A Newsletter of worldwide activity of Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) February 2008; Vol. 3, No. 2 Poverty and illiteracy will always remain one of the root causes for women and children to be lured into prostitution. To be able to read, write and calculate has been acknowledged as a human right. Gender equality, including in education, is a condition for development. This issue inaugurates our new thrust with a special section on education. Our premise is that there is no right “time” or “age” for education. It begins before school, continues beyond retirement and comprehends the many stages in between. In a word — education for life. We are privileged to have articles by experts dealing with various aspects of women’s health, healthcare and health economics in WomensHealthSection.com running the wide gamut from universities as agents for social and economic progress to basic literacy as a window to other cultures. We will re-sharpen its focus as a journal for such exchange of ideas that keeps pace with current thought, study and debate. We encourage readers, teachers, and other educators to view WomensHealthSection.com as a resource for information and debate, learning and ideas … and to share with us their experiences, and their expectations of us. In that light, we encourage everyone to take a few minutes to think — why is this important? Colleges and universities in many countries, particularly in the United States are not offering adequate courses in international relations that reflect current global affairs, nor are they meeting student demands for a curriculum that is more relevant to today’s question. Obstacles should be removed, and new research and writing that cross boundaries and bring together information in a way that can speak to today’s readers and students must be supported and encouraged. A major lesson of the past decade is that implementation of internationally agreed goals requires a sound plan of action, a committed core team of thoughtful and practical leaders, who are able to advance implementation even when circumstances evolve and political attention is diverted, and a concerted coordination among a large number of involved institutions, stakeholders and Governments. The year 2008 can and should be a time of great progress in sustainable development. Leadership is key and may have to be cultivated at the university and college president and provost levels. It is not and either/or strategy; there can be multiple strategies. International health is a way of dealing with international problems; whether it is spread of SARS, HIV/AIDS, how technology should be used to serve our patients and communities better, human rights and access to affordable healthcare — the list is endless, should be used to facilitate development. To meet this challenge, those who see the need for change must press forward. We need to train more healthcare professionals who can teach across disciplines and have a broad knowledge of international organizations. Writing is a way of listening to the world. Read on! …and write… International Health and Development Rita Luthra, MD Your Questions, Our Reply: Should national governments open up hospital services and health insurance to foreign investors and healthcare providers? Should health tourism, that is patient traveling abroad to receive medical care, be promoted as an export industry? Trade Policy and Health: The links between trade agreements and health have been the subject of intense international debate in policy and academic circles in recent years. The debate about trade and health also reflects worries about the impact of international trade on health systems. The active promotion of health tourism can exacerbate the shortage of physicians in rural areas because of internal brain drain. In several countries, a national inter-ministerial committee plays this role, fostering coherence across the large number of issues that are affected by trade policy: procurement, environmental policies, public services and so on. Some countries prefer a special mechanism devoted to trade and health coordination. Trade and health officials need detailed information to be able to make informed choices about how to balance divergent interests and views. International organizations such as the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization have an important role to play in developing the evidence relevant to trade and health policy and making it accessible to policy-makers. The Ministry of Health in Thailand and India have been monitoring the impact of health tourism and found that the increased demand for doctors and nurses to care for foreign patients has led to an internal brain drain from the rural public sector to the urban private sector. Thanks to this monitoring capacity, the ministry of health could adopt a policy for scaling-up the training of doctors and nurses under a special curriculum to facilitate rural distribution. Many low-income countries may not have the resources to create a distinct unit or committee to deal with trade and health, and regional collaboration may be the best way to ensure internal coherence. We suggest; bringing a wide range of governmental and non-governmental actors into the policy process is critical to ensuring policy coherence. This is an effective way to ensure that divergent views and interests are included in an explicit and transparent manner in the balancing act of policy-making. Year 2007 in Review: The Women’s Health and Education Center’s Report 2007: We certainly ended 2007 with a bang!!! This analysis focuses on our e-learning project / program — WomensHealthSection.com. It brings together a wealth of information and application of technical expertise. This year’s edition of WHEC’s flagship publication examines the health and status of women around the world. Millions of girls and women continue to live in poverty, disempowered and discriminated against. We aim to facilitate the creation of policies and concrete plans on the issue of women, peace and security through the provision of good practices and specific recommendations. Join us to improve maternal and child health worldwide. WomensHealthSection.com served 4.5 million readers in 198 countries / territories with an average of 15,000 to 20,000 visitors a day in 2007 with links to about 30,000 websites every month. On average 42,000 files, 2,500 URLs and 3,600 pages were accessed every month. WomensHealthSection.com expanded from 5 sections to 15 sections in 2007 and we hope to continue to grow. In the spirit of growth in this digital age, WomensHealthSection.com was redesigned in 2007. We have rearranged content so it is easier for you to find what you need. We welcome your feedback and hope you find the Web site to be useful — a continuing mission. Top 10 Countries out of 198 Countries/Territories: USA; Mexico; Canada; France; China; Saudi Arabia; Russian Federation; Spain; U.K.; Argentina. Top 5 Groups out of 25: US Commercial; US Educational; Nonprofit organizations; US Government; International (Int). Top 5 User Agents out of 254: Microsoft (MSIE 6.0 and 7.0); Google (Googlebot/2.1 and /imgres); Yahoo (Yahoo! Slurp and Yahoo! Slurp China); MSN (msnbot-media); Ask.com (Ask Jeeves/Tecoma). Top 5 most popular sections out of 15: Obstetrics; Gynecologic Oncology; Violence against Women; Healthcare Policies and Women’s Health; Obstetric Fistulae. Top 5 most read articles out of 150: 1) Syphilis in Pregnancy: Prevention of Congenital Syphilis; 2) Sonographic Screening for Down Syndrome; 3) Human Papilloma virus (HPV) Vaccines: A Reproductive Health Perspective; 4) The Obstetrical Fistula in the Developing World; 5) Poverty and Maternal Mortality. Beneficiaries: Visitors of WomensHealthSection.com (more than 25 million readers worldwide and growing fast…) Women’s Health & Education Center (WHEC) expresses gratitude to the UN System, teaching hospitals / universities and their faculty for donating their priceless work and research to WomensHealthSection.com. Their work and dedication has helped to improve health & status of women worldwide. There are no strangers at Women’s Health & Education Center (WHEC) — only the friends you have not met. WomensHealthSection.com is serving with pride in 198 countries/territories — their continuing support is deeply appreciated. Thank You. About NGO Association with the UN: The Millennium Declaration, signed by world’s leaders of 189 countries in 2000, established 2015 as the deadline for achieving most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The majority of MDG targets has a baseline of 1990, and is set to monitor achievements over the period 1990-2015. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education TARGET: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education. But education is much more than just a basic human right. It can build not only mutual understanding among cultures at the individual level but also help us achieve progress at the global level. In reality, education has the power to transform both the individual and the world for the better. Whether at its most fundamental level of teaching someone how to read and write, or in its developmental role of training scientists, engineers and teachers, education fuels the engine for global peace and progress. With over 860 million adults worldwide who cannot read or write — one in five adults — and more than 113 million children out of school, the United Nations has launched the Literacy Decade (2003-2012) under the theme “Literacy as Freedom”. Literacy efforts have so far failed to reach the poorest and most marginalized groups, according to the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and priority attention will be given to the most disadvantaged groups, especially women and girls, ethnic and linguistic minorities, indigenous populations, migrants and refuges, disabled persons, and out-of-school children and youth. UNESCO will coordinate the international efforts to extend literacy under the Decade. The implementation of the Decade’s plan of action comprises five two-year periods structured around gender, poverty, health, peace and freedom. Sub-Saharan Africa is making progress towards universal enrollment, but has a long way to go. The United Nations Literacy Decade aims to significantly increase literacy rates, especially among women and girls and those living in places with high levels of illiteracy, such as Africa and South Asia. It provides a back drop to the implementation of the eight Millennium Development Goals, adopted by world leaders in 2000, two of which concern education: universal primary education and gender equality in education. Collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO): Make Every Mother and Child Count; Key Findings of The World Health Report 2005. By Jessica Bankes Beattie Attending to all 136 million births every year is one of the major challenges that face the world’s health systems. For optimum safety, every woman needs professional, skilled care when giving birth. A woman should also be able to give birth in an appropriate environment that is close to where she lives and that respects her birthing culture. Such care can best be provided by a registered midwife or a health worker with midwifery skills in first-level facilities. This can avert many life-threatening problems that may arise during childbirth and can reduce maternal mortality to surprisingly low levels. The need for care does not stop when the birth is over; the hours, days and weeks that follow can be dangerous for both mothers and babies. The welcome emphasis in recent years on improving skilled attendance at birth should not divert attention from this critical period during which half of maternal deaths and many diseases occur. Meet the Authors; http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2005/issue3/0305p65.html Bulletin of the World Health Organization; Volume 86, Number 2, February 2008, 81-160 Table of contents Collaboration with UN University (UNU): UNU-WIDER (World Institute for Development Economics Research) Expert Series on Health Economics Linking Globalization to Poverty Overview: While the economic opportunities offered by globalization can be large, a question is often raised as to whether the actual distribution of gains is fair, in particular, whether the poor benefit less than proportionately from globalization and could under some circumstances be hurt by it. This Policy Brief summarizes and examines the various channels and transmission mechanisms, such as greater openness to trade and foreign investment, economic growth, effects on income distribution, technology transfer and labor migration, through which the process of globalization affects different dimensions of poverty in the developing world. Globalization provides a strong potential for a major reduction in poverty in the developing world because it creates an environment conducive to faster economic growth and transmission of knowledge. However, structural factors and policies within the world economy and national economies have impeded the full transmission of the benefits of the various channels of globalization for poverty reduction. World income distribution continues to be very unequal and many poor countries particularly in Africa are stagnating. Moreover, there is much empirical evidence that openness contributes to more within-country inequality. China is a good example with coastal provinces as opposed to inland provinces reaping the major benefits of globalization. Progress on poverty reduction has also been uneven. Although the share of the population of developing countries living below US$1 per day declined from 40 per cent to 21 per cent between 1981 and 2001, this was mainly achieved by the substantial reduction of the poor in Asia, in particular in China. Notwithstanding the drop in relative poverty, the total number of people living under US$2 per day actually increased worldwide. In particular, poverty has increased significantly in Africa in both absolute and relative terms. The risks and costs brought about by globalization can be significant for fragile developing economies and the world’s poor. The downside of globalization is most vividly epitomized at times of global financial and economic crises. The costs of the repeated crises associated with economic and financial globalization appear to have been borne overwhelmingly by the developing world, and often disproportionately so by the poor who are the most vulnerable. On the other hand, benefits from globalization in booming times are not necessarily shared widely and equally in the global community. Though any trend in poverty and income inequality observed so far cannot be exclusively or even mainly attributed to globalization without rigorous analyses, even the most optimistic estimates cannot dismiss concerns that the globalization process, as it has proceeded to date, may have had some adverse effects on poverty and income distribution. These concerns have generated a passionate debate worldwide as well as a powerful anti-globalization movement. No. 2, 2007. Written by Machiko Nissanke and Erik Thorbecke (Details of the paper can be accessed from the link of UNU-WIDER on CME Page of WomensHealthSection.com) United Nations Charter: We the Peoples of the United Nations …. United for a Better World (Continued) CHAPTER II MEMBERSHIP Article 3 The original Members of the United Nations shall be the states which, having participated in the United Nations Conference on International Organization at San Francisco, or having previously signed the Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942, sign the present Charter and ratify it in accordance with Article 110. Article 4 Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations. The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. Article 5 A Member of the United Nations against which preventive or enforcement action has been taken by the Security Council may be suspended from the exercise of the rights and privileges of membership by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. The exercise of these rights and privileges may be restored by the Security Council. Article 6 A Member of the United Nations which has persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the Organization by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. CHAPTER III ORGANS Article 7 There are established as the principal organs of the United Nations: a General Assembly a Security Council an Economic and Social Council a Trusteeship Council an International Court of Justice and a Secretariat. Such subsidiary organs as may be found necessary may be established in accordance with the present Charter. Article 8 The United Nations shall place no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. To be continued… Top Two Articles Accessed in January 2008: The Pap Smear; Author: Dr. Bruce R. Dziura, New England Pathology Associates, Springfield, MA (USA). Guideline for performance of the Obstetric Ultrasound; WHEC Publications. Special thanks to World Health Organization for the contributions. News, Invitations and Letters: Human Security: The Commission on Human Security (CHS) defines human security as the protection of “the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance human freedoms and fulfillment”. Human security means protecting fundamental freedoms. It means protecting people from critical and pervasive threats and situations. It means using processes that build on people’s strengths and aspirations. It means creating political, social, environmental, economic, military and cultural systems that, when combined, give people the building blocks for survival, livelihood and dignity. Human security is far more than the absence of violent conflict. It encompasses human rights, good governance and access to economic opportunity, education and health care. It is a concept that comprehensively addresses both “freedom from fear” and “freedom from want”. To attain the goals of human security, the Commission proposes a framework based on the protection and empowerment of people. Empowerment implies a bottom up approach. It aims at developing the capabilities of individuals and communities to make informed choices and to act on their own behalf. Protection refers to the norms, processes and institutions required to shield people from critical and pervasive threats. It implies a “top-down” approach. States have the primary responsibility to implement such a protective structure. However, international and regional organizations, civil society and non-governmental actors, and the private sector also play a pivotal role in shielding people from menaces. Trust Fund Overview: The United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security was established in 1999 with the express aim of promoting human security through the protection and empowerment of people and communities threatened in their livelihood, survival and dignity. Since January 2006, the UNTFHS has committed over USD 72 million to projects in over 25 countries. Neither protection nor empowerment can be dealt with in isolation as they are mutually reinforcing. For more about the concept of human security as defined by the CHS, please go to the final report of the CHS. NGLS is pleased to share with you the January 2008 issue of “The Road to Doha”, a publication jointly produced by the DESA Financing for Development Office (FFDO) and the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) in the run-up to the International Conference to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus to be held in Doha, Qatar in the second half of 2008 (A/RES/61/191 and A/RES/62/187). The aim of this monthly newsletter is to help keep relevant stakeholders informed on the latest developments and events on the road leading to the Doha Conference. This issue contains information on the recently agreed preparatory process for the Doha Review Conference as well as a ‘guest editorial’ by Marina Durano of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) on economics for social provisioning. This piece is particularly timely as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will meet on the priority theme ‘Financing for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women‘ at its 52nd Session next month. Special Thanks: WHEC thanks Herminia Roque, Editorial Assistant, UN Chronicle, Academic Initiative Section / Civil Society Service, United Nations for her priceless support and work to make this initiative a success. We all are looking forward to work with you for a long time to come. Thank you very much. Beyond the numbers… We live in deeds, not years; In thoughts, not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on the dial; We should count time by heart throbs; He most lives, _________ Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.Read More

A Newsletter of worldwide activity of Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) March 2007; Vol. 2, No. 3 In reality, reproductive health is a union between social sciences and medical sciences. The world has publicly acknowledged that health and well-being, and equality and equality, for women are important ends in themselves. The balance between resources and population, development and sustainability concerns people. This is the beginning of the paradigm shift – from maternal and child health to reproductive health. Many issues can be compressed within reproductive health concern. In our e-learning publication: WomensHealthSection.com, we have provided the diversity and breadth of these issues to achieve proper balance between social sciences and medical sciences. Reproductive health reflects health in childhood and sets the stage for health even beyond reproductive years for both women and men. It affects and is affected by the broader context of people’s lives, their economic circumstances, education, employment, living conditions, family-environment, social and gender relationships, and traditional and legal structures within which people live. In WomensHealthSection.com we have focused on five core areas of reproductive health: childbearing; fertility regulation; maintenance of a healthy reproductive system; sexuality and sexual behavior; and the social-cultural context within which reproductive health behavior and ill-health takes place. The tools of our profession have changed – technology has enabled us to diagnose diseases early and in many cases prevent them that we could not have done before. Computers have liberated us from boxes and have allowed us in many ways to serve our patients. The ease of communication via internet has made it possible to be influenced by cultures in every corner of the world. Fine words, and even legislation, are not enough – implementation is the key. We must work to build momentum for a sustained and multifaceted national and international effort. There are no strangers at Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) – only the friends you have not met. A Vision of Hope In Memory of a Friend, Victoria A. White (1956-2007): I met Victoria 5 years ago when Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) undertook the project – e-learning publication, WomensHealthSection.com. To have a friend share this experience provides us with profound wisdom and insights. I have spent many Friday afternoons in her office working with her and her incredible team on this publication. I have laughed and cried many times, her courage and wisdom was an inspiration to me. To be with Victoria was a gift of friendship and insight, courage and generosity. We all have a teacher or a colleague, someone patient and wise, who understood you when you were searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For me, that person was Victoria, a friend. She asked me the first and the only question, when I discussed this e-learning project with her – What would your website like to do? I hope this brings happiness and goodwill in the world; we hope to make a difference. We will miss you. Rita Luthra, MD President Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) Your Questions, Our Reply: Is contracting-approach to public health and privatization same? Can it improve relations between fund-holders and health service providers, and improve health systems? Contracting and Public Health: The delivery of healthcare in almost every country involves some form of public-private partnership. Within a health system, large-scale use of contracting almost automatically involves forms of regulations. We believe that by drawing up national policies on contracting, it will be possible to address all its facets and to determine sound guidelines and strategies, which will be taken up by all those involved in healthcare. Contracting is a tool that formalizes the relationships and obligations