The Power in Sexual Relationships meeting (March 2001) showcased six field-based programs, one each from Kenya, Pakistan, India, Peru, Belize, and the Latin America region. This presentation will include the lessons learned from all six about dealing with power issues, in service delivery and community programs. For illustrative purposes, the Belize Family Life Association project is highlighted here. Three Caribbean affiliates of the IPPF/WHR are participating in a program designed to transform the relationship between a service delivery agency and the communities reached in Belize, a two-pronged approach was necessary to move towards a “sexual health” approach. The traditional modus operandi of staff members delivering information and contraceptives to clients with a mostly one-way, didactic communication style had to be changed so that a frank, two-way dialogue was possible and comfortable. At the same time, an investment was made in the careful selection and training of volunteer community members, to serve as facilitators of group discussions with their neighbors. A Community Outreach Workers Manual helped them lead dialogues about problems that had previously been shrouded in silence: couple communication, parent-child relationships, sexual satisfaction, gender roles, STIs including AIDS, etc. Several levels of power dynamics surfaced throughout this multi-faceted effort. In almost half of the 70 communities where these dialogues have been conducted, Village Health Committees have been established, with key roles played by the facilitators. Clinic staff now feel a bond of solidarity with clients. Within couples and families, dialogue has helped to change relationships, within and across generations.
Learning Objectives: Listeners will learn to: (1) Identify strategies for dealing with gender power issues in programs from Asia, Africa, and the Latin America/Caribbean region, at service delivery and community levels; (2) Regarding the Belize example: (a) understand how a traditional, clinic-based family planning association can broaden its mission and functions in the wake of the ICPD/Cairo conference, and (b) identify successful strategies for helping communities address gender power dynamics, STIs, domestic violence, and other complex issues, using lay facilitators as community resources.
Keywords: Reproductive Health, Sexuality
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.