National South-South Support Structure Workshop
11 June 2009, Harare, Zimbabwe

Statement by
Mr. Harry S. Jooseery
Executive Director, PPD

H. E. Dr. Henry Madzorera - Member, PPD Board and Honorable Minister, Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, Government of Zimbabwe

Dr. Gerald Gwinji - Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, Government of Zimbabwe
Mr. Basile O. Tambashe - Country Representative, UNFPA

Dr. Dhlakama, Principal Director, Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, Government of Zimbabwe

Prof. Marvellous Mhloyi and Dr. Tsungai Chipato, University of Zimbabwe

Honorable Minister, Distinguished Guests – Ladies and Gentlemen I am pleased to welcome you to this “National South-South Support Structure Workshop” jointly organized by the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, Government of Zimbabwe and PPD.

Honorable Minister, please allow me to congratulate you on behalf of the Chair of PPD, H.E. Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India and all the Board Members of PPD and on my own behalf and wish you continued success in your leadership for the health and wellbeing of the Zimbabweans.

Zimbabwe is one of the 10 founding members of PPD and was instrumental in promoting PPD. H.E. Dr. Timothy Stamp, the founding Treasurer of PPD, has been a strong supporter of South-South Cooperation who fought relentlessly to make PPD as a reputable intergovernmental organization worldwide. The history of PPD is hence marked by the extraordinary contribution of Zimbabwe and as I visit you, I have feeling, recognition and gratefulness to this great country.

I would also like to thank Mr. Basile O. Tambashe Country Representative, UNFPA for the technical and financial support provided to PPD for organizing different events.

Honorable Minister, ladies and gentlemen - PPD is an intergovernmental organization established within the framework of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in Egypt in 1994. This alliance provides the mechanism to promote partnership and cooperation between developing countries, towards achieving the ICPD goals and also the Millennium Development Goals. The Secretariat is based in Bangladesh; we have a Regional Office for Africa in Kampala, Uganda, a Program Office in China and another office in New York, USA, where we are also a Permanent Observer to the United Nations.

Fifteen Years after ICPD, we cannot but rejoice at the tremendous achievement registered in the area of Reproductive Health, Population and Development. The quality of life in general has improved substantially in the world. We can proudly say that the Cairo Agenda has not remained a blueprint. It has ushered important changes in many parts of the world and ICPD must indeed be applauded for having been the turning point that has reshaped policies and program addressing Women’s Reproductive Health, Adolescent Sexual Health and many other culturally sensitive issues. We note with satisfaction that for the last 15 years the broad concept of reproductive health which was adopted at Cairo has been incorporated in increasing number of government policies. Though Reproductive Health was not included into MDGs in 2000, we are glad that it has been added as an additional target in the Millennium + 5 document adopted in 2005.

Ladies and gentlemen - we are going through a very difficult period and the ICPD goals, just as the Millennium Development Goals, are far from being achieved. Donor countries have shied away from their commitment to Official Development Assistance (ODA). The funding for the RH programs has fallen by 60% during the last ten years. There are many challenges we need to face for our better living. The growing population of the world is emerging once again as a threat especially in the developing world. Current global economic and food crisis further jeopardize the world socio-economic progress. As the global economic crisis deepens, hunger and malnutrition are likely to increase. Reduced incomes and higher unemployment will greatly impact on the purchasing power of the poor. Population of the world has increased by 114% from 1960 to 2005 and is projected to increase over 9 billion in 2050. With the dramatic increase in world population is the rise in global warming and environmental degradation. It is projected that the average surface temperature will rise by 1.1 to 6.4 degree Celsius over the 21st century with serious implications not only on public health but the very survival of human species on earth. In 1990s approximately 600,000 deaths occurred worldwide as a result of weather-related natural disasters, 95% of which took place in developing countries. Poor people are becoming lesser fortunate and more destitute. The quality of life of many in the developing world has either remained stagnant or decreased. About half of the world’s population could face food shortages by the next century due to slash of crop yields from 20% to 40%.

However, it is unfortunate that many developing countries are still patriarchal with strong gender discrimination and other forms of social exclusion adversely effecting Reproductive Health. The rise of religious bias and fundamentalism retards progress and unfortunately contributes enormously in making girls and women easy prey to male dominance. The religious opposition to abortion, modern contraception and women empowerment in some parts of the world are very strong particularly in Africa. Worldwide, unsafe, clandestine abortions are the cause of an estimated 78,000 maternal deaths each year and many thousands more maternal injuries.

The situation in reproductive health services worldwide is jeopardized by shortage of supplies of commodities, shortage of health workforces, lack of effective national policies and the different opposition groups. But it is surprising to know that the affect of Global Gag Rule on Family Planning and Reproductive Health services are much worse than the affect of these religious and communal groups. The Global Gag Rule harms greatly family planning programs worldwide and particularly in sub-Saharan African countries. The shipments of contraceptive have been sharply curtailed in many countries of sub-Saharan African due to this rule. This issue never been discussed for reforming by the policy makers of developing countries due to risk of jeopardizing relationship with US and specially with USAID.

In Africa, contraceptive use is lowest in the world, Total Fertility Rate is 5-6 births per women and ¾ of women in Sub-Saharan Africa need but do not have access to Family Planning. The use of contraceptives is 21% in Sub-Saharan Africa while the world average is 59%. In Africa alone, 100 million women and girls have had genital mutilation. Twenty seven out of the 46 states in Africa still practice Female Genital Cutting. An estimated 22 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2007 and approximately 1.9 million additional people were infected with HIV during that year. Two third of HIV infections among 15-20 years old occur in Africa.

