Share-Net International has recently integrated a matchmaking feature on our website. This matchmaking feature was developed as Trainers Lab, part of the MoFA funded Get Up, Speak Out (GUSO) Programme, which is ending by the end of 2020. This programme aimed to improve access to SRHR information, education and services for young people and empower them to claim their rights, make decisions and participate meaningfully in society.

The feature offers an online place for trainers to expose and sell their expertise and for civil society organisations to hire skilled local professionals to strengthen their capacity and to improve their SRHR interventions. Online matchmaking fits well within SNI’s mission to link professionals, as well as our ambition to work more digitally. We are therefore very happy with the opportunity to sustain and build on the success of Trainers Lab and GUSO.

You can find suitable trainers by browsing through their profiles. Should a trainer spark your interest, you can contact them directly. Here you can register as a trainer yourself.

In our assignment database, members can advertise vacant SRHR related assignments or find an assignment and apply immediately.

In 2021 we will graduate and transform our website into a digital platform with more features and functionalities. A co-creation process toward the development of this platform is currently being facilitated by Butterfly Works. Stay tuned through our website, newsletter, Twitter and LinkedIn!

On the 6th of December 2020, Share-Net Bangladesh successfully hosted the fifth SRHR Knowledge Fair 2020. It is the biggest annual SRHR event in Bangladesh that aims to increase awareness and sharing of knowledge on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in Bangladesh. Each year, the Knowledge Fair brings together practitioners, activists, students, academicians, donors, policy makers, media and government officials who are working in the field of SRHR.

The event was held as an online event this year through a virtual event platform where interested participants accessed through a simple registration process (https://kf2020.redorangeltd.com/). More than 320 people registered on the platform. The event took place from 10:00 AM to 2:10 PM. The recorded sessions, posters and stall exhibitions are now all kept open in the platform so that people can register and visit whenever they want.

The theme of the 5th Knowledge Fair was ‘SRHR for Adolescents and Youth’ which reflects the SDG goal 3: ‘Good Health and Well Being’. With the central focus of this year’s knowledge fair, the main objective was to contribute towards improving adolescents’ and young people’s SRHR by providing more opportunities, which will enable them to know their rights, share their knowledge, and create networks for the improvement of their own SRHR. Shortly, the aim was to create YOUTHPower!

At the opening session of the event, the Chief Guest, honorable Director General of Department of Women Affairs, Ms. Parveen Akhter, said, ‘SRHR for youth and adolescents must be taken very seriously. It is a fundamental component for building the next generation towards peace and sustainability. We must extend our hands for all cooperation and give support for them.’

Special guest, Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate of Narsingdi, Ms. Syeda Farhana Kawnine talked about different projects that are implemented in Narsingdi for increasing SRHR services and awareness among youth and adolescents, mainly projects named ‘Theatre for Development’, ‘Ajoy’, ‘Shwapnochaya booth’ etc. She mentioned that there is a lot of scope to work because even now the rural people below the poverty line and those who are deprived from literacy have lack of awareness and knowledge among them for which effective coordination is very important. Second special guest Ms. Paula Schindeler, Deputy Ambassador, The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands affirmed that SRHR is an intrinsic part of development and it can empower youth and adolescents to make free and informed decisions. The third special guest Ms Caroline Crosbie, Senior Country Director, Bangladesh, Pathfinder International, gave a very precise speech, where she mentioned that 50% of the women of Bangladesh get married in their adolescence. She also stated that as consequences of early pregnancy, children of adolescent mothers have a 34% higher risk of death in the neonatal period and 26% higher risk of death by the age of 5. She proposed to put greater focus to two goals, one is to create a healthy social environment and another goal is to have young people with expanded SRH knowledge, practices, skills, attitude and rights.

The event proceeded further to a plenary session, parallel scientific sessions on ‘Lifestyle’ and ‘Sexuality’, workshops on ‘Adolescent SRHR’ and ‘Safe Internet’, poster presentations on various issues related to SRHR and Gender Based Violence, stall exhibitions from various organizations and fruitful discussions among the professionals who took part in the sessions.

