and civil society to showcase what it means and how it works when girls and women become the focus of development efforts.

To learn more about the Women Deliver 2016 conference download the conference 2-pager here.

ASTRA Network invites to a panel discussion „Threats to Reproductive Health and Rights in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia” with speakrs from Poland, Romania, Macedonia and Armenia. The panel will be held on Monday, May 16th from 12 to 13.30 hrs at Bella Center, room 66/67J.

Source: http://wd2016.org

May 28 International Day of Action for Women's Health

May 28 is the International Day of Action for Women’s Health. May 28th has been commemorated by women ’s health advocates and their communities since 1987 and has been crucial in the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) movement building. May 28 provides a great opportunity to remind our government leaders that Women’s Health Matters.

With the recent adoption of Agenda 2030, governments have acknowledged gender equality and women’s empowerment as crucial to sustainable development, while reaffirming the outcomes from the ICPD Programme of Action and the Beijing Platform for Action. Central to women’s empowerment, however, is the respect, protection, and fulfilment of the human rights of women and girls in all their dimensions, including their sexual and reproductive rights, and acknowledging the actual needs of all women and girls in all their diversities!

More information and resources on the campaign: www.may28.org

PUBLICATIONS

How to educate about abortion: A guide for peer educators, teachers and trainers, has been developed for trainers and educators who want to deliver workshops or training on abortion to young people, especially those training young peer educators. The guide includes key terms, instructions for facilitators as well as specific activities that educators can use.

Source: IPPF

An update on access to emergency contraception in European Union countries by European Consortium on Emergency Contraception is available HERE.

Source: ECEC

The Sexual Rights Initiative published its new database of national sexual rights laws and policies. This database includes updated information on more than 75 countries, 18 EU Member States and African countries, including among others Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya.

Source: Sexual Rights Initiative

„Where is the Money for Women’s Rights?”: new research toolkit to track funding trends for women’s rights from local to global

The WITM Toolkit is a step-by-step  guide adapting AWID’s WITM research methodology for any individual or organization to conduct their own specialized research on funding trends on women’s rights. You can adapt AWID’s WITM research methodology to answer questions about funding patterns for specific populations, issues or geographies.

Source: AWID

Member profile

The Reproductive Health Training Center of the Republic of Moldova (RHTC) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, founded in 1998 and dedicated to the protection of reproductive health and rights, including women’s right to safe and legal abortion. Since its creation, RHTC has struggled to ensure equal access to good quality reproductive health services, especially for adolescents and women from social marginalized groups. We also have provided community education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, for medical audience - on the concept of Safe Abortion. Our activities contributed to improve access to safe abortion and family planning services, and methods of abortion and contraception recommended by WHO.

During 2005-2015 RHTC has been the implementing partner of the Ministry of Health for Moldovan RH Strategy, Safe Abortion chapter. Due to our work, more than 80% of abortions are provided today with safe methods: MVA and Medical Abortion, versus 70% of D&C in 2005. Our center has had also the chance to be, until recently, the coordinating organization of the International Consortium for Medical Abortion (ICMA) – www.medicalabortionconsortium.org.

In 2015, RHTC became the Regional Training Center on Development and Implementation of Clinical Guidelines and Protocols on Reproductive Health, UNFPA (EECARO) supported project. Today, RHTC is coordinating the development of the new strategic document on Sexual and  Reproductive Health for 2006-2020 in Moldova. During all this years, RHTC successfully collaborated with WHO, UNFPA, Gynuity Health Projects, Medical University of Moldova and other international and national partners.

What it means to be member of ASTRA:

To be an Astra member it is a great opportunity for us to feel connected to a network of great and advanced people and organizations, to learn new information and to share ours, to exchange relevant experiences regarding the sexual and reproductive rights of people. In the last campaign “In solidarity with Polish women” Astra team showed a great example of good and efficient organization of activities, sensitizing and involving several NGOs from all over the world. Good job ASTRA!
Being ASTRA member makes us stronger: we feel to be part of a big and great team!

ASTRA Network Members: Albania - Albanian Family Planning Association; Armenia - Society Without Violence; Armenia - Women’s Resource Center; Armenia - Women’s Rights Center; Azerbaijan - Center “Women and Modern World”; Belarus - Women’s Independent Democratic Movement of Belarus; Bulgaria - Bulgarian Family Planning and Sexual Health Association; Bulgaria - Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation; Bulgaria - Gender Education, Research and Technologies; Bulgaria - Demetra Association; Bulgaria - Gender Alternatives Foundation; Bosnia and Herzegovina – Sarajevo Open Center; Croatia - B.a.b.e.; Croatia – CESI; Croatia - Women’s Room; Georgia – HERA XXI; Georgia – Real People, Real Vision; Georgia - Women’s Center; Hungary – PATENT; Kazakhstan - The Legal Center for Women’s Initiatives “Sana Sezim”; Lithuania - Family Planning and Sexual Health Association; Latvia - Latvia’s Association for Family Planning And Sexual Health; Macedonia - Association for emancipation, solidarity and equality of women; Macedonia – H.E.R.A.; Macedonia – Shelter Center; Moldova – Family Planning Association; Moldova - Reproductive Health Training Center; Poland - Federation for Women and Family Planning; Romania - A.L.E.G.; Romania - AnA: Society for Feminist Analysis; Romania - Euroregional Center for Public Initiatives; Romania - The East European Institute of Reproductive Health; Russia - Novogorod Gender Center; Russia – Russian Association for Population and Development; Slovakia – Pro Choice; Tajikistan – Gender and Development; Ukraine - Women Health and Family Planning; Ukraine - Charitable SALUS Foundation; Uzbekistan - Future Generation

Apologies for cross-posting
http://www.astra.org.pl/pdf/bulletin/ASTRA_CEE_Bulletin_153.pdf

Prepared by Marta Szostak

Supported by the Sigrid Rausing Trust

ASTRA Secretariat
Federation for Women and Family Planning
Nowolipie 13/15, 00-150 Warsaw, Poland
ph/fax 48.22.635 9395, Оваа е-адреса е заштитена од спамботови. Треба да ви е овозможено JavaScript за да ја видите.
www.astra.org.pl

Follow ASTRA on Facebook and Twitter

Извор: ASTRA Network – 06.05.2016