between the different actors in health system, though it is not clearly limited to health. While contracting has been used to specify the relationships between government and the private sector, its potential uses are much broader. The overall aim is to improve health system performance by clearly specifying the obligations and expectations of different actors in the health systems. There is a huge untapped potential of contracting in public health, as well as the risks and pitfalls. If poorly implemented, contracting may harm health systems performance, but if managed well, the benefits can be immense. Contracting is used more and more to formalize the relationships between different levels of government. The idea of contracting has been gaining increasing attention among both donor agencies and governments, and recognizes the potential value of contracting to improve health system performance. Contracting is increasingly being used to enhance the performance of health systems in both developed and developing countries. In recent years the way health systems are organized has changed significantly. To remedy the under-performance of their health systems, most countries have undertaken reforms that have resulted in major institutions overhaul, including decentralization of health and administrative services, autonomy for public service providers, separation of funding bodies and service providers, expansion of health financing options and the development of the profit or non-profit private sector. An example of Public-Private partnership: the ministry of health may decide that it will no longer provide certain services and instead will use the funds at its disposal to purchase those services from providers. Several countries in Latin America (Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Peru) have drawn up contracts with NGOs to extend health coverage or to improve the quality of care. In the countries where health financing passes through autonomous or private insurance systems, contracting is used to define the relations between these insurance bodies and the service providers. These relations cover rates, reimbursement arrangements, customer care and quality of care. Alliances lie at the heart of “working together”. The success of agreements requires the active participation of the partners as well as understanding between resources, technology and know-how. Contracting is thus actually much broader and richer than the notion of “contract” in the legal sense of the word. Contracting should not be reduced to a mere management tool used to cut health costs. It is an approach that should lead the various participants to offer to the public health services that are increasingly efficient, effective, superior and fair. Contracting in health systems is extremely diverse in the terms of types of participants that use it, the types of contractual relationships that are established and the purposes thereof. However, one must never lose sight of the fact that contracting is a tool that should be evaluated on the basis of its impact on the performance of a health system, and ultimately on people’s health. About NGO Association with the UN: Third Committee: Social, Humanitarian and Cultural – the Third Committee deals with myriad topics related to social development, advancement of women, international drug control and human rights issues. Delegates meet, discuss and debate these issues and work to forge resolutions that enjoy unanimous support, or if this is not possible can be voted upon. Social development is a critical factor in making poverty reduction effective and sustainable. The promotion of social development at the international level implies the total fulfillment of the commitments by the countries in various conferences and summits. Certainly there is relationship between globalization and human rights, but not all human rights are affected by globalization. Globalization could have both positive and negative aspects. Governments are responsible to protect human rights under their jurisdiction, and if they fail to do so, then there is a legitimate concern for the international community to deal with it. Collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO): The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) Instruments: WHO defines Quality of Life as individuals’ perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns. It is a broad ranging concept affected in a complex way by the person’s physical health, psychological state, level of independence, social relationships, personal beliefs and their relationship to salient features of their environment. Strengths of the WHOQOL instruments can be accessed at: http://www.who.int/mental_health/media/68.pdf (pdf) Collaboration with UN University (UNU): Proposals for new publications: UNU Press accepts a limited number of proposals for new titles from scholars of international issues facing the United Nations and its member states; UNU Press publishes mostly in the fields of peace and governance, environmental and sustainable development, and economic and technological development. UNU Press books reflect the issues and experiences of a broad number of countries or regions and individual countries. They ideally contain clear learning points or policy recommendations applicable beyond the scope of individual topics or locations. A typical book is 100,000 words. Rights for reprints and translations are available at very generous terms for the reproduction and/or translation of UNU Press titles. Point of View: Promoting home-testing for HIV in developing countries: benefits and concerns The increasing prevalence and incidence of HIV has been a global concern. A bigger concern would be the existing lack of awareness among the people, especially in the developing countries, which may result in errors in HIV reporting. Hence expanding our options that may help in increasing the HIV awareness in the developing countries is the need of the hour and one such option that needs to be explored is promoting the use of home-testing kits for HIV. Two frequently observed reasons for people avoiding the HIV counseling sessions are limited availability of HIV testing services and the social stigma and discrimination that is associated with the disease (1). Home-testing helps in overcoming these barriers by offering advantages such as privacy and ease of use. People living in remote areas do not have to travel far-off places to get tested and people do not have to worry about busy clinics and in some cases, the physician’s reluctance to test. It may thus help more and more people in knowing about their HIV status and thus may result in behavior modifications and promoting safer sex practices. However, to maximize its benefits, it is important to provide pre-test and post-test counseling services. Counseling may help in increasing awareness, may help in discussing the possibilities of false positive/false-negative results and may also provide the much-needed emotional support in cases with a positive test. Also, its proper implementation in developing countries needs some social and political transformations such as laws that prevent the possibility of abuse (sending blood sample of a person without his knowledge). It is possible that women may end up at higher risk of domestic violence and social harassment, and hence more research in this area and better laws for protection of these women will be required. Although home testing may not provide a final solution, a well-designed comprehensive strategy in combination with voluntary counseling and testing may help in increasing awareness, thereby decreasing the prevalence rates. By Sumesh Kachroo, MS Doctoral Student, University of Texas School of Public Health Houston, Texas, USA References: Kachroo S. Promoting self-testing for HIV in developing countries: potential benefits and pitfalls. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2006 Dec; 84(12): 999-1000. Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS): Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS “Global Crisis – Global Action”: series continues Recognizing that poverty, underdevelopment and illiteracy are among the principal contributing factors to the spread of HIV/AIDS and noting with grave concern that HIV/AIDS is compounding poverty and is now reversing or impeding development in many countries and should therefore be addressed in an integrated manner Noting that armed conflicts and natural disasters also exacerbate the spread of the epidemic Noting further that stigma, silence, discrimination, and denial, as well as lack of confidentiality, undermine prevention, care and treatment efforts and increase the impact of the epidemic on individuals, families, communities and nations and must also be addressed Stressing that gender equality and the empowerment of women are fundamental elements in the reduction of the vulnerability of women and girls to HIV/AIDS Recognizing that access to medication in the context of pandemics such as HIV/AIDS is one of the fundamental elements to achieve progressively the full realization of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health Recognizing that the full realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all is an essential element in a global response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, including in the areas of prevention, care, support and treatment, and that it reduces vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and prevents stigma and related discrimination against people living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS Acknowledging that prevention of HIV infection must be the mainstay of the national, regional and international response to the epidemic; and that prevention, care, support and treatment for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS are mutually reinforcing elements of an effective response and must be integrated in a comprehensive approach to combat the epidemic Recognizing the need to achieve the prevention goals set out in this Declaration in order to stop the spread of the epidemic and acknowledging that all countries must continue to emphasize widespread and effective prevention, including awareness-raising campaigns through education, nutrition, information and health-care services Recognizing that care, support and treatment can contribute to effective prevention through increased acceptance of voluntary and confidential counseling and testing, and by keeping people living with HIV/AIDS and vulnerable groups in close contact with health-care systems and facilitating their access to information, counseling and preventive supplies Emphasizing the important role of cultural, family, ethical and religious factors in the prevention of the epidemic, and in treatment, care and support, taking into account the particularities of each country as well as the importance of respecting all human rights and fundamental freedoms To be continued… Top Two Articles Accessed in February 2007: The Bethesda System – An Overview Women’s Health and Education Center’s Contribution Quality of life & Gynecological Malignancies WHEC Publication. Special thanks to World Health Organization project on quality of life (WHOQOL) and Mental Health Department for its assistance and contribution News, Invitations and Letters: THE SECRETARY-GENERAL’S REPORT: Strengthening efforts to Eradicate Poverty and Hunger – A report of the Secretary-General on the theme of the 2007 Annual Ministerial Review is being prepared. It is envisaged to consist of two main sections: I. Global Overview and II. Thematic Discussion. The overview will provide a concise analysis providing an assessment of progress, identifying gaps and obstacles in implementing the UN Development Agenda and making recommendations to overcome those gaps. The global overview will analyze the regional differences (including, where possible and relevant, differences between rural and urban areas) and highlight challenges in implementation. Particular attention may be paid to rural development and food security, financing for development and the role of intellectual property rights. The thematic discussion will approach the 2007 theme from several perspectives. There will be an assessment of the challenges to poverty eradication and hunger, with particular emphasis on successful policies as well as beneficial partnerships. Another section will examine enhancing sustainable fiscal space for countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There will also be an analysis of the impact of MDG 8 (Global Governance and Global Partnership), on eradicating poverty and hunger and of the status of implementation of MDG 8 commitments; in particular Official Development Assistance (ODA), debt relief, agricultural support, and technology transfer. Secretary-General’s address to UNIS-UN Conference on Climate Change; New York, 1 March 2007: http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2462 The 192nd UN Member State: The people of Montenegro, within just two months, transformed their nation from creating a newly independent republic in a referendum in May 2006 to saluting a reinvented flag and becoming a full-fledged member of the United Nations. The country peacefully separated from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro on 3 June 2006 and its people, in aspiring for UN membership, have since demonstrated their desire to actively and cooperatively support solving world issues. On 22 June, the UN Security Council, in adopting unanimously resolution 1691 (2006), recommended the admittance of the Republic of Montenegro to the Organization. Six days later, on 28 June, the General Assembly declared and welcomed Montenegro as the 192nd Member State of the United Nations – the newest since Timor Leste’s induction on 27 September 2002. The world witnessed a great leap forward for Montenegro in its desire to become an active member of the international community. UNICEF: The State of World’s Children 2007 examines the discrimination and disempowerment women face throughout their lives – and outlines what must be done to eliminate gender discrimination and empower women and girls. It looks at the status of women today, discusses how gender equality will move all the Millennium Development Goals forward, and show investment in women’s rights will ultimately produce a double dividend: advancing the rights of both women and children. For details please visit: http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/docs/sowc07.pdf Special Thanks: WHEC thanks Dr. Ian Smith, Advisor to the Director-General, World Health Organization, for his support and assistance in our efforts to improve maternal and child health worldwide. It was indeed a privilege to present this project with him at NGO Briefing, UN Headquarter, on World Health Day 7 April 2005. Thanks for the friendship and World Health Report 2005: Make Every Mother and Child Count. Thanks again Victoria from all of us at WHEC; your work and contributions to The Board will go on. Beyond the numbers… Woods are lonely, dark and deep But I have promises to keep; And to go miles before I sleep, And to go miles before I sleep.Read More

A Newsletter of worldwide activity of Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) January 2008; Vol. 3, No. 1 Practice & Policy Wish you the very best for the New Year from all of us at Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) Doing good is becoming the business of business. We believe that doing well and doing good are inextricably linked. Worldwide problems as diverse as poverty, disease, lack of education and pollution, which were historically addressed by political and social activists, are now being tackled by businesses as well. Creating cultures that care is our mission. Expanding global markets, outsourcing and the spread of Internet to the remotest regions of the world have enlarged the concept of what “community” means. WomensHealthSection.com is emerging as a powerful force for social action and change. Complicated global problems require innovative thinking and new levels of commitment, even as debate rises about where to focus time and resources. The problems of the world are also the problems of business. In the days and year ahead, business leaders will feel a growing mandate to treat social responsibility as a strategic imperative. The mission of Women’s Health and Education center (WHEC) is to facilitate change and improve the quality of life in countries around the world by providing financial, social and technical support so communities can become self-sustaining. The anticipation is building. WHEC Update in 2008 explores United Nations Charter. You will see many things about the WomensHealthSection.com that may surprise you. A new angle on classic, and our masterpiece series: Redefining Healthcare (health economics). The demand for health-for-all is one of the defining movements of 21st Century. As a pioneer in creating new break-through throughout this project / program, WHEC is leading the way in this movement, as well as redefining Continuing Medical Education. The Masterpiece Series on health economics pays tribute to the UN System and our readers! e-Health networks can remove distance and time barriers to the flow of information and knowledge for health. It is important to focus attention on the use of available knowledge by underserved communities, such as developing country health systems. Goods are traded, but services are consumed and produced in the same place. In terms of both individual expertise and institutional capability, traditional educational methods are inadequate to meet the needs of health sector in many countries. Internet-based medical education offers a partial solution and Internet offers promise as an alternative provider of local training. When we had decided to launch WomensHealthSection.com our vision was — it had to be timeless, classic and be sensitive to the cultures. Cultural Diversity is now the norm in the medical practice in each and every country. Curriculum development is an ongoing process and we constantly review it for further improvement and relevance. Welcome to the Working Group of the WHEC! Healing Our World Rita Luthra, MD Your Questions, Our Reply: Why do healthcare workers migrate? Do you have opinion on policy options to manage migration and suggestions for the developing countries to reverse the “brain-drain”? Human Migration: The history of humanity is a history of migration — and has been since the first humans on earth. Immigrants and emigrants — invading hordes and war refugees — mass migrations — all of these terms describe aspects of a complex problem that is of crucial global importance today. Environmental catastrophes, rapid population growth, and economic stagnation in some regions; sluggish population growth accompanied by strong economic expansion in others; political disputes and regional conflicts, civil wars, and famines — all of these factors will continue to cause large-scale population migrations and waves of refugees in the 21st century. In a global economy, hardly a single country will be spared the consequences of the developments. The overall economic and social contexts in which healthcare workers make the decisions to migrate are: wars, deprivation, and social unrest may all provoke waves of migration. The migration of health workers is primarily demand led, with workforce shortages in some destination countries, such as USA and UK. The availability of employment, particularly in the developed world, has a significant impact on the decision to migrate. In general, migration is influenced by social networks, which offer support to new migrants and often connections to employment. Nurses have links with nursing organizations and networks that may foster further migration. These networks then assist new migrants with social and cultural assimilation. A similar picture emerges for countries with colonial and political ties, where there are already established cohorts of migrants. The factors affecting health professionals’ decision to migrate are: Want better or more realistic remuneration Want a more conductive working environment Want to continue education or training Want to work in better managed health system Strategies to address brain drain: The issues surrounding brain drain are complex. For developing countries, scientific trainees who fail to return are a drain on the economy and on capacity building. While abroad, they can contribute to scientific advances of importance to their home country and serve as mentors for other trainees. Continuing Medical Education (CME) initiatives are one example of such efforts, which can be of benefit to donor, and recipient countries both. About NGO Association with the UN: The Millennium Declaration, signed by world’s leaders of 189 countries in 2000, established 2015 as the deadline for achieving most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The majority of MDG targets has a baseline of 1990, and is set to monitor achievements over the period 1990-2015. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty & Hunger TARGET: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day. Worldwide, the number of people in developing countries living on less than $1 a day fell to 980 million in 2004 — down from 1.25 billion in 1990. The Extreme poverty is beginning to fall in sub-Saharan Africa. The benefits of economic growth in the developing world have been unequally shared, both within and among countries. Between 1990 and 2004, the share of national consumption by the poorest fifth of the population in developing regions decreased from 4.6 to 3.9 per cent (in countries where consumption figures were unavailable, data on income were used). Widening income inequality is of particular concern in Eastern Asia, where the share of consumption among the poorest people declined dramatically during this period. Still, inequality remains the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean and in sub-Saharan Africa, where the poorest fifth of the people account for only about 3 per cent of national consumption (or income). Globally, the proportion of children under five who are underweight declined by one fifth over the period 1990-2005. Eastern Asia showed the greatest improvement and is surpassing the MDG target, largely due to nutritional advances in China. Western Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean have also demonstrated significant progress, with underweight prevalence dropping by more than one third. The greatest proportions of children going hungry continue to be found in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Poor progress in these regions means that it is unlikely that the global target will be met. If current trends continue, the world will miss the 2015 target by 30 million children, essentially robbing them of their full potential. TARGET: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. Child hunger is declining in all regions, but meeting the target will require accelerated progress. Collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO): The European Network of Health Promoting Schools the alliance of education and health Birth of the concept: Schools intend to help pupils acquire the knowledge and develop the skills they need to participate fully in adult life, but all too often fall short of this goal. In 1991, three international agencies in Europe — the European Commission (EC), the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the Council of Europe (CE) — launched an innovative project to combine education and health promotion in order to realize the potential of both. Along with the three leading organizations, dozens of European countries and hundreds of schools have formed the European Network of Health Promoting Schools (ENHPS) to create within schools environments conducive to health. Working together to make their schools better places in which to learn and work, pupils and school staff take action to benefit their physical, mental and social health. In the process, they gain knowledge and skills that improve the outcomes of education. Health education has a long tradition in schools, but has usually been only a part of the curriculum and focused on single causes of ill health in individuals, such as smoking and alcohol and drug abuse. Starting with this link between education and health, the three leading organizations developed the idea of integrating health promotion into every aspect of the school setting, addressing all the people connected with it: pupils, their teachers, all other school staff, parents and eventually the wider community. A 1990 conference on health education, sponsored by EC, CE and the WHO Regional Office for Europe, recommended that the three organizations jointly plan and manage