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WGNRR Speaks Up! keeps members and partners informed about WGNRR's activities, conferences, resources, funding opportunities, solidarity, etc. It also gives members space to make announcements, request information or share points of view. Your contributions are welcome! Send them to office@wgnrr.org

WGNRR Speaks Up!

January 2016
Monthly e-update for partners and members of WGNRR
IN THIS ISSUE
SRHR Campaigns:
SRHR as HR:

 
Events Resources and Opportunities!



 

What's New at WGNRR?
Greetings from WGNRR! During January we were busy and excited preparing for the PINSAN International event in Manila, Philippines, where together with other local members of the PINSAN network we hosted a ground-breaking forum to discuss the harsh realities of unsafe abortions that result in the deaths of over a thousand Filipino women each year.  We were also present at the 3rd International Conference on Women's Health and Unsafe Abortion (IWAC) in Bangkok, Thailand where we gave an oral presentation on the September 28 Campaign, underscoring the importance of alliances and collaboration for effective global campaigning for the right to access safe and legal abortion. Finally, we were busy strategizing and planning for upcoming 2016 events and projects! Let us know what your plans are for 2016 by reaching out to communications@wgnrr.org!

Are you participating in the 7th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights in Accra, Ghana? Get in touch with us by emailing africa_officer@wgnrr.org.
 
We hope you enjoy the newsletter and wish you a wonderful 2016!

In solidarity,
The WGNRR Team

SRHR Campaigns

Information about WGNRR's campaigns, allies' campaigns & calls for solidarity

Join ICW in their call for Acts of Solidarity and Acts of Kindness with women living with HIV
Between February 1 to the 14th the International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW) launches its call to engage the world in acts of kindness and solidarity with women living with HIV during the 4th annual LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN: Romance Starts at Home campaign!

Follow the LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN and International Community of Women Living with HIV Facebook pages to keep up to date.
Calls for Action and Solidarity
Image credit: Conexhion

Take action! Honduras – Killing of LGBTQI rights defender Paola Barraza


Paola Barraza, a trans LGBTQI activist and WHRD was recently murdered on January 25, in a context of ongoing violence and harrasment towards LGBTQI activists in Honduras. She was a member of the board of directors of Asociación LGTB Arcoíris (LGTB Rainbow Association), an organization which works for equality and equity for the LGTBQI community in Honduras. Read more here.

Mobilize and urge the government of Honduras to take immediate action to protect the human rights of all LGBTQI activists and WHRDs in the country.
Take action!
The Women's Major Group Calls for a Feminist UN Secretary General
 
Join the Call for a Feminist UN Secretary-General in 2016! The Women's Major Group is launching the call below and would like to invite widespread participation. 
 
Please access the Google Form to add your organization's name to the call. The call will be forwarded to Member States with signatures received by February 12th, 2016. The form will remain open for additional signatures until February 26th, which will be included in an online version of the letter.
 
Google Form. http://goo.gl/forms/CLp9NamnB4
 

WGNRR at Global and Regional SRHR Events

WGNRR actively participates in regional and global events related to WGNRR’s focus areas (youth SRHR, sexual rights, access to safe abortion, and access to contraception) as one of its strategies for advocacy and networking.
WGNRR at IWAC!
 
WGNRR participated in the 3rd International Congress on Women's Health in Bangkok,Thailand held on 26-29 January 2016. The Theme of the congress was "Working Together Towards Global Safe Abortion" in which Asia Programme Officer, Marevic Parcon gave a presentation on the September 28 Campaign, highlighting the importance of alliances and collaboration for effective global campaign for the right to access safe and legal abortion.
 
WGNRR as part of PINSAN Public Forum
 
On Wednesday, January 20th, the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights together with other members of the Philippines Safe Abortion Advocacy Network (PINSAN), hosted a ground-breaking forum to discuss the harsh realities of unsafe abortions that result in the deaths of over a thousand Filipino women each year.

