South Africa – Reproductive Justice: The missing issue in party manifestos for 2019 Election

Reproductive Justice: The missing issue in party manifestos for 2019 Election
Women outnumber men in South Africa, yet most political parties only pay lip service to issues of reproductive health and justice in their election manifestos. Control over their own bodies and health is the first step towards gender equality and development for South African women and girls.

By Louise Carmody and Marion Stevens
5 May 2019

In every election period, political parties commit to improving service delivery, the economy, and tackling the enormous wealth, race and gender inequalities within South Africa. At 51% of the population, and 55% of the electorate, women outnumber men, yet politicians rarely address policies towards increasing their access to sexual and reproductive health services, especially in poor communities.

This gap highlights the lack of reproductive justice in South Africa, which requires the right to bodily autonomy, the right to decide whether or not to have a child, and the right to parent children in safe and healthy environments. Having the ability to exercise and control reproductive decisions and to access necessary sexual and reproductive healthcare is critical for women and girls to achieve gender equality and development.

Continued: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-05-05-reproductive-justice-the-missing-issue-in-party-manifestos-for-2019-election/


Kenya: Having sex education is the only way out

Having sex education is the only way out

Friday March 3 2017

By SARAH AGUNDA

Non-governmental health organisations in Kenya are alarmed at a decision made thousands of kilometres away that is bound to have devastating consequences on their operations. Recently, US President Donald Trump reinstated a government policy prohibiting granting of American foreign aid to NGOs in developing countries that offer abortion-related services.

This means that any Kenyan and other international organisations that have been receiving US funds for health programmes will now be required to certify that it does not provide abortion services, which include counselling, referrals, information or advocate the liberalisation of abortion laws, even with non-US funds. If a provider fails to sign the ‘global gag rule’, they lose the US funding, donated contraceptives and leadership and technical expertise.

Continued at source: Daily Nation: http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/having-sex-education-is-the-only-way-out--after-gag-rule/440808-3836050-14au5gh/