In the Plenary session titled “SRHR Services for Youth and Adolescents in Bangladesh: Overcoming Barriers, Creating YouthPower”, Keynote Speaker Ms. Sheepa Hafiza, Equality and Human Rights Activists presented on sexuality, SRHR and the policy changes.

The main attractions in the closing session were the launch of an Gender analysis app ‘GPower’, SRHR Recognition Award and the Special guest Sadat Rahman, winner of International Children Peace Prize Award 2020. Shampa Goswami, Executive Director of PRERONA, who initiated distribution of low cost sanitary napkins in the disaster prone areas of Satkhira, won the ‘SRHR Recognition Award’. Sadat Rahman shared his inspiring journey as a young volunteer and his project, the ‘Cyber Teens’ app through which innocent adolescent girls and boys who are victims of cyberbullying, can get legal help and psychological counseling. The Chief Guest Dr. Abul Hossain, Project Director, MoWCA appreciated the platform Cyber Teens app has created for innocent adolescents to battle cyber bullying and encouraged young people like Sadat to come forward in making positive changes in the society.

Arnob Chakrabarty, Project Director of Share-Net Bangladesh called the closing session ‘a new beginning’ to look forward towards a better future for the adolescents and youth of Bangladesh.

Weblink: https://www.share-netbangladesh.org/5th-share-net-bangladesh-srhr-knowledge-fair/

Developing a policy brief on "The role of localization and multisectoral approaches in sustaining SRHR programs and accountability in crisis and fragility situation”

As part of a collaboration resulting from the first edition of the Share-Net International Co-Creation Conference, this policy brief is being developed. The objectives of the policy brief are to draw on the narrative review named "Access to Quality Sexual and Reproductive Health for people affected by crisis and fragility" and the knowledge products originating from the Share-Net International Co-Creation Conference and to institutionalize multi-sectoral accountability in Sexual and Reproductive Health in order to enhance the coordination between various relevant stakeholders for improving access to quality SRHR services for people affected by crisis and fragility in Jordan.

This policy brief targets donors, international NGOs, policy makers, governmental and non-governmental bodies, national NGOs, concerned stakeholders, and the private sector. The policy brief will include a framework to highlight and promote the role of localization and multi-sectoral approaches in sustaining SRHR programs and accountability for people affected by crisis and fragility in Jordan. In the last quarter of 2020, Share-Net Jordan conducted two meetings and a workshop with concerned stakeholders to discuss the draft policy brief on December 8, 2020.

Visit the website of Share-Net Jordan

A study on "the implications of early marriage and teenage pregnancy on sexual and reproductive health and mental health among Syrian refugees in Jordan"

Share-Net Jordan signed an agreement with the Arab Council for Social Sciences to carry out a study on “the implications of early marriage and teenage pregnancy on sexual and reproductive health and mental health among Syrian refugees in Jordan”. This study aims to develop a deep and practical understanding of the intersection and the health consequences and implications of early marriage and teenage pregnancy on reproductive health and mental health among Syrian refugees in Jordan in light of the conflicts and displacement that increase the weakness and vulnerability of these population groups. This understanding will help in proposing policies, practices and interventions that will contribute to achieving social justice and bring about social transformation through the achievement of equality and justice, especially by achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health services. The aim of the study outcomes is to create specific, implementable and translatable recommendations at the level of policy and practice by improving the provision of services and practices locally throughout the region to achieve social justice, by applying the knowledge resulting from research to bring about a social transformation to achieve justice and equality. In addition, the outputs will include a report (in Arabic and English) documenting the methodology and results, and at least one article in a high-impact journal.

The Higher Population Council and Share-Net Jordan view the marriage of minors as a violation of many legitimate human rights for girls, including the right to education, the right to develop capabilities and conscious choice without forcing a life partner, and the right to ensure equal marriage and build healthy family relationships. The waste of those rights negatively impacts the quality of life of the girl, her reproductive health, as well as the economic impacts, and the family's ability to carry out its duties in raising young people, especially since building new generations depends on their characteristics.