ENHPS. It built on the collaborative work done in the 1980s under the CE pilot project “Education for Health”. This joint work is in line with WHO’s current priorities for health promotion and its use of the settings approach: addressing a particular setting to enable all the people linked with it to improve their health. The settings approach is the foundation for WHO projects for healthy cities, hospitals and prisons, as well as schools. ENHPS is also in the spirit of the EC Council Resolution of 23 November 1988 on the implementation of health education in schools and a 1990 EC conference on health education and disease prevention in schools. EC, CE and WHO work together to create health promoting schools throughout Europe. Details: http://www.euro.who.int/document/e62361.pdf (pdf) Bulletin of the World Health Organization; Volume 86, Number 1, January 2008, 1-80 Table of contents Collaboration with UN University (UNU): UNU-WIDER (World Institute for Development Economics Research) Expert Series on Health Economics: Aid to Fragile States: Do Donors Help or Hinder? The record of aid to fragile and poorly-performing states is the real test of aid effectiveness. Rich countries can justify aid to fragile states both through altruism and self-interest. But, with some exceptions, donors have appeared at the wrong times and with the wrong attitudes, even sometimes undermining development progress. State failure has dimensions of both will and capacity. Failure demands constructive engagement by donors, in some cases to save people in weak states from their leaders, and in all cases to save the states from circumstances which they cannot control. This paper examines the aid relationship with respect to three weak countries. Burma presents a case of comprehensive failure of political will and capacity, but isolating the regime, as some donors have chosen to do, will only perpetuate the plight of the population. Rwanda provides an alarming example of donor complicity in state collapse. The country has now rebounded from the terrible genocide of 1994, but some donors still cannot set aside their political and cultural biases. Zambia has lived through many years of bilaterally-assisted economic mismanagement, and also proved to be a highly unsuitable case for Bretton Woods treatment. It is doing better now that the country is more willing and able to take control of its development agenda. The paper concludes with eight principles for donors to observe in engaging more productively with fragile states. UNU — WIDER; Discussion Paper No. 2007/01 Stephen Browne* May 2007 (Details of the paper can be accessed from the link of UNU-WIDER on CME Page of WomensHealthSection.com) United Nations Foundation: The UN Foundation was created in 1998. The Honorable Timothy E. Wirth is President of the United Nations Foundation. He was United States Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs and a member of the United States Senate and House of Representatives. The UN Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach. The UN Foundation is a public charity. The UN Foundation strengthens and supports the UN and its causes through a blend of advocacy, grant-making, and partnerships. Wherever possible, it aligns these core organizational assets behind the large-scale problems we address. Advocacy: From the outset, it has worked to strengthen the relationship between the UN and the U.S. government—with a focus on getting Congress to clear up billions of dollars in arrears owed by the U.S. to the UN, and on continuing to pay the dues on time and in full. This effort—led by the UN Foundation’s sister organization, the Better World Fund—built the base for broader public outreach campaigns about the importance of international cooperation and a strong U.S.–UN relationship. Grant-making: Since its inception in 1998, the UN Foundation and Better World Fund have awarded grants amounting to over $900 million—including nearly $400 million in funds from dozens of partners and thousands of grassroots donors—in support of UN projects and activities in 115 countries. Partnerships: The UN Foundation makes it easy to engage in the work of the UN. As a platform for partnering with the UN, it helps corporations, foundations, governments, and individuals make a difference in the important work the UN does across a broad range of issues. The role in these partnerships varies—from catalyst to convener, advocate to grant-maker, fiduciary to fundraising ally—but in each case, it is able to achieve an outcome that is greater than what any single actor would have accomplished working alone. These efforts are conducted in close coordination with the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP), the strategic counterpoint within the UN system. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO): UNESCO was created in 1946 to build lasting world peace based on the intellectual and moral solidarity of humankind. Its areas of work are education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture and communication. Its programs aim at promoting a culture of peace and human and sustainable development. They focus on: achieving education for all; promoting environmental research through international scientific programs; supporting the expression of cultural identities; protecting and enhancing the world’s natural and cultural heritage; and promoting the free flow of information and press freedom, as well as strengthening the communication capacities of developing countries. UNESCO maintains a system of 190 National Commissions and is supported by some 5,000 UNESCO Associations, Centers and Clubs. It enjoys official relations with 350 NGOs, and also cooperates with various foundations and international and regional networks. UNESCO’s governing body — the General Conference — is made up of all member states and meets every two years. The Executive Board, consisting of 58 members elected by the Conference, is responsible for supervising the program adopted by the Conference. UNESCO has a staff of 2,145. Its regular budget for 2002-2003 was $544 million. Headquarters: 7 Place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07-SP, France. United Nations Charter: We the Peoples of the United Nations …. United for a Better World The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. The Statute of the International Court of Justice is an integral part of the Charter. Amendments to Articles 23, 27 and 61 of the Charter were adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 1963 and came into force on 31 August 1965. A further amendment to Article 61 was adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 1971, and came into force on 24 September 1973. An amendment to Article 109, adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 1965, came into force on 12 June 1968. The amendment to Article 23 enlarges the membership of the Security Council from eleven to fifteen. The amended Article 27 provides that decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members (formerly seven) and on all other matters by an affirmative vote of nine members (formerly seven), including the concurring votes of the five permanent members of the Security Council. The amendment to Article 61, which entered into force on 31 August 1965, enlarged the membership of the Economic and Social Council from eighteen to twenty-seven. The subsequent amendment to that Article, which entered into force on 24 September 1973, further increased the membership of the Council from twenty-seven to fifty-four. The amendment to Article 109, which relates to the first paragraph of that Article, provides that a General Conference of Member States for the purpose of reviewing the Charter may be held at a date and place to be fixed by a two-thirds vote of the members of the General Assembly and by a vote of any nine members (formerly seven) of the Security Council. Paragraph 3 of Article 109, which deals with the consideration of a possible review conference during the tenth regular session of the General Assembly, has been retained in its original form in its reference to a “vote, of any seven members of the Security Council”, the paragraph having been acted upon in 1955 by the General Assembly, at its tenth regular session, and by the Security Council. Chapter I — Purposes and Principles Article 1 The Purposes of the United Nations are: To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace; To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace; To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends. Article 2 The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members. All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations. All Members shall give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the present Charter, and shall refrain from giving assistance to any state against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action. The Organization shall ensure that states which are not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as may be necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security. Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter VII. To be continued… Top Two-Articles Accessed in December 2007: Adolescent Health Care; WHEC Publications. Special thanks to the World Health Organization for priceless contributions. Group B Streptococci Perinatal Infections: A Comprehensive Review; Author: Dr. Ronald S. Gibbs, Professor and Chair, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado (USA) News, Invitations, and Letters: Regional implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002. Note by the Secretary-General: The Secretary-General has the honor to transmit to the Commission for Social Development at its forty-sixth session the report of the regional commissions submitted in response to Commission resolution 45/1, entitled “Modalities for the first review and appraisal of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002”. The present report is submitted by the regional commissions in response to Commission for Social Development resolution 45/1 in which the Commission requested all regional commissions to forward their findings of the first regional review and appraisal of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, along with identified priorities for future action regarding its implementation, to the Commission at its forty-sixth session in 2008. The report provides regional perspectives on the activities related to the implementation of the Madrid Plan of Action and underlines the enormous challenges that persist for the ageing population in the regions. Future priority actions at the regional level to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the ageing process will have to be tailored to each region, taking into account needs and circumstances and the differing nature of the process of ageing at the regional and subregional levels. The report offers a number of recommendations for consideration by the Commission for Social Development. Details: http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=E/CN.5/2008/2 10-Year Strategic Review: Children and Conflict in a Changing World Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF): A ten-year strategic review report by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and UNICEF discusses the evolving and severe impact of conflicts on children and measures progress made since the Graça Machel report in 1996. The report puts pressure on all UN Member States to fulfill their responsibilities to children by giving them access to basic services like education, health, nutrition, water, and sanitation. It also recommends ending impunity for those responsible. http://www.un.org/children/conflict/_documents/machel/MachelReviewReport.pdf (pdf) A companion piece to the report entitled Will You Listen? compiles the views and recommendations of over 1,700 children in 92 countries. Their thoughts were collected as a contribution to the review through a series of focus group discussions and an online questionnaire. Focus group discussions were conducted by UNICEF, UNFPA, and NGO partners in 18 countries, and involved over 1,385 participants in 125 focus groups. Intergovernmental Negotiations and Decision Making at the United Nations: A Guide United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS), Nov 2007, Second Edition The second edition of NGLS’s popular Intergovernmental Negotiations and Decision Making at the United Nations: A Guide (pdf) explains the governance and decision-making fora and processes of the UN system. Section One explains the principal UN organs of intergovernmental decision making; the negotiating blocs of Member States at the UN; the various types of documentation; and the nature of UN decisions and the weight they carry internationally. This updated second edition includes information on new UN bodies and processes following on from the outcomes of the 2005 World Summit. Section Two provides practical knowledge, advice and guidance to non-governmental representatives who wish to engage with the UN system, ranging from accreditation to the preparatory process, to engaging in follow-up activities after a meeting. Special Thanks: WHEC thanks Dr. Francis H. Boudreau, Chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Boston, MA (USA) for his priceless support and friendship. St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center will always be home to all of us at Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC). Thank you very much. Beyond the numbers… The school is an extraordinarily effective setting in which to improve the health of students, families and members of the community. It is a means of supporting the basic human rights of both education and health.Read More

A Newsletter of worldwide activity of Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) February 2007; Vol. 2, No. 2 Confession, they say, is good for the soul. WomensHealthSection.com has been a delight, a challenge, a stimulus, a source of laughter and sometimes irritation and simply pain in the neck. Assembled in 5 separate sections and 8 sub-sections is a selection of more than 200 systematic reviews of the literature, about 1,800 URLs, linked to 12,000 to 15,000 web-networks in any given month reflecting the breadth and depth of the specialty. This delightful collection reminds us that there is more to medicine than strict science. I am certain that is why readers find this publication interesting and entertaining. The goal of WomensHealthSection.com is to promote excellence in the clinical practice of obstetrics and gynecology and closely related fields. We continue to have the highest circulation worldwide among all obstetrics and gynecology journals – about 4 million readers a year in 154 countries. Each month we send you WHEC Update (Policy-Briefs) to highlight the efforts of the United Nations in tackling various issues at the National and International levels. We hope this provides a comprehensive account of the many challenges before the international community, as well as the joint ongoing efforts to find solutions. Helping others gives success true meaning. These basic facts about the United Nations and its system reflect the multitude of ways in which the United Nations touches the lives of people everywhere. It chronicles the work of the Organization in such areas as health, peace, development, human rights, humanitarian assistance, disarmament and international law. Globalization is transforming the world. While it brings great benefits to some countries and individuals – faster growth, higher living standards, new opportunities – a backlash has risen because these benefits are distributed so unequally and because the global market is not yet underpinned by values and rules that address key social concerns such as the protection of human rights, labor standards and the environment. Poverty and inequality are fertile ground for conflict. We hope to help promote understanding about the United Nations and its presence in people’s lives. United Nations in a united world Your Questions, Our Reply: What do people expect from their doctors? Quality in medical care: it might be said that what patients ought to want and are entitled to expect is a professional service of the highest quality. Quality has been defined as “fitness to the purpose”. Clearly patients expect medicine to be something more than the mere application of medical science to the human condition. The simplest way to find out what people might want or expect from their doctors is to ask them. Surprisingly few people seem to worry about the technical competence of doctors. What they worry about is doctor’s ability to understand the patient as a person and provide the right guidance. Financial, legal and administrative techniques seem powerless to ensure that this demand is met. The message seems to be that people want personally relevant healthcare delivered by a doctor who knows them well and which addresses their particular problems. By inference, people do not want healthcare which is pursuing some medically defined agenda, or is delivered by an impersonal team. Market-driven healthcare: A growing proportion of the peoples of the world are now demanding personal medical care on a scale that few countries can afford. What the patient needs is a doctor whom he or she trusts, with the skill to assist in making strategic life decisions. No one wants to be cared for by a committee. Litigation is also a growing phenomenon in many parts of the world. Medical malpractice legislation has been used to control medicine in the United States for some time. As a means of ensuring quality, it has failed. “Defensive medicine” involves much needless investigation and it can become enormously expensive. Yet another solution is to establish a vast bureaucracy of external assessors who scrutinize records and statistics of practice activity. Their methods are biased in favor of checklists and measurable quantities. The subjective and qualitative aspects of care – valued so highly by patients – are inaccessible to such an approach. My suggestion; the quality assurance is best left to the profession itself. The quality of care must be reviewed, but not in a piecemeal fashion. It should be looked at using methods which question total patient management and the values and attitudes on which it is based. This form of peer-review should become an integral part of the professional task, with sufficient working time allotted to it. It requires skills which should form a central part of the physician’s education and training. The market knows best. About NGO Association with the UN: Second Committee: Economic and Financial – From strengthening coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance, including special economic aid to individual countries or regions, to correcting global trade imbalances and promoting information technology for development, the Second Committee works hard on these issues. By a draft on the external debt crisis and development, adopted without a vote, the General Assembly stressed that debt-relief could play a key role in liberating resources for poverty eradication, economic growth and sustainable development. A significant proportion of official development assistance (ODA) is aimed at promoting sustainable development in poorer countries, particularly through natural resource conservation, environmental protection and population programs. Many delegations have pointed out that writing off the escalating external debt burden of the world’s poorest countries must become a top priority in helping them to restore economic growth, fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic and meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Africa’s economic growth levels must double to 7% annually over the next decade in order to halve poverty by the year 2015. But continued debt servicing has made it impossible for Africa’s heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) to increase savings and investments to promote economic growth. Eight years after launching the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative, these nations are still far from reaching sustainable debt levels. International financial institutions also drew attention to the intractable debt crisis. However, inexpensive and simple measures, with proper resource allocation and strong institutional structures, are available to reduce the impact of disaster. Focusing on the developmental effects of climate change The UN protocol, a legally binding treaty in effect from 16 January 2005, will have thirty supporting industrialized countries cut their green house gas emissions to nearly 5% below 1990 levels. NGOs have responsibility to try to make good recommendations and the Second Committee has a direct impact in achieving MDGs. Collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO): WHO package of essential Health Impact Assessment (HIA) functions: many countries now find themselves in a process of accelerated development. For sustainability’s sake, their governments will need to consider the health of their population. WHO offers a comprehensive package consisting of workshops for ministry of health staff, which focuses on essential HIA management training courses, with the objective of developing skills for intersectoral negotiation skills in development planning, and policy seminars to create an enabling environment for HIA. These capacity-building activities already refer to health promotion, and the package is continuously reviewed and upgraded to include further elements and to ensure the involvement health promotion staff in its implementation. HIA capacity-building is perhaps the field where strengthening the links between HIA and health promotion can have the most immediate results and benefits. For details please visit: www.who.int/hia/en/ Collaboration with UN University (UNU): UNU-WIDER – The World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER) was established by the United Nations University (UNU) as its first research and training center and started work in Helsinki, Finland in 1985. The Institute undertakes applied research and policy analysis on structural changes affecting the developing and transitional economies, provides a forum for the advocacy of policies leading to robust, equitable, and environmentally sustainable growth, and promotes capacity strengthening and training in the field of economic and social policy maker. Work is carried out by staff researchers and visiting scholars in Helsinki and through networks of collaborating scholars and institutions around the world. An effective state is able to mobilize revenue and spend it on infrastructure, services, and public goods that both enhance human capital and the well-being of communities (especially the poor), as well as stimulating investment and employment creation by the private sector. An effective state also manages public finance to ensure that macroeconomic balance is maintained – with policy neither too restrictive to discourage private investment and growth, nor too accommodative to create high inflation and crowd out private investment. Growth, poverty reduction, and social peace are all undermined when public expenditure management and taxation are weak, and when the fiscal debt are not managed successfully. And large-scale aid and debt relief cannot work without a good fiscal system. These are the some of the important issues on the agenda of UNU-WIDER. Fiscal policy is more than just a question of good economics; it is also fundamental to the politics of development. If a measure of peace can be achieved then any political settlement must have a fiscal dimension. Point of View: Conflict of Interest in Research- why it hurts all of us: We live in a time of increasing commercialization of all aspects of public life. The influence of multinational corporations is not surprising, given that many of them represent more economic power than half the nations on earth. The effects of all this power are easy to see in western democratic societies, where industry lobbying is all pervasive. In our role as healthcare providers, whether at the coalface of patient care or in research, we have to deal with the consequences. We can’t be without them, and our patients and clients can’t either. Industry contacts are valuable and can make a huge difference, helping us reach our goals easier and more effectively. I am personally very grateful to a number of corporate sponsors for support of past and present research projects. No doubt there are many opportunities for cooperation that benefit everybody. But of course commercial companies aren’t nice to us out of humanitarian kindness. They see us in a role that can degenerate into that of a glorified PR consultant- if we let that happen. And it is