The situation of Reproductive Health in sub-Saharan Africa is most terrible then any region of the world. Many programs have been initiated to improve the core reproductive health and rights of women and families in sub-Saharan Africa. However, one out of every 15 women in sub-Saharan Africa dies of a pregnancy related cause, and there are 910 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in sub-Saharan Africa. Total fertility rates in sub-Saharan Africa are over five children per woman, with one quarter of married women of childbearing age having an unmet need for contraception. Access to safe, legal abortion services is severely restricted in most sub-Saharan African countries, and approximately 31,000 sub-Saharan African women die each year from unsafe abortions. An estimated 28 million adults and children are living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, making it by far the region most affected by the epidemic.

However, Zimbabwe is an exception from any other sub-Saharan country. It gives us many hopes. Zimbabwe is a way ahead to achieve many of ICPD goals and MDGs. The percentage of married women aged 15-49 using any method of contraception is 54% and Total Fertility Rate is 3.69 in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is fighting one of the most severe HIV and AIDS epidemics in the world. Ninety Eight percent of Zimbabweans are aware of the cause, method of transmission, and ways to prevent HIV/AIDS. HIV prevalence has declined from 24 percent in 2001 to 15.6 percent in 2007. About equal numbers of boys and girls attend school. As a result, the literacy rate of young men and women aged 15-24 is not only high but also about the same for both sexes: 98%.

Ladies and Gentlemen - Zimbabwe’s experience in family planning has been seen as one of the successful model in Sub-Saharan Africa that can be replicated in many partner countries of PPD.

• The Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council’s (ZNFPC) Community Based Distribution (CBD) program has made significant and well-documented contributions to the demand for and use of family planning in Zimbabwe. The community-based family planning program was established in 1967, with a view to providing safe, low-cost and effective family planning services in both urban and rural areas. Since its inception, the ZNFPC CBD program has made significant and well-documented contributions to the demand for and use of family planning in Zimbabwe.

• “Involving Zimbabwe Men in Family Planning” is another innovative approach that introduced by the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council. Using a mix of radio and television programming, print materials, and community events, the campaign sought to encourage couples to use long-term and permanent contraceptive methods, and promoted male participation in family planning decision-making. Notably the value of different communication channels, the benefits of involving men, and the importance of multiple evaluation methods can also be useful for planning similar campaigns in other countries.

• The Women's University in Africa is a pioneer of gender equity in tertiary education in Zimbabwe which has the ambition of cutting across the African regional boundaries to offer the best service to meet the needs of both male and female mature students. This indeed is an example of women empowering other women for advancement towards equality with men through education. The Women's University in Africa (WUA), which is destined to promote gender equality and equal opportunities for women in tertiary education, was launched in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 2002. The uniqueness of the new university lies in the fact that the proportion of women in enrolment (85%) is higher than that of men (15%) that made possible through the policy.

Honorable Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen - we need to reposition Family Planning and HIV/AIDs program into the development agenda, integrate Family Planning for a more concerted effort and positive result. While we need to find new champions for Family Planning and promote greater resource mobilization for Reproductive Health programs, we need perhaps more importantly to reinforce political commitments and promote good governance.

The South-South cooperation entails that we have among us the skills, capabilities and expertise, and if we can galvanize our efforts together, we can improve the destiny of our children and particularly the improvement of the total population.

PPD will ensure that developing countries, despite their low resource base, are able to fully utilize their comparative advantage and become leaders in their respective fields. PPD will continue to develop and build institutional and individual capacities, continue advocacy for better access to Family Planning Services, and the integration of RH with HIV/AIDS for a balanced sharing of resources, and work for a secured supply of affordable and quality RH products and services in our member countries.

In the context of promoting South-South cooperation, RH and HIV/AIDS programs in Zimbabwe, PPD commits to facilitate support and technical assistance. You will be happy to learn that a MoU has been signed between China and PPD to provide technical assistance to the PPD member countries. China and other member countries are willing to provide technical assistance to PPD’s partners countries. We are negotiating with these countries, and PPD will coordinate to strengthen relevant capabilities in Zimbabwe.

Honorable Minister, ladies and gentlemen, PPD has developed a new Strategic Business Plan (2008-2011) that was approved by its Board at its last meeting in November 2008. As stated in the plan, in the next four years PPD will focus on:

1. Advocacy
2. Capacity Building
3. The exchange of experience and good practice
4. Training and Research

We wish Zimbabwe to be involved in all these four areas of focus of PPD and play a more active role in South-South Cooperation. I have the firm conviction, that together we will build a better future for our children. We need to create a solid foundation of strong and coherent partnership. Besides cross-sectoral collaborations between and within governments, we need also a strong private and public sector partnership, participation of NGOs, academia, professional organizations, media agencies and all other branches of the civil-society in a spirit and movement that acknowledge and respect the roles and responsibilities of all and in addition provide necessary conditions for the growth of each and every one. This is a new culture that we wish to instill to enable government and stakeholders alleviate the sufferings of millions of people in the developing world, and especially in Africa.

PPD wishes to create an effective National Task Force in Zimbabwe to galvanize efforts to promote South-South Cooperation, with the involvement of respective stakeholders. While the Zimbabwe can share a lot of its experiences, it can also learn from the experiences of other countries. The PPD will provide technical and other forms of assistance to the national task force to enable it achieve its objectives.

Let us join hand to continue promoting the partnership with Zimbabwe and share to strive to improve our quality of life of our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe and in the developing world.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for your attention.

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