Visit the website of Share-Net Jordan.

A Review of Literature on Global and Regional Contraception and Safe Abortion Trends (2015-2020)

Contraception and safe abortion are key components of sexual and reproductive health and rights. They are essential and critical sexual and reproductive health services that save lives and provide women, girls and communities the chance to live a life of dignity and wellbeing. Despite wide evidence of the multiple health, socioeconomic and environmental benefits of contraception and safe abortion, access to services and supplies in these two areas remains an urgent public health issue in various parts of the world. As part of Share-Net Netherlands’ Contraception and Abortion Community of Practice (CoP), this review seeks to inform practitioners, researchers, activists and policy-makers working around contraception, safe abortion and SRHR at large about current global and regional contraception and abortion trends, the major policy and financing dynamics around these areas for the 2015 – 2020 period. This report also has the goal of presenting promising practices and recommendations to increase and expand access and uptake of contraception and safe abortion.

Link: https://share-net.nl/a-review-of-literature-on-global-and-regional-contraception-and-safe-abortion-trends-2015-2020/

Developing a policy brief on "Empowering Women and Girls and Achieving Gender Equality by Ensuring the Provision of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights"

Share-Net Jordan prepared a policy brief, with funding from the SNI, aiming at uncovering the relationships between Sexual and Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights on the one hand, and women's empowerment and gender equality in the Jordanian society on the other hand. A group of Jordanian experts participated in preparing this policy brief and had to bid for implementation. They were supported by a team of technicians at the Higher Population Council and Share-Net Jordan, and a team of expert practitioners (CoP) that was formed from experts in national institutions in the public and private sectors and civil society institutions. The CoP held three meetings. The policy brief was based on a set of national, regional and international studies, in addition to a specialized analysis of the relevant variables from the Population and Family Health Survey.

First, the policy brief presents the concept of gender equality and empowerment, as stated in international charters and introduced relevant national indicators in addition to defining sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights and their components in accordance with international covenants, and presenting the links between sexual and reproductive health, gender equality and women's empowerment in the global agenda for sustainable development 2030. Then the summary moves to explain the links between empowerment and reproductive health and rights before marriage, pointing to responding to the challenge of the needs of the high percentage of adolescents and young single people and the marriage of minors that undermine reproductive health, empowerment, pre-marital medical examination, sexual and reproductive health, consanguineous marriage and reproductive health. Next, the policy brief clarifies the links between empowerment and reproductive health and rights after marriage, including spousal sexual violence, family and reproductive processes undermining empowerment and reproductive health, legislation supporting family processes and decisions undermining empowerment and reproductive health, represented in early retirement, lump sum compensation, pension allowances, maternity insurance, and maternity leave, relationships between empowerment indicators and reproductive rights and practices, the gap in reproductive desires between spouses, quick transition to motherhood, infertility, reproductive rights and domestic violence, resorting to cesarean deliveries, the low utilization of available reproductive health services in the form of early detection of breast cancer, missed opportunities for information and family planning services, the pursuit of institutional aid after exposure to family violence and post-pregnancy care, obesity and weight gain, and comprehensive knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases.

The policy brief concludes with recommendations divided into three levels: proposed studies based on institutional data to serve programs and policies, actions to be taken to reform policies and legislation, and implementation of community awareness strategies.