happening all the time. Many current papers on drug treatment present data from industry-controlled-trials, with data collection and analysis handled by either the companies themselves or a contractor, ‘authored’ by people who have received money from the companies selling the drugs assessed in the papers. As regards who has actually written the paper- that’s often difficult to ascertain. Ghost-writing of such articles is widespread. Our patients and clients expect a very different role from us. When we prescribe medication or suggest the acquisition of a certain product, we take responsibility for purchase decisions, whether by the health service, a hospital or an individual. We are supposed to protect the patient or consumer from inappropriate or dangerous products or interventions. In order to be able to preserve our role of advocate and our professional independence, in order to make sure the public won’t see us as the culprits in the biomedical scandals of the 21st century, we need to reduce the influence of industry on our professional activities, in particular as regards research and teaching. Cooperation between clinical researchers and industry needs to be strictly regulated, in order to avoid conflicts of interest. Our duty is towards the public who expect us to be unbiased in our research and clinical practice. This can only be achieved if we refuse to be part of a sales machine. By Dr. Hans Peter Dietz Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology Western Clinical School, Nepean Campus, University of Sydney Nepean Hospital, Penrith NSW 2750 Australia Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS): Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS “Global Crisis – Global Action: series continues Recalling and reaffirming our previous commitments on HIV/AIDS made through: The United Nations Millennium Declaration of 8 September 2000;The Political Declaration and Further Actions and Initiatives to Implement the Commitments made at the World Summit for Social Development of 1 July 2000; The Political Declaration and Further Action and Initiatives to Implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 10 June 2000; Key Actions for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development of 2 July 1999; The regional call for action to fight HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific of 25 April 2001; The Abuja Declaration and Framework for Action for the Fight Against HIV/ AIDS, Tuberculosis and other Related Infectious Diseases in Africa, 27 April 2001; The Declaration of the Ibero-America Summit of Heads of State of November 2000 in Panama; The Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS, 14 February, 2001; The European Union Programme for Action: Accelerated Action on HIV/ AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis in the Context of Poverty Reduction of 14 May 2001; The Baltic Sea Declaration on HIV/AIDS Prevention of 4 May 2000; The Central Asian Declaration on HIV/AIDS of 18 May 2001 Convinced of the need to have an urgent, coordinated and sustained response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which will build on the experience and lessons learned over the past 20 years; Noting with grave concern that Africa, in particular sub-Saharan Africa, is currently the worst affected region where HIV/AIDS is considered as a state of emergency, which threatens development, social cohesion, political stability, food security and life expectancy and imposes a devastating economic burden and that the dramatic situation on the continent needs urgent and exceptional national, regional and international action; Welcoming the commitments of African Heads of State or Government, at the Abuja Special Summit in April 2001, particularly their pledge to set a target of allocating at least 15 per cent of their annual national budgets for the improvement of the health sector to help address the HIV/AIDS epidemic; and recognizing that action to reach this target, by those countries whose resources are limited, will need to be complemented by increased international assistance; Recognizing also that other regions are seriously affected and confront similar threats, particularly the Caribbean region, with the second highest rate of HIV infection after sub-Saharan Africa, the Asia-Pacific region where 7.5 million people are already living with HIV/AIDS, the Latin America region with 1.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS, and the Central and Eastern European region with very rapidly rising infection rates; and that the potential exists for a rapid escalation of the epidemic and its impact throughout the world if no specific measures are taken; To be continued… Top Two Articles Accessed in January 2007: Infertility: Evaluation and Management Supported by an educational grant from the Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC). Special thanks to Dr. Bradley J. Van Voorhis, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive health, University of Iowa (USA) for his contributions and insights to the symposium Syphilis in Pregnancy: Prevention of Congenital Syphilis Women’s Health and Education Center’s Contribution News, Invitations and Letters: WEDNESDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2007 at 10:00 AM; Update on the work of the General Assembly – A Briefing for NGOs A Briefing by the Office of the President of the General Assembly on: Thematic Debates of the General Assembly on Gender Equality and on the Dialogue of Civilizations Security Council Reform Environmental Governance Financing for Development System-wide Coherence The Capital Master Plan Conference Room 3, United Nations, New York; for more information, please contact Ms. Shamina de Gonzaga, Special Adviser on NGO relations in the Office of the President of the General Assembly Summary – Forum on General Assembly and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Relations: An interactive forum on General Assembly and non-governmental organization relations was held on 21st November 2006 at the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel, under the auspices of the Office of the President of the General Assembly and the United Nations Foundation. The aim of the forum was to stimulate greater understanding between Member States and non-governmental organization (NGOs) regarding the challenges and opportunities for further partnership. The forum brought together representatives of 50 Member States, 150 NGOs and 7 United Nations offices who shared their views, concerns and recommendations. The following key messages emerged from the forum: Partnership between the United Nations and NGOs is vital to the success of the UN in achieving its goals. NGOs bring vision and information to UN meetings and contribute to UN efforts operationally, financially, and in terms of public awareness and support. NGO participation in UN meetings and processes is complementary, not contradictory, to the UN’s intergovernmental structure whereby Member States are the sole decision-makers. The systemic implementation of best practices of NGO participation in the UN would benefit all stakeholders. First Person Diplomacy: Too Important to Be Left to Men? By Akmaral Arystanbkova. Of the delegates from 50 countries who signed the Charter of the United Nations in San Francisco on 26 June 1945, four were women: Virginia Gildersleeve (United States), Bertha Lutz (Brazil), Wu Yi-fang (China) and Minerva Bernardino (Dominican Republic). I happened to meet Ms. Bernardino, a woman of quite venerable age, at UN Headquarters in New York when she was given an award from the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute by then United States First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Ms. Bernardino had been her country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations for many years. “I used to be a fighter for women’s rights”, she said in her address. “I still am.” She had been an active participant in the movement for women’s right to vote in Latin America, and continued to fight for equal rights within the newly founded world Organization, considering that it was essential that international texts stress not only human rights but also equality between men and women. Details: http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2002/issue3/0302p62_first_person.html Special Thanks: WHEC thanks Kaylene Selleck, Editorial Assistant, at the Bulletin of the World Health Organization for her priceless work, support and friendship. Thanks for making editing look so easy. We all wish you the best. Beyond the numbers… The reply of the Spartan father who said to his son, when complaining that his sword was too short. “Add a step to it” is applicable to everything in life.Read More

A Newsletter of worldwide activity of Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) December 2007; Vol. 2, No. 12 Warmest thoughts and Best Wishes for a wonderful Holiday Season from all of us at Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) As health workers and educators we have a two-fold responsibility: firstly, to provide equitable access to safe and effective health care and services; and secondly, to provide the necessary knowledge, information and infrastructure that will enable people to take care of themselves and promote their own health and that of their families. To be effective and sustainable, our health policies and interventions, including our education programs, must be based not only on hard scientific and epidemiological evidence but also on people’s personal experience of life and health and their own priorities and constraints. To reduce sickness and death among mothers and children, to promote family planning, to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, to foster the rational use of health services or the social integration of the disabled, to improve nutrition or to control violence, we must be able to influence behaviors, cultural attitudes and lifestyles. In WomensHealthSection.com we have stressed the importance of achieving social and cultural relevance in health work. To ensure community participation, we must build health development on what people know and what they want and are therefore prepared to support in the long run. While maintaining our concern to make safe and effective good quality available to all, we must show our willingness both to learn from others and to share our knowledge and experience with them. Experience is the ultimate teacher. As cultural representations of the human body, time, life, death and disease vary, so do people’s approaches to action, prevention and treatment. Procreation, childbirth, weaning, sexuality, death, disease and suffering are not just private experiences but all have an intrinsic social dimension. The health conditions in which they take place are often determined as much by cultural practices as by biological and environmental factors. The notion of well-being is often understood today in terms of people’s perceptions of their quality of life as individuals and members of society. We must realize, however, that such perceptions are largely shaped by the values and symbolic representations which prevail in any group or culture. Much empirical knowledge, for example on medicinal plants, has been accumulated by various cultures and traditions which we must recognize and preserve as part of the common cultural and scientific heritage of mankind. We take our obligation to society seriously. Culture and Health Rita Luthra, MD Your Questions, Our Reply: What role the religion should play in public life? What is the impact of religions on the public health policies? Religion & Health: Understanding World Religions is both an art and science. Religion is one of the most powerful and pervasive forces in our world. The religious traditions represent vast and complex developments over many centuries and in countless cultural contexts. Misinformation about religious beliefs and practices, especially those of “other” people, abounds and has a way of perpetuating itself. I believe, perhaps naively but nonetheless firmly, that the world is richer for its religious pluralism, and that it would also be safer if the quest for mutual understanding of that diversity were a higher priority. Religion means being committed to a quest for answers that transcend the appearances of things, but the quality of quest has everything to do with the effort seekers are willing to invest. Meanwhile, one of the noblest and most useful tasks to which we can commit ourselves is a greater understanding of how and why people believe as they do. What people believe – and why they believe it – profoundly influences the way they act. A person with loving kindness and compassion heals others simply by existing. If we have loving kindness and compassion, our prime concern will always be not to hurt others, and this in itself is healing. A compassionate person is the most powerful healer, not only of their own disease and other problems, but of those of others. Developing our compassion also helps us to develop wisdom, especially the wisdom that realizes emptiness, the ultimate nature of the “I”, the mind, and all other phenomena. At the moment, our knowledge is very limited. Our understanding is very limited, as is our ability to help others. The transformation of mind is ultimate healing. We do not view religion in a mechanistic fashion simply because a religious prayer brings forth this desired physiologic response. Rather we believe these age-old prayers are one way to remedy an inner incompleteness and to reduce inner discord. There are many aspects of religious beliefs which have lot to do with the relaxation and peace. I do believe, however, that God, or Ultimate Reality, is far too great for any religious tradition, or all of them put together, to master or dispense; and that each individual who seeks with a sincere heart the center and goal of his or her life will be led to it. Religious beliefs and cultural assumptions are often so intimately intertwined that it is rarely, if ever, possible to disentangle them. All religions strive to control the lives of their members, and thus they play an important role in public life. In view of dangers all societies face in today’s world, religions would do well to remember their humanitarian function and support the growth of a system of ethics that will enable human beings to live together in peace. One Divine Power? Many Concepts of Divinity. About NGO Association with the UN: Chairpersons of UN Committees and their views on various issues: The Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations, Juan Manuel Gomez-Robledo, was elected Chairman of the Sixth Committee (Legal) for the sixty-first session of the General Assembly on 8 June 2006. What is the main business of the Sixth Committee? Most of the issues that the United Nations addresses have a legal expression, so the Sixth Committee is entrusted with promoting the codification and progressive development of international law. That means that the Committee receives all the inputs that are generated in other bodies, like the International Law Commission (ILC), on topics that are ripe to be converted into a convention or other legal instruments. For example, the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) came out of a first draft by the ILC. Then the Sixth Committee took it up and set up a preparatory committee for the Rome Conference in 1997 [leading to the establishment of the ICC]. The Sixth Committee may also take up sources for further development of international law from other places. This year, a new topic in the Committee was to fundamentally change the way justice is administered at the United Nations. The Administrative Tribunal that is entrusted with the task of processing claims of UN staff members against the Secretary-General, for example. This is a tribunal that needs to be reformed, and we decided to hold a resume session on this item in March. How has the Sixth Committee dealt with the issue surrounding abuse in peacekeeping missions? This issue came from the Fourth Committee, which is in charge of peacekeeping operations. In the last few years, there has been a series of complaints about sexual and other kinds of abuse by individual members of the United Nations peacekeeping operations. This prompted the Secretary-General to assign a special advisor on that topic, Ambassador Prince Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein of Jordan. He identified a problem with this situation: Because people who belong to a peacekeeping operation are protected with immunity, it might be difficult, or almost possible, to prosecute them. Another expert group concluded that we need another convention to allow for mechanisms for prosecuting these people. What is the significance of the new agenda item on “The rule of law at the national and international level”? In his annual report in 2004, the Secretary-General raised the issue of the “rule of law” and said he would use the remainder of his mandate to promote this issue in all UN activities. Mexico and Lichtenstein introduced this item because we realized there was no entity entrusted with promoting a coordinated approach for the promotion of the rule of law. That refers not only to the rule of law at the national level, but also the need to come to the assistance of the Member States when they ask themselves how to better incorporate international law in their domestic systems. An international law does not necessarily become part of a national system automatically. In some States it needs domestic legislation to be put it into practice. Many Member States do not have legal offices in their foreign ministries to perform a basic task like ratifying a treaty. These countries and also bigger ones, including mine [Mexico], might benefit from the help that various UN bodies, organs, programs, etc, can offer, but you need a coordinated approach. In my country we have a clause in our constitution that is a copy of Article Six of the United States constitution, where treaties become the supreme law of the land once they are ratified by the senate. However, that does not tell us anything about the hierarchy of international law with respect to the constitution. A local judge in Mexico may very well deny the value of a treaty if he or she believes it goes against the constitution, as happens quite often in other places, like this country [United States]. Certain Latin American countries have solved this by deciding that Human Rights treaties are above or at the same level as their own constitutions. That is already a big step forward. The rule of law does not mean “état légal.” The Nazi regime or the Franco regime was an “état légal,”, meaning they had laws passed by Parliaments. Among other things, “État de droit”-“Rule of law”-means a separation of powers, so that decisions by bodies like the Security Council are rooted in the UN Charter and international law. The Security Council has been widely criticized because it has not only expanded its scope of action, but it has done so without necessarily basing its decisions in the rule of international law in all cases. For some Member States, strengthening the rule of law means that decisions by bodies like the Security Council that are binding on all States should be much more rooted in international law. Collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO): AIDS Epidemic Update: The 2007 AIDS epidemic update is a report from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It includes contributions from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). In 2007, advances in the methodology of estimations of HIV epidemics applied to an expanded range of country data have resulted in substantial changes in estimates of numbers of persons living with HIV worldwide. However the qualitative interpretation of the severity and implications of the pandemic has altered little. The estimated number of persons living with HIV worldwide in 2007 was 33.2 million [30.6-36.1 million], a reduction of 16% compared with the estimate published in 2006 (39.5 million [34.7-47.1 million]). (UNAIDS/WHO, 2006). The single biggest reason for this reduction was the intensive exercise to assess India’s HIV epidemic, which resulted in a major revision of that country’s estimates. Important revisions of estimates elsewhere, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, also contributed. Of the total difference in the estimates published in 2006 and 2007, 70% are due to changes in six countries: Angola, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. In both Kenya and Zimbabwe, there is increasing evidence that a proportion of the declines is due to a reduction of the number of new infections which is in part due to a reduction in risky behaviors. Because estimates of new HIV infections and HIV-associated deaths are derived through mathematical models applied to HIV prevalence estimates, new estimates of HIV incidence and mortality in 2007 also differ substantially from earlier assessments. It is emphasized that these differences between estimates published in 2006 and those published in 2007 result largely from refinements in methodology, rather than trends in the pandemic itself. Details: http://data.unaids.org/pub/EPISlides/2007/2007_epiupdate_en.pdf (pdf) Bulletin of the World Health Organization; Volume 85, Number 12, December 2007, 901-980 Table of contents Collaboration with UN University (UNU): Examining the shortcomings of the ‘liberal peace’ model: A key focus of the project is to explore – and perhaps challenge – the values and assumptions upon which international actors base their peace-building approaches and activities. Although international peace-building activities have a reasonably good record in containing armed conflict, many analysts have argued that they have been much less successful in resolving the underlying sources of conflict – or even that they exacerbate these underlying conflicts. An emerging debate is exploring if the collapse or endangerment of peace processes in recent years – in cases such as Burundi, Rwanda, East Timor, and Afghanistan – might be in part explained by the values of international peace processes which follow the model of the ‘liberal peace’. The liberal peace embraces democracy; human rights; market values and the integration of societies into globalization; self determination; and the idea of the state and citizenship. Most internationally sponsored peace processes can be characterized by these values, which are assumed to be integral to modern, stable societies. This assumption also reflects a broader political wave of opinion. A number of states have placed a great deal of national foreign policy emphasis upon the promotion of democracy as a means for spreading peace within societies and internationally. In some circles, the liberal peace is regarded as a panacea. Details: http://update.unu.edu/issue46_25.htm Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS): Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS “Global Crisis – Global Action”: series continues At the global level Devote sufficient time and at least one full day of the annual General Assembly session to review and debate a report of the Secretary-General on progress achieved in realizing the commitments set out in this Declaration, with a view to identifying problems and constraints and making recommendations on action needed to make further progress; Ensure that HIV/AIDS issues are included on the agenda of all appropriate United Nations conferences and meetings; Support initiatives to convene conferences, seminars, workshops, training programs and courses to follow up issues raised in this Declaration and in this regard encourage participation in and wide dissemination of the outcomes of: the forthcoming Dakar Conference on Access to Care for HIV Infection; the Sixth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific; the XII International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa; the XIV International Conference on AIDS, Barcelona; the Xth International Conference on People Living with HIV/AIDS, Port of Spain; the II Forum and III Conference of the Latin American and the Caribbean Horizontal Technical Cooperation on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections, La Habana; the Vth International Conference on Home and Community Care for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS, Changmai, Thailand; Explore, with a view to improving equity in access to essential drugs, the feasibility of developing and implementing, in collaboration with non-governmental organizations and other concerned partners, systems for voluntary monitoring and reporting of global drug prices; We recognize and express our appreciation to those who have led the effort to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to deal with its complex challenges; We look forward to strong leadership by Governments, and concerted efforts with full and active participation of the United Nations, the entire multilateral system, civil society, the business community and private sector; And finally, we call on all countries to take the necessary steps to implement this Declaration, in strengthened partnership and cooperation with other multilateral and bilateral partners and with civil society. 