World YWCA General Secretary gives technical input to PCC
Ms Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, General Secretary of the World YWCA, contributed her technical expertise to the 24th meeting of the Policy and Coordination Committee of the UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction, which was held in Geneva, Switzerland on 16 –17 June 2011. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has just released a report on the meeting.
Ms Gumbonzvanda spoke about the value of human rights in sexual and reproductive health from the perspective of Chichi, a 24 year-old widow with five children and the extremely difficulty circumstances she endured after being diagnosed HIV positive during antenatal care when she was pregnant. As she put it, when Chichi was referred to the YWCA, the association recognised that her story was “about her right to life with dignity, her sexual and reproductive health and rights, economic rights and rights to a livelihood with decency, and about the obligation of the State to provide for her as a citizen”.
The importance of a proper understanding of the concept of human rights in ensuring that it has meaning in people's lives was emphasised as was the need for coherence between international norms and national laws, constitutions, legislation and policies that operationalise human rights. The need to recognise that women live at the nexus of culture, social expectations, values and laws and policies, which also require reforming the culture and norms that undermine human rights was also stressed by Ms Gumbonzvanda. A clear focus on building the capacity of States, governments, parliamentarians and elders is essential in order to deliver on human rights-based policies, services, programmes and outreach. Capacity also needs to be built to enable beneficiaries to know and claim their rights.
Ms Gumbonzvanda went on to explain that, the YWCA, in its work in ten African countries, noted the importance of the context of poverty which has a huge female face, the context of fragile States in conflict where the public sector is fractured, and a third context of culture where women are suffering. She urged conducting research on the human rights approach that addresses issues such as early marriage or HIV.