A Record Review on the Health Status of Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

The Rohingya refugee crisis is neither new nor a sudden problem for Bangladesh. However, the recent violence in August 2017 instigated the migration of 693,000 additional Rohingyas into Bangladesh and as of June 2018, around one million Rohingya refugees were residing in Bangladesh. Against this backdrop, it is important to know their current health status because, without this information, equal and equitable health service provision is not possible. So, we conducted this review to understand the current health status of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. For this purpose, a systematic literature search was conducted in July 2018 using transparent selection criteria and the keywords “Rohingya”, “Health”, Bangladesh”. After screening the title and abstract and removing duplication, 12 articles and 21 organizational reports were found eligible for final review. Major health problems prevailing among Rohingya refugees are unexplained fever, acute respiratory infection, and diarrhea. Non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and their risk factors are also highly prevalent among these people. More than half of the Rohingya refugees are women and many of them experience sexual abuse or exploitation. More than 50,000 Rohingya refugee women were pregnant, however, a significant portion of pregnant women did not have access to quality antenatal care. Mental health problems like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and suicidal thoughts were also commonly prevailing in the Rohingya community.

Weblink: https://www.share-netbangladesh.org/a-record-review-on-the-health-status-of-rohingya-refugees-in-bangladesh/

Menstruation Shouts: Digital Storytelling to inform programmes and practices

Since July 2020, one of Share-Net International’s grantees 2020 has been working on implementing a project that explores the integration of menstrual health services within the COVID-19 response aiming at informing programmes and best practices to prioritise the integration of menstrual health in the SRHR response during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Working in two African countries, namely Egypt and Kenya, the project targets female healthcare workers in the frontline of COVID-19 response and adolescent girls who are/were affected by the stay-at-home measures, giving them a voice during this pandemic. The project is executed by our individual member Hadir Barbar and organizational member Joy Amani Center CBO.

Through this project, Hadir, Evans and their project teams capture the menstrual health experiences of healthcare workers (including public health practitioners, community workers, etc.) through digital storytelling videos. These videos break the silence on menstruation among adolescent girls and menstruating healthcare workers while creating empathy among the general public and motivating programme designers and implementers to take immediate action towards applying or improving menstrual health measures in their programmes and practices. Read more about the day-to-day activities of this project in our small grants blog series.

Watch one of the digital story-telling videos by clicking here.

Are you interested to learn more about the Menstruation Shouts project or would you like to support Hadir Barbar and Joy Amani Center CBO in the continuation of their work after the project ends? Then please reach out to them via barbarhadir@gmail.com and emose49@gmail.com.

Developing a policy brief on “The Impact of Female Students’ Dropout from Schools on Women's Economic Participation and Sexual and Reproductive Health”

Share-Net Jordan prepared this policy brief with the aim of demonstrating the impact of school dropout on females and its direct impact on sexual and reproductive health. The policy brief refers to proposing and choosing alternatives and applied policies that help in reducing the dropout of female students from the primary stage, and proposing the necessary policies to address the outcomes of the leakage on the economic empowerment of women and sexual and reproductive health, and to enhance their rights in education and sexual and reproductive health. In addition, the policy brief identifies links between education and sexual and reproductive health, the relationship between dropout, child marriage and domestic violence, and identifies the social, economic and cultural causes of dropout. A Community of Practice (CoP) was formed on the subject of the study composed of the various relevant sectors and this policy brief will be prepared by the end of November 2020. The policy brief proposes several policies to address the phenomenon of school dropout, such as addressing the causes of school dropout, especially female student dropout, raising awareness of the importance of education for girls as it is the way to the labor market, encouraging and sustaining school nutrition programs, promoting adolescents' rights in education and sexual and reproductive health, and providing national aid to poor families, linking aid to school dropout, community awareness of the dangers of underage marriage, and strengthening the role of educational counselors, principals and teachers to reduce the dropout problem.

The JUMP Mentoring Programme offers (young) Southern researchers the opportunity to work closely with an experienced scholar from their field of interest with the aim of preparing a paper that is (subject to the regular peer-review process) accepted for publication in the European Journal of Development Research (EJDR) or any other scientific journal.

Selected candidates will participate in the online EADI ISS Conference 2021: Solidarity, Peace and Social Justice EADI ISS Conference 2021: | Solidarity, Peace and Social Justice | #Solidarity2021 with the registration fee covered by the programme. A virtual welcoming section will kick off the programme, and virtual writing workshops will be offered for JUMP mentees during the Conference. Mentees will be paired with their mentors, introduced to the basics of writing a paper for academic high-ranking publishing, and will have opportunity to network.