25 Years of AIDS: A Timeline: http://www.un.org:80/Pubs/chronicle/2006/issue2/0206p06.htm Top Two Articles Accessed in November 2007: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccines: A Reproductive Health Perspective; WHEC Publication. Special thanks to World Health Organization (WHO) for the contributions. Placental Abnormalities & Major Obstetric Hemorrhage; WHEC Publication. Special thanks to Dr. Yinka Oyelese, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Jersey (USA) for his priceless contribution, support and friendship. News, Invitations and Letters: Peace is a common desire of people throughout the world. The establishment of the United Nations in 1945, at the end of the most devastating war in human history, was an embodiment of this universal desire. Keeping peace and developing friendly relations among nations are among the main objectives of the Organization. To commemorate and strengthen the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples of the world, the UN General Assembly in 1981 officially proclaimed an International Day of Peace, and at its fifty-fifth session decided to observe it on 21 September each year as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence. The General Assembly also invites all Member States, agencies, funds, organs and programs of the UN system, including non governmental organizations (NGOs), to honor the International Day in creative ways. Each year, it is observed at UN Headquarters with a special ceremony by the Peace Bell, cast from coins donated by people from some 60 countries, where the Secretary-General delivers a special message before ringing the bell, asking people throughout the world to observe a minute of silence and reflect on the universal goal of peace. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon message on International Peace Day: “Peace is one of humanity’s most precious needs. It is also the United Nations highest calling. It defines our mission. It drives our discourse. And it draws together all of our world-wide work, from peacekeeping and preventive diplomacy to promoting human rights and development. On this International Day, let us promise to make peace not just a priority, but a passion.” UNLEARNING CONFLICT BY STUDYING PEACE The University for Peace Comes of Age The University for Peace (UPEACE) has undoubtedly undergone many changes since its establishment. Mandated in 1980 by the General Assembly in accordance with a resolution sponsored by Costa Rica-the first nation to abolish its army-the University called for promoting global peace and tolerance. In 2000, it began offering short-term courses and expanded a few years ago its scholarship to full-length graduate degree programs. In an effort to keep the University apolitical and academic, it was given its own charter and financial independence from the United Nations. However, its staff and students are proud to claim the ethos of the United Nations as the lifeblood of the school. Details: http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2007/issue1/0107p40.htm The UN General Assembly in 1954 adopted resolution 836 (IX), recommending that all countries institute a Universal Children’s Day, to be observed on 20 November, as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children. It also recommended that the Day be devoted to the promotion of the ideals and objectives of the UN Charter and the welfare of the children of the world. The date 20 November also marks the adoption by the Assembly of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the driving force that helps uphold the Convention, has noted that six of the eight Millennium Development Goals relate directly to children and meeting the last two would also make critical improvements in their lives. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)’s annual report “Note on International Protection”- Report by the High Commissioner While the report noted some bright spots on the horizon with more than 700,000 refugees able to return home last year, broadly positive resettlement trends and an increase in the number of resettlement countries, UNHCR was concerned about the growth of a class of persons becoming “untouchables” for resettlement countries. Full text (PDF, 19 pages): http://www.unhcr.org/excom/EXCOM/46939b882.pdf (pdf) 60th Annual DPI/NGO Conference “Climate Change: How It Impacts Us All” Final Report (pdf) Special Thanks: WHEC thanks The Executive Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations Associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information for their support to our mission. It is indeed our pleasure and privilege to work with everyone. Beyond the numbers… Let the road be rough and dreary; And its end far out of sight; Foot it bravely! strong or weary; Trust in God and do the right. Simple rule and safest guiding; Inward peace and inward might; Star upon one path abiding; Trust in God and do the right.Read More

A Newsletter of worldwide activity of Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) January 2007; Vol. 2, No. 1 All of us join in wishing you a successful New Year! It has been quite a ride. Emerging and Surging. Firing on all cylinders, WomensHealthSection.com powered ahead in 2006, at its fastest pace, for over 5 years. The good news is that people love “personal” media. We expect to create more dynamic web-pages in 2007. Is there a place for “user-generated content”? The irony is also philosophical in nature. Power is increasingly in the hands of the users. Think about the blogging phenomenon. Today, digital information about nearly every aspect of our lives is being created at an astonishing rate. The Internet is helping to satisfy our most fundamental human needs — our desire for knowledge, communication, and a sense of belonging. Trend is not destiny, of course. But as a no-nonsense sports writer once wrote during the depth of America’s Depression, “The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong — but that is the way to bet”. We are betting on the Internet-Classrooms because we believe that there is bull market in imagination online. Sophisticated browsers and technologies are simple building-blocks that enable people to produce and distribute content — are critical in this new world. Simplicity is triumphing over complexity. Partnerships with civil society are increasingly important for the United Nations in its efforts to protect vulnerable groups such as the poor. These “vital voices” are very often those of women, who perform invaluable advocacy and service work in numerous human rights fields — combating human trafficking and gender violence or fighting for equal rights, especially in education, health and sports. Collaboration is central to our process. The world must advance the causes of security, health, development and human rights together, otherwise none will succeed. A Time for Renewal Your Questions, Our Reply: How do you see WHEC’s role in the ongoing development of health ethics? Ethics & Health: Nearly all philosophical systems include an ethical component. Ethics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the distinction between right and wrong, and the moral consequences of our actions. Looking at the development of medical ethics from a historical point of view, we see that our Western civilization is based on Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian traditions. Our so-called Western culture is unified by these common roots, which for medical ethics are the Hippocratic writings. Other cultures have different roots — the Chinese and Hindu traditions, for example. The limited contacts between civilizations in the past had little effect on each one’s traditions, culture, and ethical principles. Recent intercultural debates about ethical issues immediately bring to light these differences. In some cultures there is emphasis on the family and the wider circle beyond individual. A great step forward has been the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was developed by the United Nations after the Second World War. Although it is certainly feasible to develop a universal code of ethics, there are substantial differences in values that are dear to each of us, and we do not like others to interfere. In the field of ethics, as with any controversial issue in society or between different cultural settings, dialogue must come first to share ideas and concerns about the issues inherent in the interactions of health and ethics, and to collaborate in devising and applying means of resolving them. The interests of individuals do not necessarily coincide with those of the community — very often the interests of the community are contrary to those of the individual. Such conflict exists and needs to be considered from all points of view to see if it is possible to work out a compromise. In my opinion Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) is doing this very well because there are continually new developments in global thinking in this field. WHEC is well placed to convince politicians and to stimulate the political will for translating this commitment into action. Cultural differences are central in international work — we should always keep in mind that people are different and we must endeavor to understand them. The importance of intercultural debate among like-minded people cannot be emphasized enough. Dialogue, and yet more dialogue, is the way forward. About NGO Association with the UN: First Committee: Disarmament and International Security — As the world stands in the midst of dangers brought on by the nuclear proliferation of ballistic missiles capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, arising environmental concerns and thriving illicit small-arms businesses plaguing all corners of the world, the First Committee convened its session during 61st General Assembly to seek out resolutions to the challenges in international security regime. The agenda that the First Committee is dealing with is a very rich one. It is also an agenda that has not moved according to the means of our times. During the session, reform of the Committee emerged as one of the most visible initiatives. The draft resolution, “improving the effectiveness of the methods of work of the First Committee”, was adopted without a vote. In addressing the Committee’s working methods, texts that are similar in substance were merged. This initiative was especially relevant in light of the fact that there have been originally two draft resolutions on improving working methods: one submitted by the United States, and the other by Malaysia on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement. After weeks of negotiations, the two co-sponsors managed to unite their divergent draft texts. It was one of the best compromises made between the Non-Aligned Movement Countries and the United States. There was no rivalry, just a consensual merger. In Africa, one of the greatest difficulties in controlling illicit proliferation of small arms is the fact of their easy accessibility to non-States individuals. The First Committee estimates that there are 650 million small arms in the world. About 500,000 people die each year from their use. It is not easy to find a way out; yet the only possibility is that NGOs should try to be more open to proposals, so that window of opportunity can be identified, especially the countries in the middle that are Non-Nuclear-Weapon States or Chemical-Weapon possessors. NGOs can influence countries that need to make specific steps towards disarmaments and advance the agenda by taking initiatives. Summary of 59th Annual DPI/NGO Conference, Unfinished Business: Effective Partnership for Human Security and Sustainable Development can be accessed at: http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2006/webArticles/110206_DPINGO.htm Collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO): In October 2002, the World Health Organization launched its Ethics and Health Initiative to provide a focal point for the examination of the ethical issues raised by activities throughout the organization, including the regional and country offices, and to develop activities regarding a wide range of global bioethics topics, from organ and tissue transplantation to developments in genomics, and from research with human beings to fair access to health services. Our Activities: work in ethics and health is now carried out by the Department of Ethics, Trade, Human Rights and Health Law in the Sustainable Development and Healthy Environments cluster at headquarters (SDE/ETH). This department is involved in a wide range of ethics activities, both on its own initiative and in response to the needs of other parts of WHO, in Geneva as well as WHO’s country and regional offices. The specific projects, many of which link different departments and involve experts from outside the organization, evolve in response to changes in the field; special attention is paid to issues that overlap work carried out elsewhere in the department on law, human rights, and the effects of globalization. For details please visit: http://www.who.int/eth/ETX_WP_Jan05.pdf (Requires Adobe Reader) Collaboration with UN University (UNU): Ethics in Action — The Ethical Challenges of International Human Rights Nongovernmental Organizations; publication of UN University and Cambridge University Press introduces reflections on dialogues between practitioners and theorists of Human Rights. This book is the product of a multi-layer dialogue between leading human rights theorists and high-level representatives of international human rights nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) sponsored by the United Nations University, Tokyo and the City University of Hong Kong. It is divided into three parts that reflect the major ethical challenges discussed at a series of workshops: the ethical challenges associated with interaction between relatively rich and powerful Northern-based human rights INGOs; and the tension between expanding the organization’s mandate to address more fundamental social and economic problems and focusing on more immediate and clearly identifiable violations of civil and political rights. Each section contains contributions by both theorists and practitioners of human rights. Chapters on — Dilemmas Facing NGOs in Coalition-Occupied Iraq; addresses the challenge of dealing with States that restricts the activities of INGOs. The United Nations University is an organ of the United Nations established by the General Assembly in 1972 to be an international community of scholars engaged in research, advanced training, and the dissemination of knowledge related to the pressing global problems of human survival, development, and welfare. Its activities focus mainly on the areas of peace and governance, environment and sustainable development, and science and technology in relation to human welfare. The University operates through a worldwide network of research and postgraduate training centers, with its planning and coordinating headquarter in Tokyo. Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS): Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS; “Global Crisis — Global Action” series: We, Heads of State and Government and Representatives of States and Governments, assembled at the United Nations, from 25 to 27 June 2001, for the twenty-sixth special session of the General Assembly convened in accordance with resolution 55/13, as a matter of urgency, to review and address the problem of HIV/AIDS in all its aspects as well as to secure a global commitment to enhancing coordination and intensification of national, regional and international efforts to combat it in a comprehensive manner Deeply concerned that the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, through its devastating scale and impact, constitutes a global emergency and one of the most formidable challenges to human life and dignity, as well as to the effective enjoyment of human rights, which undermines social and economic development throughout the world and affects all levels of society — national, community, family and individual Noting with profound concern, that by the end of the year 2000, 36.1 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS, 90 per cent in developing countries and 75 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa Noting with grave concern that all people, rich and poor, without distinction of age, gender or race are affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, further noting that people in developing countries are the most affected and that women, young adults and children, in particular girls, are the most vulnerable Concerned also that the continuing spread of HIV/AIDS will constitute a serious obstacle to the realization of the global development goals we adopted at the Millennium Summit To be continued… Top Two Articles Accessed in December 2006: Endometriosis Author: Dr. Robert L. Barbieri; Professor and Chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Brigham and Woman’s Hospital, Boston, MA (USA) Ethical Issues in Reproductive Health: That Delicate Balance Supported by Educational Grant from Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC). Special thanks to UN — Population and Development Program for its assistance in preparation of the symposium. News, Invitations and Letters: The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM): It is the women’s fund at the United Nations. It provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programs and strategies that promote women’s human rights, political participation and economic security. UNIFEM works in partnership with UN Organizations, governments, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and networks to promote gender equality. It links women’s issues and concerns to national, regional and global agendas by fostering collaboration and providing technical expertise on gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment strategies. The UNIFEM Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women is the only UN global grant-making mechanism that supports innovative efforts to end violence against women worldwide. Since it was established in 1996, the Trust Fund has awarded over 7.8 million to programs around the globe in 73 countries. Women’s rights have been repeatedly defined in international agreements such as the Beijing Platform for Action, and while much progress has been made, a continued emphasis needs to be made on keeping these promises. One of the most important references is the legally binding Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), a milestone series of commitments to protecting and advancing women’s rights in all spheres of life that is widely known as the women’s international bill of human rights. By the second half of 2005, 180 governments had become party to the Convention. The Millennium Declaration, product of the 2000 Millennium Summit, calls upon governments to implement CEDAW. UNIFEM’s work on women’s human rights makes consistent connections to rights across its programs, including by ensuring that attention goes first to the most marginalized groups. Protecting women’s rights starts with appropriate legislation that must then be upheld in practice. On 29 January 2007, the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) will organize the second annual observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, with a ceremony from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm in the General Assembly Hall at the United Nations Headquarters. Madame Simone Veil, President of the Foundation Pour la Mémoire da la Shoah and a survivor of the Holocaust, will deliver the keynote address. In keeping with the theme of “Remembrance and Beyond”, the observance will focus on the importance of infusing today’s youth with the lessons of the Holocaust, so that future generations may carry the torch of remembrance, and remind the world of the dangers posted by hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice. A university student will speak on the importance of learning about the education in promoting tolerance and ending discrimination. This observance is being organized by DPI’s Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Program, created in the context of General Assembly Resolution 60/7 in order to help to prevent future acts of genocide. From Seeds to System: The United Nations Charter: It is noteworthy that the United States Senate voted 89 to 2 for ratification, and hopes that the Organization could ensure a peaceful and harmonious future were very high. During this great conference in 1945, the evidence of war was unmistakable. The streets continued to swarm with military personnel, even though the war in Europe ended halfway through the Conference, San Francisco Bay throbbed with the energy of naval vessels preparing to join the campaign against Japan — that war outlasted the Conference. The setting is important in understanding what the United Nations was intended to be. Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the United States, and Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom were the main proponents of a new start in organizing the world to do better than it had done between the end of the First World War and the outbreak of the Second World War. They wanted to avert a future like that of the past with its sequence of aggressions, the rise of Fascism and Nazism, the plunge into a war that was the greatest man-made disaster in human history, and the collapse of the League of Nations. They were idealists — and they were also realists. They agreed that at the center of the new structure there had to be a great power nexus. At the heart of their plan were the great power policemen working together to maintain a post-war system of security and peace under law. For them, international peace and security was the dominant purpose. They needed the Soviet Union in the great-power core. They also recognized that economic circumstances and human rights were important to their goal, but these were auxiliary not primary objectives. Details: http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2005/issue3/0305p18.html Special Thanks: WHEC acknowledges the indispensable work of Dr. Benton Baker III, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Texas and Director of Graduate Medical Education, in the launch of e-learning publication: WomensHealthSection.com. His invaluable support and friendship to the project is the corner stone of our success. Thanks again for everything. Beyond the numbers… There are three short and simple words, the hardest to all to pronounce in any language, but the man or nation that is unable to utter them cannot claim to have arrived at manhood. These words are — I was wrong.Read More

