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Parliamentarians for Women's Health |
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How the project works |
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Top level
Parliamentarians for Women's Health
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Parliamentarians for Women’s Health is a leadership initiative developed around the idea that if leaders have accurate and timely information related to women’s health – specifically HIV and AIDS – and are connected with HIV/AIDS community networks, especially those in their respective countries, then these leaders will be better poised to take action and make decisions that improve women’s access to health services.
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The project’s efforts focus on disseminating information, furthering communication and strengthening parliamentarians’ ties with HIV/AIDS communities at the local, national and international levels.
The project does this through a series of national and regional workshops that bring together various leaders, community representatives and technical specialists to discuss women and HIV/AIDS in their countries and how to move forward. Workshops are complemented by a series of activities in each country that are aimed at improving the ability of parliamentarians to make a positive impact on women’s access to health care.
National Workshops
During the first year (2005) of the project, national workshops will be held in each of the project countries for skill-building and networking, to serve as public fora for raising awareness about women’s health and HIV and AIDS, and to set strategies for future work.
Technical Assistance
Project partners, local staff and collaborators support a technical assistance plan that is aimed at improving the ability of parliamentarians to make a positive impact on women’s access to healthcare – through targeted trainings, awareness raising on barriers to health care and related policy work.
Regional Workshops
During the third year of the project (2007), workshops will be held in each project region – one in East Africa and the other in southern Africa – and serve as a means for disseminating information, linking with regional caucuses and mobilizing activities around parliamentarians’ initiatives.
Country-based Staff
Project staff – two per country – are assigned to assist the select parliamentarians for the purposes of this project.
A parliamentary legal assistant is assigned through Center for the Study of AIDS at the University of Pretoria (CSA). These assistants are graduates of the University of Pretoria master’s (LLM) program in human rights in Africa and in international trade, and will assist in auditing existing legislation, assessing how legislation is implemented, identifying gaps in legislation and providing balanced information to law makers to develop or strengthen legislation that will improve women’s access to health care.
A project officer is assigned by the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW). These project officers have a variety of experiences with community-participation approaches and extensive background on women’s access to health services in the respective countries. They will help build and foster national alliances and community partnerships that enhance sharing, learning and collaboration among the parliamentarians and women living with HIV and AIDS, including other agencies and partners at district, national, regional and international levels.
Meet the staff
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