Eligibility Criteria

• The candidate must be born and based and studying in a low or middle-income country in the Global South.
• The candidate must have not published previously in high quality international academic journals.
• Only single-authored papers are considered. Submission of paper with co-authors will not be considered.
• The candidate must be an early career candidate. *Early-career definition: latest graduate-level academic qualification (Doctorate or Masters) was completed 5 years ago or less (EJDR).

Required Documents

• Application form to be filled and sent by e-mail with the other documents. Download the application form here.
• Updated CV including academic, employment and publication records.
• Cover letter stating the motivation to apply for the mentorship programme.
• Paper abstract. Abstracts must be in English and should conform to the following format:
  • Title: limited to 25 words, full name of author, email, details of institution/affiliation.
  • Keywords: Maximum of 5 keywords
  • Body: A 1000 word extended abstract explaining the paper’s substance including background, purpose, methodology, results, conclusion, etc. and clearly showing how it contributes to the broad conference theme. The title of the abstract, author’s name, institutions and keywords are not included in this limit.
  • Draft paper.

Important: the topic of the paper should be in line with the EADI ISS Conference 2021: Solidarity, Peace and Social Justice theme, and of relevance to EJDR – the international development angle must come foremost.

Application Procedure

E-Mail: applicants must download and fill the Application Form and submit it via e-mail with their CV, cover letter, abstract and draft paper to jump@eadi.org

All submissions will be acknowledged via email. In case you do not receive an acknowledgement for your submission, please contact us at jump@eadi.org

Schedule

• Application period: from 24th November 2020 to 31st January 2021
• Application results: April
• EADI ISS Conference 2021: 5 - 8 July 2021
• Deadline for submission of final paper to EJDR: 30th September 2021

Contact

In case you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at jump@eadi.org

Weblink: https://www.eadi.org/jump/

The introduction of self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a paradigm shift in health care delivery, bridging people and communities with primary health care services. While self-care is conceptually not new, rapid advances in evidence-based technologies and products that can be accessed outside of the formal health sector increasingly acknowledge people as active participants in their own health, both as self-carers and care-givers. COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of universal access to free or affordable screening, testing and care, and the role self-care and self-care interventions can play in the response to the pandemic. It equally points us to the reality of how lack of access to quality health care can exacerbate the crisis and hamper the health system response.

This call is for papers which explore strategies for introducing and scaling-up access to self-care interventions for SRH with a specific focus on the needs and rights of vulnerable populations. Vulnerable populations may include, but are not limited to: sex workers; people living with HIV; transgender and gender non-confirming people; lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer people; indigenous peoples; people with disabilities; migrants, refugees and internally displaced people; incarcerated or institutionalized people; and people in, or affected by, humanitarian and emergency crises. Many adolescents, women and elderly populations also face vulnerabilities that may impede their ability to access and/or make informed decisions regarding their health.

Link: https://share-net.nl/call-for-papers-self-care-interventions-and-rights-based-access-2/

Share-Net Bangladesh and Share-Net International will host their second annual Co-Creation Conference, “Engaging in Knowledge Translation Together”. The conference will take place from 25th to 28th of January 2021. This year the conference will be completely online giving people all around the world the opportunity to join.

This innovative, dynamic event will be a working conference where participants will develop concrete and evidence informed knowledge products that will be used for influencing policy and practice at country level.

SRHR for Adolescents and Youth is the thematic track for the 2021 Co-Creation Conference! Adolescents and young people consistently lack access to sexual and reproductive health information and services.[1] Adolescents and young women have the same right to control over their bodies as adults, and need to receive information, counselling and access to the full range of modern contraceptive options. The adolescent SRH challenges are currently recognised through Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 3, which aims to eradicate HIV infections and provide universal access to sexual and reproductive health services as well as incorporating such services into national strategies. According to UNICEF, the number of adolescents in the world today is 1.2 billion, making up 16% of the world population. It is important to integrate adolescents and youth in the SRHR programmes in a participatory way so that they are able to take decisions and act accordingly having the right information.