A Newsletter of worldwide activity of Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) November 2007; Vol. 2, No. 11 Hope WomensHealthSection.com touches us in some profound way. It takes you on – for a lifetime. Hungry for an intelligent place in the Internet to go to find good, reliable and thought-provoking information on women’s health, health care and health economics – food for soul? We at Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) hope to continue to work in unity with purpose and meet the high expectations of millions of people around the world, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable. Only then we have done our duty. Only then we will be able to pass on world safely and securely to the next generation. There are many hurdles to overcome to create a successful, let alone top-notch, publication. You must find writers / editors who share your vision and have the talent to implement, create the syllabus that will stimulate and intrigue the readers, and maintain the office staff capable of executing that perspective. Never mind less obvious business concern like controlling costs, paying taxes and satisfying never-ending rules & regulations. For WomensHealthSection.com we already have a clear vision as well as a clear road map to achieve this. There is no real compartmentalization, because our readers use the whole website – its dimensions are impressive, almost magical. We respect the rights of patients, colleagues and the communities. We plan development together. Womenshealthsection.com is one of the five projects in my career that I have cared most about. Since the launch of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) process (International Monetary Fund 1999 and World Bank 2000), many countries have taken on the challenge of centering their development agenda around poverty reduction and have engaged in consultative and analytical work to support policy development. To date, almost 50 countries have developed and published Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (IPRSPs), and more than 30 countries have produced full PRSPs. One of the main features of the PRSP process is an emphasis on country leadership and ownership. This means that there is no set template or framework for countries to follow. Moreover, there is no guarantee that health would even be addressed in each PRSP as the decision on which sectors to include is entirely up to the authors (typically the government). The absence of imposed structure or format by the International Financial Institutions increases the likelihood of country ownership and that the strategies identified address the real needs of each country and may lead to more individualized and creative approaches. The key question is: “What is the basic relationship between poverty and Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) and how do they influence each other”? Since there are no set guidelines or rules to write PRSPs there is clearly an advantage in learning from past attempts at writing them. Need for training on what some of the options are for writing the health component of the “Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers” is vital. A Special Partnership Rita Luthra, MD Extreme poverty and human rights: The rights of the poor – Result of the Civil Society On-line Consultation on the OHCHR Draft Guiding Principles In 2008 UN Member States will have to make a decision on how to proceed with the Draft Guiding Principles. As it stands now, the text is already considered as “soft law” (non-legally binding) in international law, and it can be quoted and referred to. In order to seek civil society’s comments on the Principles, the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS), in collaboration with NGO partners, conducted an online consultation from 20 August through 20 September 2007. This report is a compilation of the comments received from over 60 respondents from around the world, all responding to a set of four questions. In the spirit of the Draft Guiding Principles, this report aims to give a voice directly to the respondents themselves, rather than speaking on their behalf: direct quotes from respondent submissions that were representative of a large number of responses were selected and are presented in this report. A list of all respondents is provided in the annex. Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) had participated in the Consultation; WomensHealthSection.com is listed in Annex I. Details: http://www.un-ngls.org/docs/ohchr/consultation.pdf (pdf) Your Questions, Our Reply: How does climate change affect public health? How the emerging information on health threats should be used to promote health, equality and sustainable development? Protecting Climate, Improving Health: Human-induced climate change is an emerging threat that rightly commands widespread policy and public attention. Along with other rapid changes associated with global population and economic growth, climate change strains existing weak points in health protection systems and call for reconsideration of public health priorities. The health impacts of climate change are potentially huge. They range from increased risks of extreme weather, such as fatal heat waves, floods and storms, to less dramatic but potentially more serious effects on infectious disease dynamics, shifts to long-term drought conditions in may regions, melting of glaciers that supply fresh water to large population centers, and sea level increase leading to salination of sources of agriculture and drinking water. Many of the most important global killers are highly sensitive to climatic conditions – malaria, diarrhea and protein-energy malnutrition together cause more than 3 million deaths each year. These risks are inequitable, in that the greenhouse gases that cause climate change originate mainly from developed countries, but the health risks are concentrated in the poorest nations, which have contributed least to the problem. Many of the projected impacts on health are avoidable, through a combination of public health interventions in the short term, support for adaptation measures in health-related sectors such as agriculture and water management, and a long-term strategy to reduce human impacts on climate. A global problem requires a strategy of international dimensions that can translate into regional and local actions. The development of comprehensive strategy will take time, but some essential principles are already clear. A true preventive strategy needs to ensure the maintenance and development of healthy environments from local to global levels. Climate change therefore demands that we intensify our efforts in preventive public health and place that crucial task at the core of sustainable development. About NGO Association with the UN: Chairpersons of UN Committees and their views on various issues: The Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations, Youcef Yousfi, was elected Chairman of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) for the sixty-first session of the General Assembly on 7 July 2006. How are the 2005 World Summit and ongoing efforts to reform the UN reflected in the Fifth Committee? In many ways: Management reform, procurement reform and the financial implications of reform in all of the committees-the creation of new bodies, for example. Let’s say that all of the reforms are reflected in the Fifth Committee. I think we have made a lot of progress in 2006 with the establishment of the Human Rights Council, the Peace-building Commission and the Ethics Bureau established by the Secretariat. We are progressing with the management of human resources. This issue is quite difficult but we are working on it. We are also examining the reform of the Secretariat itself: its management, oversight, and governance. This is a lot of work for the Fifth Committee. Speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, South Africa’s delegate said the commitment in the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document to address the special needs of Africa, the only continent not on track to meet any of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, was not reflected in budget estimates. What is the future of funding for programs such as the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)? I share the view of the delegates who have said that the funding for programs in Africa is not sufficient. Africa is the continent that has the most serious development problems in all sectors: education, health, development, etc. At the same time, it is one of the richest continents in natural resources. This continent has many conflicts because of poverty, underdevelopment and its difficult past. I think the international community should devote more attention and resources to Africa. Concerning NEPAD, my country [Algeria] was one of the leaders in the establishment of this programme, and we are also one of the countries following up on its implementation. I think that the world would be in better shape if Africa were given the opportunity to develop. I think it is within the possibilities of the United Nations to do more than it is doing now for Africa. One of the possibilities is to reinforce the Economic Commission for Africa, but this is just one of many possibilities. The world should really give more to Africa and help it get on the track of development. The world would win because stability in Africa would contribute to global stability. How has the newly created Ethics Office affected business at the UN and in the Fifth Committee? We had a satisfactory first report and we hope that this Office will play its role, be very efficient and also credible. It is difficult for us to judge at this time. Collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO): Ten-Year Strategy; The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health: Each year more than half a million women die in pregnancy or childbirth, and more than 10 million children die before their fifth birthday – nearly 40% of these in the first month of life. But evidence shows that we could save at least seven million of these lives each year with proven, cost-effective interventions that are readily available to the world’s wealthy – and out of reach for the vast majority of the world’s poor. At the same time, there is growing international consensus that investments in saving the lives of women and children have the potential to bring substantial, long-term development returns, not only to the lives of those who are vulnerable, but also to global and national economies. The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) is a new global health partnership launched in September 2005 to accelerate action towards achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5. The Partnership is an advocate, a catalyst for innovation, and an ambassador for the health of women, newborn, and children. The Partnership joins the maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) communities into an alliance of currently more than 125 members representing governments, donors, United Nation agencies and other multilateral agencies, nongovernmental organizations, private institutions, professional associations, and academic and research institutions – all committed to ensuring that women, infants and children not only remain healthy, but thrive. Details: http://www.who.int/pmnch/events/2007/10yearsstrategy.pdf (pdf) Bulletin of the World Health Organization; Volume 85, Number 11, November 2007, 821- 900 Table of contents Collaboration with UN University (UNU): Abstract of the Africa Series: Despite the efforts made in recent years in support of Africa’s development, the situation on most of the continent remains challenging. Today the consensus is indeed that it will be difficult to achieve in Africa, in time and in full, the objectives of the MDGs. The reasons for this are multifold, spanning from weak African state institutions, reluctance of the international community to keep its promises, and knowledge gaps in critical areas of development. In this regard, the underdeveloped state of statistical data in a number of strategic areas of African development is a case in point. It is against this background that the United Nations University and Cornell University have decided to join forces to map out, via a series of conferences (The UNU-Cornell African Series), the state of scientific and policy knowledge in three critical areas: Food and Nutrition system (November 2007), From Governance and Development Crises to Security Crises (Tentatively April 2008), HIV/AIDS and Public Health (Tentatively June 2008). A final event, to take place in July 2008, will outline the lessons learned from the preceding events and make policy recommendations. The Africa Series will bring together leading academic international experts on Africa, with many being from Africa, UN and NGOs practitioners. It is expected that four volumes will be published based on these events. An online forum will be created to engage more actors to participate in the discussion on the key areas of the Series. It is also envisioned to maximize outreach of the Series by web-casting the events and utilize video conferencing to interact with universities and experts in Africa. Details: UNU-Cornell Africa Series. Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS): Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS “Global Crisis – Global Action”: series continues By 2002, launch a worldwide fund-raising campaign aimed at the general public as well as the private sector, conducted by UNAIDS with the support and collaboration of interested partners at all levels, to contribute to the global HIV/ AIDS and health fund; Direct increased funding to national, regional and subregional commissions and organizations to enable them to assist Governments at the national, subregional and regional level in their efforts to respond to the crisis; Provide the UNAIDS co-sponsoring agencies and the UNAIDS secretariat with the resources needed to work with countries in support of the goals of this Declaration; Follow-up Maintaining the momentum and monitoring progress are essential At the national level Conduct national periodic reviews involving the participation of civil society, particularly people living with HIV/AIDS, vulnerable groups and caregivers, of progress achieved in realizing these commitments and identify problems and obstacles to achieving progress and ensure wide dissemination of the results of these reviews; Develop appropriate monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assist with follow-up in measuring and assessing progress, develop appropriate monitoring and evaluation instruments, with adequate epidemiological data; By 2003, establish or strengthen effective monitoring systems, where appropriate, for the promotion and protection of human rights of people living with HIV/AIDS; At the regional level Include HIV/AIDS and related public health concerns as appropriate on the agenda of regional meetings at the ministerial and Head of State and Government level; Support data collection and processing to facilitate periodic reviews by regional commissions and/or regional organizations of progress in implementing regional strategies and addressing regional priorities and ensure wide dissemination of the results of these reviews; Encourage the exchange between countries of information and experiences in implementing the measures and commitments contained in this Declaration, and in particular facilitate intensified South-South and triangular cooperation; To be continued… Top Two Articles Accessed in October 2007: Breast Cancer: Early Detection; WHEC Publications. Special thanks to the World Health Organization for the contributions. Psychosocial Impact of Breast Cancer; WHEC Publications. Dedicated to our patients, it is indeed our privilege to help women worldwide. Special thanks to everyone who supported our efforts. News, Invitations and Letters: Global campaign tackling greatest environmental challenge: climate change United Nations Environment Program (UNEP): Environment for development Community-based action on climate change involving an estimated 35 million people across the planet in 2007 will culminate in the Clean Up the World Weekend on 14-16 September. More than 650 non-government organizations, community groups, local councils and other agencies in 115 countries are currently working on projects in 2007 to improve the health of the environment. The focus of many community activities around the world has been on limiting the impacts of climate change though activities such as waste reduction and recycling, water and energy conservation, and re-vegetation. On Clean Up the World Weekend, organizations will engage volunteers to take part in activities designed to clean up, fix up and conserve their local environment. The Australian founder and chairman of Clean Up the World, Ian Kiernan AO* said communities in many countries are demonstrating that simple actions can make a real and lasting difference. “Millions of people simply conserving water, and recycling waste adds up to a huge environmental benefit for the planet. Our aim is to encourage individuals to take responsibility for the environment through a range of affordable actions. What is inspiring is the variety of activities that participating organizations have initiated in their countries in response to this challenge.” Among those undertaking activities as part of the weekend, Our Earth Foundation in Poland and the Tonga Solid Waste Management Project in the Pacific are conducting nationwide clean ups and Programa TV Na Praia in Brazil is coordinating a day of activities to launch their anti-litter campaign. The Clean Up the World campaign is in its 15th year and has the support of the United Nation’s Environment Program (UNEP). The 2007 theme ‘Our Climate, Our Actions, Our Future’ channels community action towards addressing the causes of climate change. ABOUT CLEAN UP THE WORLD The Clean Up campaign started in 1989 when an Australian solo-yachtsman and builder Ian Kiernan, appalled by the amount of rubbish he came across while sailing, organized a clean up of the Sydney Harbor, during which some 40,000 volunteers removed rusted car bodies, plastics, glass bottles and cigarette butts from the water. The campaign went global in 1993, with Sydney becoming Clean Up the World’s headquarters. Today it brings together hundreds of members from around the world ranging from local community groups to national campaigns that carry out environmental projects throughout the year. ABOUT UNEP The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is the “Voice of the Environment” in the United Nations system. It is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and is represented across the globe by regional and liaison offices. UNEP’s mission is to provide leadership und encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and people to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. UNEP, established in 1972, has been headed by Achim Steiner since 2006. In encouraging people to care for the environment and advocating sustainable development, UNEP cooperates with a variety of partners, including other UN institutions, international organizations, governments, the private sector and civil society. For more information, visit www.unep.org Special Thanks: WHEC thanks Tony Hill, Coordinator (Retired), Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) at Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland for his support to our Organization and our project/program. You will always be a part of our team. Thanks for the friendship. Beyond the numbers… If we nurture the health, skills and hopes of young people, their potential to improve our world is unbounded. If they are healthy, they can take the best advantage of every opportunity to learn. If they are educated, they can live fulfilled lives and contribute to building the future for everyone.Read More

A Newsletter of worldwide activity of Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) November 2006; Vol. 1, No. 2 The purpose of the e-learning publication WomensHealthSection.com is to provide an overview of current clinical management guidelines in Women’s Health, focusing on the components integral to providing optimum care. The articles are designed for all members of the interdisciplinary team: physicians, physicians-assistants, nurse practitioners, midwives, nurses, social workers, therapists and other members seeking to enhance their knowledge of women’s health and appropriate care and management. WomensHealthSection.com is a vision for the Globalized World. The use of information science and telecommunications to support the practice of medicine when distance separates the caregiver from the patient is the way forward to make medical care more affordable and more accessible in every country. With the increasing integration of the world economy, issues of research and development in health sector has assumed a global dimension. Although we always think big, our approach is to start small, do it really well, and then gradually expand. Most of our work relies on a network of partners. We have been really fortunate because of the dedication, competence and sheer hard work of our partners, and a measure of our success lies in the way they have made this project their own. Great Expectations! Your Questions, Our Reply: What moves you? “What Works?” MDGs # 4 & 5: In September 2000, representatives from 189 countries gathered at the Millennium Summit to set specific targets for human development and poverty reduction to be achieved by 2015. This global commitment has been summarized in eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which provide a framework for measuring development progress. Two of the eight goals focus on child and maternal mortality, underscoring the importance of these issues to global development: Goal 4 aims to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate of children under five from 1990 levels Goal 5 aims to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three-quarter from 1990 levels When it comes to women’s health and healthcare, no technique bears more fruit than divining a theme and developing variations. In a world obsessed with — what is new and what is next — education is still at the core, after decades, for the better health and the living conditions. There is nothing more classic than a bright idea. Consider this one: a federation of National OB/GYN Societies of all 191 Member States of the United Nations. Thinking globally advocating nationally a global movement can be established for better understanding of reproductive health and cultures. This will be helpful to support national efforts for accelerating universal coverage of essential interventions for maternal, newborn and child health in high-mortality countries. This movement is essential to raise the priority and mobilize the necessary financial investment for maternal, newborn and child health, globally and at the national levels. To help secure coordination, and to strengthen the long-term commitment of different participants and NGOs, the new global Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health seeks to track progress, highlight inequality, and promote greater accountability. Education that empowers women to make decisions about their lives and health is the key to reduce maternal mortality. The tragedy is that these women die not from disease, but during the normal, life-enhancing process of procreation; every woman who dies, many more suffer from serious conditions that can affect them for the rest of their lives. Maternal mortality is an indicator of disparity and inequality between men and women. There is now global momentum to address these issues and we have a unique opportunity to build on this. Leadership is an art, and there are no hard-and-fast rules. About NGO Association with the UN: Literacy as freedom: with over 860 million adults worldwide who cannot read or write — one in five adults — and more than 113 million children out of school, the United Nations has launched the Literacy Decade (2003-2012) under the theme “Literacy as Freedom”. Literacy efforts have so far failed to reach the poorest and most marginalized groups, according to the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and priority attention will be given to the most disadvantaged groups, especially women and girls, ethnic and linguistic minorities, indigenous populations, migrant refugees, disabled persons, and out-of-school children and youth. UNESCO will coordinate the international efforts to extend literacy under the Decade. The implementation of the Decade’s plan of action comprises five two-year periods structured around gender, poverty, health, peace and freedom. Secretary–General Kofi Annan stated that “literacy is the key to unlocking the cage of human misery, the key to delivering the potential of every human being, the key to opening up a future of freedom and hope. We know from study after study that there is no tool for development more effective than the education of girls and women.” Collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO): To help countries make healthcare programs a reality in the late 1990s, several international agencies and donors became concerned that technical guidelines and programs in the field of reproductive health were not being implemented in some countries. In 1999, WHO, USAID and other organizations launched what has become known as the Implementing Best Practices (IBP) initiative to help countries translate evidence-based policies, programs and guidelines into reality. IBP partners work on collaborative assignments and with country teams in Benin, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia to harmonize approaches, reduce duplication of effort and develop strategies. The partnership has also helped to develop an electronic communication system known as the IBP Knowledge Gateway. This web-based system allows communities of practice — groups of people who share what they know — to exchange knowledge and experiences in implementing reproductive health programs. The system was launched in late 2003 and has over 3800 members from 58 countries and 146 communities of practice. The IBP