The Forum, entitled “Why do we need to talk about unsafe abortions in the Philippines?” was organized by the Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy Network. Established in 2014, PINSAN is a Philippine-based network of sexual and reproductive health and rights activists, committed to working towards achieving the full realization of women and girls’ human rights. Read More
WGNRR at Upcoming events!
 

WGNRR attending the 7th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights in Accra, Ghana


WGNRR's Africa Programme Officer, Nondo Ebuela will be attending this Conference which will take place from the 8th to the 12th of February at Acra, Ghana. The conference is part of a long-term process of building and fostering regional dialogue on sexual health and rights that leads to concrete actions and enhance stakeholders’ ability to influence policy and programming in favour of a sexually- healthy continent. Please send an email to africa_officer@wgnrr.org to meet with WGNRR's Africa Officer at the event!

Following the 2030 Agenda

WGNRR's work to push  for SRHR in the Post-2015 agenda, as well as helpful information on the New Development Agenda process for SRHR organizations

Report of the Secretary-General on Critical milestones towards coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review at the global level


The Division for Sustainable Development has shared the Secretary-General's report on the critical milestones towards coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review of the 2030 sustainable development agenda at the global level which is now available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf 

The report will be issued shortly as a document of the General Assembly in the six official languages of the UN and posted the official website. 

SRHR as HR

WGNRR's work to seek recognition of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) as human rights (HR). Resolutions, statements, agreements, decision and actions that acknowledge SRHR as HR.

United Nations Committee Affirms Abortion as a Human Right


The United Nations Human Rights Committee, based in Geneva concluded that Peru had violated several articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and it ordered financial compensation to K.L., a 17 year old Peruvian girl whose fetus was diagnosed with anencephaly and was recommended by doctors to have an abortion because continuing the pregnancy would put her life and health at risk. Fifteen years after the incident, reparations were finally made for Peru's "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment." This marks the first time a United Nations Committee has held a country accountable for failing to ensure access to safe, legal abortion. Read More
 
 (REUTERS/SIPHIWE SIBEKO)

Victory: Zimbabwe Court Bans Child Marriage


In a landmark ruling on January 20, Zimbabwe banned child marriage, raising the minimum age at which both men and women can marry to 18. More than 700 million women and girls were married before 18 around the world, and 125 million of them are in Africa, reports UNICEF. While child marriage on the continent has declined by 10 percent in the past 25 years, a UNICEF report released in November revealed that if population growth persists at its current rate, “half of the world’s child brides in 2050 will be African.” Read More

African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Launches the Campaign for the decriminalization of abortion in Africa


The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) through the mechanism of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, launched a continental Campaign for the Decriminalization of Abortion in Africa. The ACHPR has done this in order to bring attention to unsafe abortion which poses a serious threat to women’s and girl’s rights to sexual and reproductive health.

Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs)

Highlights of issues that SRHR activists, advocates and defenders face as a result of their work.
 
Have you downloaded the "Gendering Documentation: A Manual For and About Women Human Rights Defenders" yet?  It was dedicated to the memory of WHRD Sunila Aneysekera.

Events, Resources and Opportunities

Opportunities
  • Call for Applications: UNFPA Young Innovators Fellowship Programme
  • Call for Applications: International Women’s Human Rights Education Institute Intensive
  • Apply: The “CEDAW for Change” Institute:June 20-25, 2016, Costa Rica.
  • Job Opportunity: Program Officer, International Policy International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC)
     

Events

  • 60th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 14 to 24 March 2016. 
  • First Youth CSW Forum to be held before the 60th annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW60). Register HERE before Feb 13! 
  • 13th AWID International Forum: Feminist Futures: Building Collective Power for Rights and Justice 
Connect with WGNRR in Your Region
If you would like to know more about what’s happening in your region, please coordinate with WGNRR staff in your region:
Africa - Nondo (nondo@wgnrr.org)
Asia Pacific - Marevic (marevic@wgnrr.org)
Latin America and the Caribbean - Vanessa (vanessa@wgnrr.org)
North America - Lara (lara@wgnrr.org)
 
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