According to UNICEF, globally around 21% of young women were married before their 18th birthday. Youth-friendly SRH services and information therefore are essential conditions to reduce teenage pregnancies and related maternal mortality Also to prevent risky sexual behaviour of adolescents, correct information about SRHR through social media and youth clubs, child marriage, sexual orientation, equal opportunities, menstrual health management (MHM), use of media for communication, helpdesks could be the underlying issues of this track.

^[1] Engel, D. M. C., Paul, M., Chalasani, S., Gonsalves, L., Ross, D. A., Chandra-Mouli, V., ... & Beadle, S. (2019). A Package of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Interventions—What Does It Mean for Adolescents?. Journal of Adolescent Health, 65(6), S41-S50.

Two Bangladeshi consultants are currently assisting Share-Net International (SNI) and Share-Net Bangladesh in the preparations of the second SNI Co-Creation Conference (CCC). They are amongst others working on:

• mapping and analysing key (inter)national stakeholders of SRHR for Adolescents and Youth to determine potential participants of the CCC and identify key informants for the scoping interviews and deliberative dialogues, including adolescents and youth;
• developing a narrative review in which main information sources and literature are reviewed in order to help scoping the topic, including
  • a literature review on SRHR for Adolescents and Youth
  • an overview of key development and initiatives in the field of SRHR for Adolescents and Youth.
  • a review of interventions and strategies developed so far, with an indication of success/failure
  • an exploration of views, perceptions, needs and experiences of experts in the field of SRHR for Adolescents and Youth
• developing an evidence brief summarising the findings of the narrative review;
• reporting on deliberative dialogues with key experts, stakeholders and/or participants.

The narrative review will be on our website by mid-December! If you would like to know more about their findings stay tuned via our social media channels on Twitter and LinkedIn!

National Communities of Practice (CoPs) of all the Share-Net country hubs are assisting in the preparations of the SNI Co-Creation Conference (CCC) to ensure that the evidence, information and real challenges experienced in the field are addressed during the entire CCC process and that practical solutions are developed that can be implemented after the conference.

Each national CoP is composed of different Share-Net members, including researchers, policymakers, implementers, the media and the private sector, working on SRHR for Adolescents and Youth. Next to assisting in the preparations, CoP members will present the work of the national CoPs during the conference and guide the implementation of the action plans after the conference.

The international CoP is composed of the chairs of the national CoPs and international members. They support the preparations of the conference related to content, including priority-setting and identification of the key sub-themes and suggestion of participants and speakers.

In this video, you can listen to Taewee Kahrs, chair of the Share-Net Netherlands CoP on SRHR for Adolescents and Youth in which she explains what the national CoP does and why she is committed to improving policy and practice for SRHR for Adolescents and Youth.

Stay tuned via our social media channels Twitter and LinkedIn for more updates!

Let us introduce the two lead facilitators of the Co-Creation Conference, Nina Pavlovska and Masuma Billah!

Nina Pavlovska (left in picture) is a learning experience designer and international trainer in leadership development. Inspired by the human creative potential she designs and facilitates group processes that promote innovation, authenticity and empower individual and collective action. Her study and work in international development and cooperation have taken her around the world offering her many opportunities to work with and across different cultures.

Masuma Billah (right in picture) is a trained demographer and researcher, leading the Research and Innovation team of Red Orange Media and Communication. Her ambitions lie in contributing to the well-being of women and girls. Masuma has served in the capacity of Senior Manager at the Population Council, Partners in Population and Development, BRAC and Save the Children and holds a Master’s from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Additionally, Masuma is a freelance writer and considers her writing as a protest for inequalities against women and girls.

In their roles as lead facilitators, Nina and Masuma are responsible for developing and implementing the methodology to develop knowledge products and guide the entire facilitation team, including the sub-group facilitators.