secretariat is based at WHO, Department of Reproductive Health and Research. By June 2006, 23 international organizations had joined the partnership. For details please visit: www.ibpinitiative.org Collaboration with UN University (UNU): Under the auspices of the United Nations University (UNU) the Global Virtual University (GVU) is a consortium of universities that work together to enhance learning for environmental sustainability. Through a range of online study programs and courses, the mission of GVU is to increase people’s sensitivity to and involvement in finding solutions for environment and development issues. The consortium acknowledges the importance of education for development and is particularly designed to meet the educational needs of the developing countries. Online learning (e-learning) forms the basic educational method for all our study programs and courses. This implies that a substantial part of teaching, collaboration, and supervision take place on the Internet. The pedagogy has a social constructivist approach, which means that group work, online discussions and joint assignments are important. It further implies that an active and regular participation among the students is essential. Students meet their classmates in virtual classrooms, in some cases supported by a face to face session in the beginning of the course. Top Two-Articles Accessed in October 2006: Sonographic Screening for Down Syndrome Author: Dr. Fergal D. Malone, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, NY (USA); Professor and Chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Rotunda Hospital, Dublin (Ireland). Contraception Counseling & Compliance WHEC Publication. Special thanks to Department of Reproductive Health and Research of World Health Organization for its contributions. News, Invitations and Letters: Background on the 21 November, 2006 forum on General Assembly and Non-Governmental Organization Relations: The Office of the President of the 61st Session of the General Assembly and the United Nations Foundation are convening this forum to provide an opportunity for an informal dialogue between Member States and non-governmental organizations on the future of the relationship between non-governmental organizations and the General Assembly. In recent years, the General Assembly has invited the input of the private sector and civil society, including non-governmental organizations, to its major deliberations. In June of 2005, the General Assembly held its first informal interactive hearings with the private sector and civil society, including non-governmental-organizations, as an input to the 2005 World Summit. In the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, World leaders welcomed the positive contributions of local authorities, the private sector and civil society, including non-governmental organizations, to the work of the United Nations and encouraged the continued dialogue between these actors and Member States. Women Presidents of the General Assembly: When Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain was appointed President of the 61st session of the UN General Assembly; she became only the third woman to occupy the prestigious post. The other two — Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit of India, who presided over the eighth session in 1953, and Angie Elisabeth Brooks of Liberia, over the twenty-fourth session in 1969 — each had to chair during uncertain times for the United Nations. Jyoti Dar, Director of International Affairs and NGO Representative at UN for Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC), is grand-daughter of Mrs. Pandit. You will find the article very informative: http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2006/issue3/0306p06.htm Special Thanks: WHEC thanks Dr. Robert L. Barbieri, Professor and Chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA (USA) for his support, kindness and friendship. It is an honor to work with him on this project, and his work in reproductive health is priceless. Thanks again for sharing it with us. My appreciation and deeply felt regards for the skills of Victoria A. White, CEO, eclecTechs whose suggestions and feedback contributed so much to the ultimate outcome of this e-learning publication. It is a privilege to work with her entire team. Beyond the numbers… Neither a wish nor a hope nor a prayer will grow food or build a shelter or maintain a business or invent a computer / internet or discover a cure for a disease or devise a proper political system or preserve / protect human rights / relationships. All of the values on which our life, well-being and happiness depend require — A Process of Thought and Effort.Read More

A Newsletter of worldwide activity of Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) September 2007; Vol. 2, No. 9 Global inter-connectedness and rapidly advancing technology have spawned a whole new set of challenges and opportunities, without closing the book on the old. It is not a bad thing to be strong in some ways and fragile and vulnerable in others. There are times you hold the future in your hands. And times you trust the future to others. At some point, you realize the legacy you leave goes far beyond the financial. For you, true wealth is about helping people. It is about achieving life. In every country (and in many sub-national structures such as states and provinces), health economics plays, or should play, an important role in critical policy and operational decisions. Poverty is not new, but there are creative new strategies for addressing it. Can we work together now? I think we can. WomensHealthSection.com is a global, Web-enabled platform for multiple forms of collaborations. We invite you to tap into this platform, and finally, the governance to get the best out of this platform. With each issue of WHEC Update, we like to think we are taking our readers on a journey. Clear boundaries lead to empowerment. Empowerment is not magic. It consists of a few simple steps and a lot of persistence. One other thing: In this space we have continued to update you on our e-learning project WomensHealthSection.com. The connection between education and health has never been clearer. We bring you every month — Briefings — of various programs / projects of the UN System, exclusive interviews, online polls and more fresh surprises. The UN role in ensuring peace and security and in shaping globalization to the advantage of all people in the world has been growing. Now more than ever before, dealing with inequality and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and wider development objectives are central to global economic stability and prosperity. Decisions help us start — discipline helps us finish. The journey is the reward. You might want to fasten your seat belts. Combating maternal mortality / morbidity is a collective effort. Obstetrical fistula is a problem that can be prevented, treated and controlled. For those who are grappling with the disability, effective treatment is essential. It requires political leadership and sufficient resources — particularly for more and better birthing centers, close to their homes and close to their birthing cultures. It requires the engagement of family members and community leaders as well as health care and social workers. It requires the media and policy makers to play their part. It means reaching out to marginalized groups and ensuring they receive the care they need with healthy and happy pregnancy and childbirth. That means providing reasons to hope. Obstetrical fistula brings anguish and torment to individuals and their loved ones. It eats away at the fabric of the human being, of the family, of society. It is a subject all of us must take personally. Let us ensure there is no place for obstetrical fistula in modern obstetrics. We welcome the thoughts and suggestions on eradication of obstetrical fistulae. WomensHealthSection.com enables individuals, groups, companies, and universities anywhere in the world to collaborate — for the purposes of innovation, education, research and to advance the causes of peace, health and development. We welcome everyone. Campaigning to End Fistula Rita Luthra, MD Your Questions, Our Reply: What are the good practices in terms of shaping a foreign policy that can work to improve global health? How can foreign policy address new infectious diseases in an age of globalization and bio-terrorism? Foreign Policy and Global Health Diplomacy: the rise of health as a foreign policy concern has become a hallmark of a globalized world. Critical to global health diplomacy is the relationship between health and foreign policy. The trade and health relationship unfolds on the cutting edge of global health diplomacy and offers lessons for the health and foreign policy nexus. We need broad memberships between rich and poor countries to improve health. And rich countries need to help developing countries to make a dedicated effort with their health budget allocation. Health also belongs in the Security Council and more prominently at the World Bank. It is important to have trade agreements that do not complicate access to drugs at affordable prices, patent regulations and other trade regulations, so that poor countries have access. The cutting edge of global health diplomacy raises certain cautions regarding health’s role in trade and foreign policies. Competition among countries’ national interests sometimes impedes policy coherence, which makes attainment of health difficult. To craft health policy today, governments, international institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) must find mechanisms to manage health risks that spill into and out of every country. These endeavors create the new world of global health diplomacy. Health is a bridge builder and a key component of the development policy. The nexus of security, insecurity and health must take center stage in foreign policy thinking. To achieve global governance, we believe, a new global health forum is needed to address health. We believe capacity building is vital to health system development and is also needed to stabilize countries in order to provide security for people so they do not feel the need to migrate. About NGO Association with the UN: Chairpersons of UN Committees and their views on various issues: Hamid al Bayati, the Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations, was elected chairman of the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) of the sixty-first General Assembly on 8 June. His reply to some of questions on the agenda of Third Committee: Human rights issues have become central to the Third Committee. One of the newest additions to the UN human rights framework is the Human Rights Council. How do you think the delegates perceive the early work of the Human Rights Council? I think people were excited to have the Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva, for the first time. It gives the Third Committee a special importance this year. There was some debate among member states about whether the report of the Council should be referred to the Plenary or to the Third Committee. According to the rules of procedure, a subject should be referred to the committee that deals with that subject, and so we finally agreed to convey to the General Assembly – and the General Assembly approved this – that the report should be referred to both the Third Committee and the Plenary. The Plenary discusses the annual report, while the Third Committee deals with all of the Human Rights Council’s recommendations. Is it difficult for you when issues regarding your home country of Iraq are discussed at the Third Committee? There was only one occasion when I felt I couldn’t chair the Committee because of criticism that was being made of my country. While Iraq is open to criticism, I didn’t feel it was fair for me to listen to criticism without replying. So in that instance I instead let my delegation reply from Iraq’s seat. Other than that occasion, I didn’t have any difficulties listening to people talk about the situation in Iraq. In regards to human rights, in fact, Iraq – whose record is not perfect in this area – is making strides. We now have a ministry for human rights in Iraq for the first time in modern history. What was the hardest thing about chairing this Committee? What was the most rewarding? The most rewarding feeling is to be serving Member States, and to be doing even a little bit to protect human rights. When you feel that you are providing assistance to the most vulnerable people – especially women and children – this is very rewarding. The most difficult thing is to come to a compromise. Member States are always ready to vote, but for a Chair a vote means you have failed to convince delegates to meet in the middle. I always tried to be neutral, I always tried to be transparent in my actions, and I always tried to put myself in the shoes of both sides. The best ways is to meet in the middle, but it is a difficult thing to always suggest the right kind of compromise. Collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO): Obstetric fistula: surviving with dignity — An obstetric fistula is a devastating yet often neglected injury that occurs as a result of prolonged or obstructed labor (usually resulting in a stillbirth as well). Trauma to the vaginal wall results in an opening between the vagina and the bladder, the vagina and the rectum, or both; this leaves the woman leaking urine and/or feces continuously from the vagina. Without surgical repair, the physical consequences of fistula are severe, and include vaginal incontinence, a fetid odor, frequent pelvic and/or urinary infections, pain, infertility and often early mortality. The social consequences of fistula are immense: women with fistula are ostracized and frequently abandoned by their husbands, families and communities; they often become destitute and must struggle to survive. To make matters worse, many women are so embarrassed by this condition that they suffer in silence, rather than seek medical help, even if such help were available. This devastating condition affects more than two million women worldwide. There are an estimated 50 000 to 100 000 additional cases each year, a figure some believe to be an underestimate. Most are young women or adolescents. Early marriage, early or repeated childbearing, along with poverty and lack of access to quality health care in pregnancy and at birth, are the main determinants. Fistulae occur in areas where access to care at childbirth is limited, or of poor quality, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of southern Asia. In the areas where fistulae are most often seen, few hospitals offer the necessary corrective surgery, which is not profitable and for which surgeons and nurses are often poorly trained. In 2003, the United Nations Population Fund along with WHO and other partners launched a Global Campaign for the Elimination of Fistula. Good-quality first-level and back-up care at childbirth prevents fistula. Once the condition has occurred it is treatable. The plight of women living with fistula is a powerful reminder that programmatic concerns should go beyond simply preventing maternal deaths. Decision-makers and professionals should be aware that the problem is not infrequent, that the girls and women who suffer from it need support to get access to treatment, that enough trained doctors and nurses need to be available to provide surgical repair, and that further support is necessary for women who return home after treatment. Collective action can eliminate fistula and ensure that girls and women who suffer this devastating condition are treated so that they can live in dignity. Details: http://www.who.int/whr/2005/chap4-en.pdf Bulletin of the World Health Organization; Volume 85, Number 9, September 2007, 649-732 Table of contents Collaboration with UN University (UNU): The United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations University Office at the United Nations in New York (UNU-ONY), are jointly organizing a side event within the framework of the Eighth Meeting of the United Nations Open-Ended Informal Consultative Process on the Oceans and the Law of the Sea (UNICPOLOS). Marine Genetic Resources: In 1999, the General Assembly decided to establish the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (the Consultative Process) in order to facilitate the annual review by the General Assembly, in an effective and constructive manner, of developments in ocean affairs and the law of the sea by considering the report of the Secretary-General on oceans and the law of the sea and by suggesting particular issues to be considered by it, with an emphasis on identifying areas where coordination and cooperation at the intergovernmental and inter-agency levels should be enhanced (resolution 54/33). The Eighth meeting of the Consultative Process will organize its discussions around the topic of “Marine genetic resources,” as recommended by the General Assembly in resolution 61/222. Oceans are experiencing rapid and, in many cases, dramatic changes as a result of human activity. Because the world’s oceans remain a source of livelihood for hundreds of millions of people, their sustainable and equitable use must continue to be promoted. The growing commercial interest in deep seabed research and the use of the unique genetic resources that this research has discovered raises key policy, ethical and moral questions. Therefore, the meeting will focus on five important issues related to marine genetic resources, with the aim to bring some additional information and experts’ insights to the Eighth Meeting of the Consultative Process. Scientific aspects of marine genetic resources: status of scientific research and changes in scientists’ perspectives; Commercial uses of marine genetic resources; Potential values of marine genetic resources; Development of a database on marine bio-prospecting; Next steps needed to be taken. Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS): Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS “Global Crisis — Global Action”: series continues Support and encourage the development of national and international research infrastructure, laboratory capacity, improved surveillance systems, data collection, processing and dissemination, and training of basic and clinical researchers, social scientists, health-care providers and technicians, with a focus on the countries most affected by HIV/AIDS, particularly developing countries and those countries experiencing or at risk of rapid expansion of the epidemic; Develop and evaluate suitable approaches for monitoring treatment efficacy, toxicity, side effects, drug interactions, and drug resistance, develop methodologies to monitor the impact of treatment on HIV transmission and risk behaviors; Strengthen international and regional cooperation in particular North/South, South/South and triangular cooperation, related to transfer of relevant technologies, suitable to the environment in prevention and care of HIV/AIDS, the exchange of experiences and best practices, researchers and research findings and strengthen the role of UNAIDS in this process. In this context, encourage that the end results of these cooperative research findings and technologies be owned by all parties to the research, reflecting their relevant contribution and dependent upon their providing legal protection to such findings; and affirm that all such research should be free from bias; By 2003, ensure that all research protocols for the investigation of HIV-related treatment including anti-retroviral therapies and vaccines based on international guidelines and best practices are evaluated by independent committees of ethics, in which persons living with HIV/AIDS and caregivers for anti-retroviral therapy participate; HIV/AIDS in conflict and disaster affected regions Conflicts and disasters contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS By 2003, develop and begin to implement national strategies that incorporate HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, care and treatment elements into programs or actions that respond to emergency situations, recognizing that populations destabilized by armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters, including refugees, internally displaced persons and in particular, women and children, are at increased risk of exposure to HIV infection; and, where appropriate, factor HIV/AIDS components into international assistance programs; Call on all United Nations agencies, regional and international organizations, as well as non-governmental organizations involved with the provision and delivery of international assistance to countries and regions affected by conflicts, humanitarian crises or natural disasters, to incorporate as a matter of urgency HIV/AIDS prevention, care and awareness elements into their plans and programs and provide HIV/AIDS awareness and training to their personnel; By 2003, have in place national strategies to address the spread of HIV among national uniformed services, where this is required, including armed forces and civil defense force and consider ways of using personnel from these services who are educated and trained in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention to assist with HIV/ AIDS awareness and prevention activities including participation in emergency, humanitarian, disaster relief and rehabilitation assistance; By 2003, ensure the inclusion of HIV/AIDS awareness and training, including a gender component, into guidelines designed for use by defense personnel and other personnel involved in international peacekeeping operations while also continuing with ongoing education and prevention efforts, including pre-deployment orientation, for these personnel; Resources The HIV/AIDS challenge cannot be met without new, additional and sustained resources Ensure that the resources provided for the global response to address HIV/AIDS are substantial, sustained and geared towards achieving results; By 2005, through a series of incremental steps, reach an overall target of annual expenditure on the epidemic of between US$ 7 billion and US$ 10 billion in low and middle-income countries and those countries experiencing or at risk of experiencing rapid expansion for prevention, care, treatment, support and mitigation of the impact of HIV/AIDS, and take measures to ensure that needed resources are made available, particularly from donor countries and also from national budgets, bearing in mind that resources of the most affected countries are seriously limited; To be continued… Top Two Articles Accessed in August 2007: The Obstetrical Fistulae in the Developing World; WHEC Publication. Special thanks to WHO, ICM and FIGO for its program/project — Making Pregnancy Safer, and the United Nations Population Fund for their efforts and contributions. It is our privilege to work with this humanitarian project/program. Pelvic Organ Prolapse: An Overview; Authors: Dr.Alka Shaunik and Dr. Lily A. Arya, Division of Uro-gynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (USA). News, Invitations and Letters: THE SECRETARY-GENERAL MESSAGE ON THE INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SUPPORT OF VICTIMS OF TORTURE: This is also the first year that the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance — another milestone in the struggle to eliminate torture — has been open for signature. I hope that all UN Member States will sign and ratify this convention as early as possible. Joining this new instrument will prove an unequivocal expression of the international community’s determination to address not only torture but also its most egregious enabling conditions. As we join hands against torture, and adhere unequivocally to the notion that torture is unacceptable, we must never forget its victims. The United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture supports organizations assisting victims of torture and their families. Let me use this occasion to thank all donors to the Fund, and to encourage even more giving to this worthy cause. On this International Day in Support of Victims of Torture let us speak with one voice against the perpetrators of torture, and for all who suffer at their hands. And let us build a better, more humane world for all people everywhere. Informal Interactive Hearing with Civil Society, including Non-Governmental Organizations and the Private Sector of the High-level Dialogue of the General Assembly on Inter-religious and Intercultural Understanding and Cooperation for Peace: The General Assembly, in its resolution 61/221 of 20 December 2006, (OP. 14) decided “to convene in 2007 a high-level dialogue on inter-religious and intercultural cooperation for the promotion of tolerance, understanding