Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar
SPRINT Initiative completed its first regional Training of Trainers on the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for Sexual and Reproductive Health in Crises. The training of trainers took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 28 April – 2 May 2008.
Participants were mainly from the East and Southeast region and were grouped into country teams. Each team was comprised of one representative from an IPPF Member Association, National Red Cross and Red Crescent Society and UNFPA national officers. Some country teams included representatives from their Ministry of Health. Regional Offices of IFRC, IOM, UNOCHA Regional Office Asia-Pacific (ROAP) and UNHCR also participated in the training.
Each of the training country team came up with an action plan to integrate sexual and reproductive health into their emergency preparedness plans.
The Myanmar country team was represented by two national officers of UNHCR and UNFPA. The National Red Cross Society and IPPF Member Association were invited but unfortunately could not attend.
As soon as the training of trainers ended, tropical cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008 affecting millions of persons. The death toll continues to rise by the day, with an estimated 22,500 persons at the time of writing. 41,000 persons are still missing. Around one million persons are assumed to be displaced. Shelter, food and water are currently among the main concerns.
The training of trainers provided an unprecedented opportunity for SRH focal persons to meet and interact at the national and regional levels. However, by the time Cyclone Nargis hit, the country team from Myanmar did not have the chance to build its in-country network and conduct the echo-training on the MISP for SRH in Crises. In the aftermath of the cyclone, the SPRINT secretariat made contact with its newly established network in order to identify areas of support. The secretariat has touched based with the Myanmar country team on SRH in crises (UNFPA and UNHCR) and with UNOCHA ROAP. IPPF Regional Office has not been able to get through to its Member Association (Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association). Attempts are still being made to identify the existing SRH coordinating channels that have been put in place in Myanmar. So far, SRH related relief supplies such as condoms, sarongs and sanitary material have been sent into Myanmar via Thailand.
Given the situation, the SPRINT secretariat will continue at this stage to link concerned actors with the relevant SRH focal persons who participated in the training of trainers and to identify existing SRH coordination channels. SPRINT is able to provide technical support to ensure that the MISP is implemented for the displaced populations.
At the same time, SPRINT will work with partners in the post-crisis phase to ensure technical support, distribution of reproductive health kits and rehabilitation of clinics in the affected areas and/or in areas of displacement.
For further queries, please contact Carol El Sayed or Nguyen-Toan Tran at ippfklro@ippfeseaor.org or +6034256 6122
SPRINT Secretariat, 7 May 2008
Official launch of the SPRINT Initiative at Parliament House in Canberra
On 18 February 2008, Mr. Bob McMullan, Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance in Canberra officially launched the SPRINT, a 3 million dollar AusAID initiative managed by the International Planned Parenthood Federation – East, South East Asia & Oceania Region (IPPF ESEAOR). The initiative aims to ensure that persons have access to sexual and reproductive health during crises as a basic right.
Mr. McMullan attributed the Australian Government’s support as part of its efforts towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly those related to maternal and child health in the region. He lauded the work of IPPF, UNFPA, ARHA and UNSW in the area of sexual and reproductive health in crisis and called for more support to this initiative.
Dr. Tran Nguyen Toan, Medical and Technical Programme Manager /SPRINT at IPPF ESEAOR, stressed that SRH services during crises form an important part of any humanitarian emergency response needed to save lives. During his speech, he highlighted the role Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for SRH in crises, as an essential component of the initiative, especially in areas where standards are below minimum. Dr. Toan highlighted that the SPRINT Initiative was about people, illustrating that over 80% of programme budget went directly into the field. He appealed for donor support to further expand and enhance this essential initiative in the region.
Dr. Wilma Doedens, Technical Specialist in the UNFPA Humanitarian Response Unit of UNFPA stressed that “refugees and displaced people have the same rights to reproductive health, without discrimination, as everybody else”, especially since reproductive health risks often increase during crisis. She explained that reproductive health was recognized as a right following the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. Dr. Doedens and gave a background of the Interagency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises (IAWG) and the subsequent development of the MISP. In Dr. Doedens.
Dr. Anna Whelan, Associate Professor at UNSW, explained the university’s role in research and monitoring & evaluation within the SPRINT Initiative. Together with Dr.Toan, she played a role in directing the attention of IAWG members to focus on the natural disaster prone Asia-Pacific. It subsequently led to the first IAWG regional meeting in 2006 at UNSW and set the grounds for developing the SPRINT Initiative.
The launch was followed by a seminar with national and international NGOs to provide details on the SPRINT Initiative and set the grounds for establishing an SRH in crisis network. Both the launch and the event had been organized by the Australian Reproductive Health Alliance (ARHA) through the efforts of Ms. Jane Singleton and her team.
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