and universal respect on matters of freedom of religion or belief and cultural diversity, in coordination with other similar initiatives in this area”. In its resolution 61/269 of 25 May 2007, the General Assembly further decided that the High-level Dialogue would be held on Thursday and Friday, 4 and 5 October 2007 at the ministerial or highest possible level, and that it shall consist of three plenary meetings: one in the morning of Thursday, 4 October and two on Friday, 5 October. The General Assembly also decided to hold in the afternoon of 4 October 2007 an informal interactive hearing with representatives of civil society, including representatives of non-governmental organizations and the private sector, to be chaired by the President of the General Assembly. The Office of the President of the General Assembly has formed a ‘Task Force’ to help ensure the effective participation of civil society, including non-governmental organizations and the private sector, in the interactive hearing. The function of the Task Force is to assist the President of the General Assembly in the organization of the hearing by recommending formats and by drawing up a list of participants. A complete list of Task Force Members, Advisers and Ex-Officio can be accessed on the website of the President of the General Assembly: http://www.un.org/ga/president/61/ The United Nations and Darfur: More than 200,000 people are estimated to have been killed and at least 2 million displaced from their homes in Darfur since fighting broke out in 2003 between Government of Sudan forces, allied Janjaweed militia and other armed rebel groups. Atrocities such as the murder of civilians and the rape of women and girls have been widespread and continue, underscoring the necessity for urgent action. The UN raised the alarm on the crisis in Darfur in 2003 and finding a lasting resolution has been a top priority for the Security Council and two consecutive Secretaries-General. In addition to pursuing a political solution, the UN and its partners are currently operating the largest aid effort in the world in Darfur and in refugee camps in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR). In parallel, UN human rights experts have reported on abuses, and monitored efforts by local courts to bring perpetrators to justice. Under the auspices of the African Union (AU) and with support of the UN and other partners, the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) was signed on 5 May 2006. Intensive diplomatic and political efforts to bring the non-signatories into the peace process continue. The UN has also provided logistical and technical assistance to AU monitors dispatched to Darfur since 2004, and has developed, adapted and is now implementing plans for a multidimensional peacekeeping operation. In accordance with the decision of the 16 November 2006 High-Level consultations in Addis Ababa — attended by the former Secretary-General, five Permanent Members of the Security Council, representatives of the Government of Sudan, the AU and other States and organizations with political influence in the region, and some African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) troop contributing countries — the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) designed a three-phased approach to augment AMIS and create an unprecedented hybrid AU-UN peacekeeping force. Intensive private and public diplomacy by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and several actors in the international community resulted in Sudan’s acceptance of this force in June 2007. Humanitarian efforts — UN humanitarian agencies are leading the largest current relief effort in the world to assist the approximately 4.2 million people in need of aid due to the Darfur crisis. Of these, 2.1 million are internally displaced in Sudan, while approximately 236,000 are refugees in eastern Chad. More than US $650 million in aid to Darfur is planned for 2007. More than 12,000 humanitarian workers are deployed in the region to bring assistance to those affected by the crisis. They include staff from 13 UN agencies, the Red Cross/Red Crescent societies and more than 80 non-governmental organizations (NGO). Over the last four years, this massive humanitarian effort has saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Mortality rates have been brought below emergency levels; global malnutrition has been halved from the height of the crisis in mid-2004; and nearly three-quarters of all Darfurians now have access to safe drinking water. However, civilians continue to be forcibly displaced as a result of attacks from all sides, with more than 140,000 displaced in Darfur in the first five months of 2007 alone. With populations growing, many IDP camps can no longer absorb new arrivals, and tensions are rising. The humanitarian operation and its staff have been increasingly targeted by violence. As of June 2007, 69 aid workers had been temporarily abducted, 37 convoys had been attacked or looted, and 61 humanitarian vehicles had been hijacked. Some leading NGOs have withdrawn citing violence against aid workers. The UN estimates that more than half a million people across Darfur are currently cut off from humanitarian assistance. This is an improvement in access since February 2007, when 900,000 were inaccessible, and is attributed to increased efforts by humanitarian workers to reach conflict-affected populations through innovative and often expensive means — not to any improvement in the security. The UN has continued to press the authorities in Khartoum for improved humanitarian access and security for aid workers, resulting in the signing in April 2007 of a joint communiqué between the Government of Sudan and the UN to effectively ensure and facilitate humanitarian activities in Darfur. Donors have funded 62% of the Darfur aid operation (as of 15 June 2007, US $396 million had been pledged or committed out of the US $652 million required), mostly for food aid. Other sectors are seriously under funded and require commitments. In the face of continuing insecurity, the UN and its humanitarian partners are effectively holding the line for the survival and protection of millions. International Criminal Court – Following a recommendation by the Commission of Inquiry, in March 2005, the Security Council, in resolution 1593, referred the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and ordered Sudan to cooperate with the Court’s investigations. On 2 May 2007, the ICC issued arrest warrants for crimes against humanity and war crimes against former Minister of State for the Interior of the Government of Sudan and current Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs, Ahmad Harun, and Janajweed commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman. Security Council resolutions – Relevant Security Council resolutions include SCR 1590 (2005) establishing UNMIS; SCR 1556 (2004) and 1591 (2005) imposing sanctions over Darfur; SCR 1706 (2006) giving UNMIS a mandate in Darfur and authorizing its troop strength; and SCR 1755 (2007) extending the mandate of UNMIS until October 2007. Special Thanks: WHEC thanks Mr. Juan-Carlos Brandt, Chief, NGO Section, Department of Public Information, United Nations for his friendship and support to our efforts to improve maternal and child health worldwide. Thanks for the friendship. It is indeed our privilege to work with you and the entire department. Beyond the numbers… Happy the man, whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound, Content to breathe his native air In his own ground.Read More

A Newsletter of worldwide activity of Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) December 2006; Vol. 1, No. 3 It is the time of year when our thoughts turn to gratitude, and one of the things I am most thankful for is wonderful and talented writers / editors / contributors / reviewers of WomensHealthSection.com. The physicians whose work you see in these pages are excellent, and they are experts in their field. Give people the information to act; then look for magic to happen. The fastest-growing parts of the Internet all involve direct human interaction. Empowerment is not “giving power to people”. It is releasing the power — the Knowledge, Experience and Motivation — they already have. The Internet is much more than a technology — it is a completely different way of organizing our lives. Internet-Classrooms are the way forward in improving maternal and child health worldwide. Don’t bet against Internet-Classrooms — it is simply the best. Today we live in the clouds. We’re moving into the era of “cloud” computing, with information and applications hosted in the diffuse atmosphere of cyberspace rather than on specific processors and silicon racks. The network will truly be the computer. Internet has brought unprecedented freedoms to millions of people worldwide — to create and communicate, to organize and influence, to speak and be heard. Happiness never resides in what an individual has, but always in what an individual does. Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties but of little things, in which smiles and kindness and small obligations, given habitually, is what win and preserve the heart and secure comfort. Because the goodwill of those we serve is the foundation of our success; it is a real pleasure at this holiday time to say — Thank You; as we wish you a full year of happiness and prosperity. Happy Holidays Your Questions, Our Reply: Who needs public goods? Who can buy global public goods / virtual space, and who has the authority to sell it? Global Public Sphere: The history of the words “public” and “private” is a key to understanding this basic shift in terms of Western culture. The first recorded uses of the word “public” in English identify the “public” with the common good in society. “Private” has the connotations of being personal and intimate. Public goods, common good, collective goods and global public goods are heavily contested concepts. Natural environment (common good), social policy (collective goods), knowledge (global public goods), national defense systems and systems of property rights (public goods) are typical examples. The public sector can be seen as the dialectical opposite to the private sector. However, defining the public sector as “not for profit” misses the point; rather it should be understood as “not for private profit” or “for the common good”. It is not possible to neglect one or the other anymore. A creative work is said to be in the public domain if there are no laws that restrict its use by the public at large. Such works as the inventions of Sir Isaac Newton, the Bible, the Torah, the Gita and the Qur’an also form part of the public domain, because they were created before copyright and patent laws. In contemporary jargon, public domain refers to space within the openly accessible virtual world, e.g. a private website. The fifth dimension is media, and the information and communication technology (ICT) acts as its infrastructure. Virtual space (Internet) has rapidly become an equally important place for public appearance, political debate / argumentation and scientific forums / discussions, as in any other media. In my opinion, all goods are private and only ownership can give a mandate to decision-making; but if we agree that there are common goods to be shared equally among people, not just a finite amount of private goods, there has to be an open forum where decisions can be made about sharing the commons. May be Internet can be seen as a single public space with virtual portals and websites, and form a purely public space to a fuzzy mix of public and private domains. Stay tuned… About NGO Association with the UN: Human trafficking is one of today’s most egregious human rights violations. Traffickers prey on the most vulnerable members of society: people burdened by poverty, disabilities and discrimination. Trafficking in persons refers to the illegal trade or “sale” of human beings for sexual exploitation or forced labor through abduction, the use or threat of force, deception and fraud. It knows no gender, race, age or even boundaries. According to the Trafficking in Persons Report of the United States State Department, 600,000 to 800,000 are traded annually across international borders; most of the victims are women and girls. In 2000 the international community created the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, which supplements the Convention. For the first time in a legal document, the Protocol specifically defines and criminalizes trafficking in persons. It also urges States to assist and protect victims of trafficking, for example by stopping their deportation and allowing their repatriation, strengthening border controls and improving the integrity and security of identification documents. As an international NGO that promotes women’s rights worldwide, Vital Voices Global Partnership pursues three strategies in its anti-trafficking advocacy work: Raising public awareness; Promoting effective partnerships between Governments and NGOs; Training and building NGO capacity to counter human trafficking. Collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO): Over a span of two years and as a result of extensive consultation, the Task Force on Child Health and Maternal Health (MDGs 4 & 5) analyzed what it will take to meet the goals of reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. In its final report, published earlier this year, the Task Force issued a set of nine recommendations for realizing improvements in child mortality and maternal health. These findings will generate momentum for reframing maternal, newborn, and child health, moving from a focus on health systems, equity, and human rights. The report calls on health policymakers to broad systemic issues that affect the delivery of maternal, newborn, and child health services, such as health-sector financing, human-resource systems, and poverty-reduction strategies. This report title: Who got the power: Transforming Health Systems for Women and Children, can be accessed at: www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/maternalchild-complete.pdf (Requires Adobe Reader) Collaboration with UN University (UNU): In 1973, the founders of UN University (UNU) gave it a challenging mission: develop original, forward-looking solutions to the world’s most pressing problems and help build capacity, in particular in developing countries. Mission of UNU contributes, through research and capacity building, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems that are the concern of the United Nations, its peoples and Member States. UNU’s mission remains as relevant as in 1973. Major shifts, however have made the University’s mission more complex, and more important. Globalization, rapid technological advances and economic shifts favoring knowledge-based economies offer great opportunities. They also present challenges — even threats — to many countries. In the early 1970s, the Government of Japan pledged US $ 100 million to launch UNU’s Endowment Fund. Since then, over 50 other governments have contributed to UNU. To world decision makers, UNU offers fresh, alternative views on today’s problems, a proactive analysis of emerging problems and sound policy alternatives to address them. UNU forms and cooperates with networks between universities and research institutes around the globe. UNU welcomes comment and new ideas, and invites you to join in achieving the goals of the United Nations. UNU’s work is both theoretical and practical. It promotes innovative thinking, generates useful knowledge and facilitates down-to-earth action. Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS): On 1 December World AIDS Day 2006 commemorated worldwide with a wide range of events taking place. In 1988, the General Assembly expressed deep concern at the pandemic proportions of AIDS. Noting that the World Health Organization had declared 1 December 1988 World AIDS Day, the Assembly stressed the importance of observing that occasion (Resolution 43/15). Since then, World AIDS Day has aimed to increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education. Out of an estimated 39.5 million people living with HIV worldwide at the end 2006, 4.3 million were newly infected last year alone, according to AIDS Epidemic Update: December 2006, released by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in advance of World AIDS Day. The focus of World AIDS Day 2006 is accountability and the slogan is “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise,” based on the commitments made through the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. “Accountability—the theme of this World AIDS Day—requires every President and Prime Minister, every parliamentarian and politician, to decide and declare that ‘AIDS stops with me.’ It requires them to strengthen protection for all vulnerable groups—whether people living with HIV, young people, sex workers, injecting drug users, or men who have sex with men. It requires them to work hand in hand with civil society groups, who are so crucial to the struggle. It requires them to work for real, positive change that will give more power and confidence to women and girls, and transform relations between women and men at all levels of society,” UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in his message on World AIDS Day 2006. “The theme of this World AIDS Day is accountability. If we are to reach the targets that countries have set for themselves then, now more than ever, we need to make the money work. Collectively and with civil society we need to strengthen national ownership, improve processes of coordination and harmonization, continue to reform the multilateral response, and define clear means of accountability and oversight for these changes,” UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot said in his message commemorating the Day. Spearheading activities and events around World AIDS Day is the World Aid Campaign (WAC), based in Amsterdam and which took over the Campaign from UNAIDS. WAC operates under a governance system led by civil society to shift policy, mobilize resources, and call for action on the ground. Also to commemorate World AIDS Day 2006, the International Labor Organization (ILO) has launched its report HIV/AIDS and Work: Global Estimates, Impact on Children and Youth, and Response 2006, which presents updated estimates of the impact of the HIV epidemic on the world of work, the labor force and the working-age population in 60 countries in all regions. A new UNAIDS Best Practice Collection report Global Reach: How Trade Unions are Responding to AIDS will also be available. The report brings to public attention the “innovative programs and successful initiatives” of the labor movement in responding to HIV/AIDS. The report is a joint publication by the ILO, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (now the International Trade Union Confederation), Global Union AIDS Program and UNAIDS. Top Two-Articles Accessed in November 2006: Epidural & Spinal Anesthesia: Understanding the Facts Women’s Health and Education Center’s Contribution. HIV in Pregnancy: A Comprehensive Review Author: Dr. Howard L. Minkoff, Chairman, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, NY; Distinguished Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, SUNY-Health Science Center, Brooklyn, New York, NY (USA) News, Invitations and Letters: The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) makes investments in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). These investments are designed to help the LDCs reduce poverty and achieve the objectives of the Brussels Program of Action for the LDCs and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). UNCDF’s investment capital is flexible, high-risk, and innovative, and its development approach seeks the long-term development of human, institutional, and financial capacity in the poorest countries. UNCDF currently invests in 28 of the 50 LDCs, and plans to expand its investments to 45 LDCs by the end of 2007. UNCDF’s Local Development Programs (LDPs) build the capacity of local governments and make investments in local communities to improve their access to social services and economic infrastructure. Its Microfinance investments provide enhanced access for households and enterprises to financial services and direct support for start-up and emerging microfinance institutions. UNCDF was founded in 1966 as an independent instrument of the United Nations with a special mission: ” … to assist developing countries in the development of their economies by supplementing existing sources of capital assistance by means of loans and grants …” (GA resolution 2186 (XXI) on the establishment of UNCDF, 13 December 1966). UNCDF is a member of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) group, and reports to UNDP’s Executive Board. As such, UNCDF works in close partnership with UNDP in areas ranging from joint programming to administrative and logistical support. The UNDP Resident Representative represents UNCDF at the country level. The Fund derives its resources from voluntary contributions made by member states, and from co-financing by governments, international organizations and the private sector. UNCDF is committed to results-based management, combining quality programming with financially sound management. The Fund produces concrete results through programs that pilot innovative approaches to local development and microfinance for replication on a larger scale. International migration and development: patterns, problems, and policy directions; seminar held at UN Headquarter, New York in November 2006. In recent years, substantial numbers of people have migrated — or sought to migrate — from regions that are afflicted by poverty and insecurity to more prosperous and stable parts of the world. By the year 2000, the United Nations estimated that about 140 million persons — resided in a country where they were not born. Such population flows, involving increasingly tortuous and dangerous long-distance journeys, have been both prompted and facilitated by a variety of factors associated with the process of globalization: a growing disparity in the level of human security to be found in different parts of the world; improved transportation, communications and information technology systems; the expansion of transnational social networks; and the emergence of a commercial (and sometimes criminal) industry, devoted to the smuggling of people across international borders. The World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) launched two major research projects on migration. This research identifies and quantifies the movement of skilled people across the global economy, as well as the determinants of these flows, and costs and benefits to the sending countries in the developing world. Ban Ki-moon appointed next Secretary-General by General Assembly: With words of welcome and support the United Nations General Assembly appointed Ban Ki-moon, foreign minister of the Republic of Korea, to its highest post. Regional representatives spoke in turn, welcoming the newly selected Secretary-General. All expressed praise for Mr. Ban’s previous accomplishments and hope for his future tenure at the UN’s helm. Details: http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2006/webArticles/101306_ban The United Nations University Office at the UN in New York (UNU-ONY), in collaboration with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), is holding a seminar on The Role of the Secretary-General on the Eve of Change. The seminar is part of the annual UNU/UNITAR governance series and will take place on 18 and 19 December 2006 in Conference Room 8 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The seminar’s intent is to illustrate to delegates the various roles and functions of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to review these functions in light of the evolving nature of the UN system, and to consider how this role has evolved over time and may develop in the future. The speakers will be drawn from the UN secretariat, Permanent Missions, and civil society. Special Thanks: WHEC thanks Dr. Charles J. Lockwood, Professor and Chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yale School of Medicine, for accepting the goals and mission of e-learning publication: WomensHealthSection.com. Best Wishes from all of us. Thanks for the friendship. My incredible good fortune to coordinate this project with a friend, Paul Hoeffel, Director, UN Information Center; my greatest-debt to him for his unwavering faith when I needed the most. Beyond the numbers… So many Gods, so many creeds So many paths that wind and wind; While just the art of being kind Is all the sad world needs.Read More