Advocacy Initiatives

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Advocacy Initiatives
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Overview

• Ipas South Africa
• Providers as Advocates
• Values Clarification and Attitude Transformation
• Community Based Advocacy
• Advocacy Work the Past
• Advocacy Work Current
• Questions

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Ipas

• Non-Governmental Not for Profit Organisation that
  has been working in South Africa since 1995.
• Only NGO focusing exclusively on Termination of
  Pregnancy
• Ipas is a non-profit organization that works
  around the world to increase women's ability to
  exercise their sexual and reproductive rights,
  especially the right to safe abortion. Ipas
  believes that no woman should have to risk her
  life, her health, her fertility, her well-being
  or the well-being of her family because she lacks
  reproductive health care and reproductive choice

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Providers as Advocates
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What is Advocacy and why do we need to advocate?

• Advocacy is the strategic use of information to
  change policies that affect peoples lives.1.
  to expand the supply of quality, affordable,
  acceptable and accessible services for safe
  abortion
• 2. to increase the demand from women and
  societies for more accessible and non-judgemental
  care for women seeking abortion care
• 3. to defend the law and ensure SRH and R
  remain inviolate

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Advocacy perspective

• An advocacy perspective is one that sees many
  opportunities for influencing the community
  positively about the need for safe abortion care
  it helps us communicate with
• Our family and friends
• During or private encounters with our clients
• To our leaders and colleagues
• In more public arenas e.g. speaking at
  conferences, in community meetings,

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Some risks

• Public confrontation
• Political stigma
• Being harassed or threatened

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Some benefits

• Helping clients access much needed services and
  care
• Respect in the community
• Successful influence on policy makers and other
  providers

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Things to remember

• Presenting too much or too little information to
  substantiate our position
• Using out-dated information or information that
  is irrelevant or mismatched
• Too much emotion can create problems
• Assumptions about who is and who is not on our
  side

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Advocacy roles

• EDUCATOR providers are subject matter experts,
  they have knowledge and experience
• we find relevant information, we communicate our
  knowledge and we discuss
• REPRESENTATIVE providers are witnesses, their
  experiences have taught them about specific
  issues and struggles
• We tell stories we seek compassion and we speak
  in public about our experiences
• PERSUADER persuaders use tools such as the
  latest research data, they organise community
  members, they deliberately manage specific
  topics, policies that need change

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Values Clarification and Attitude Transformation
(VCAT)
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What is VCAT?

• Both a theory and an intervention
• People discovering their values through a process
  of honest self-examination and open-minded search
  for lifes truths (Maslow, 1959 Rogers, 1961)
• Interdependent processes of reasoning, emoting
  and behaving
• VCAT is the process of examining ones basic
  values and reasoning for the purpose of
  understanding oneself, to discover what is
  important and meaningful
• Valuing occurs when the head and heartunite in
  the direction of action (John Dewey, 1939)
• Values Clarification a proven method to inform
  people and to create a safe space for people to
  evaluate their beliefs and values
• Not a magic bullet needs committed leadership
  and follow through

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Central Focus of VCAT

• Helping people to use rational thinking and
  emotional awareness to examine personal
  behavioral patterns and to clarify and actualize
  their values
• Thoughtful reflection, honest self-examination,
  and critical analysis of values and value
  conflicts
• Structured, facilitated opportunity for people to
  experience new or reframed information that is
  designed to be accessible and relevant

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Community Based Advocacy
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Introduction

• Community Engagement based on three objectives
• Develop skills and increase knowledge on Sexual
  and Reproductive Health Rights to
• increase contraceptive uptake
• avoid unwanted pregnancies
• seek safe abortions (including medical abortion)
• recognize abortion complications
• Change social norms and practices that stigmatize
  abortion
• Expand women's, including young women's, ability
  to obtain abortion including medical
  abortion-related information and care

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Some Highlights

• Limpopo Program
• Partnerships with CBOs
• Mphilonhle 12 Schools, Mobile Clinics, SRH
  included in activities (Rural KZN)
• Mosaic increased access to MVA MA through
  opening 2nd facility Mitchells Plain (Cape Town)
• Masisukumeni Men and Boys and SRH (Rural
  Mpumalanga)
• Masimanyane Rural Eastern Cape SRH awareness
  women and girls
• University of Johannesburg SRH clinic (Urban
  Youth)
• Linking the voices of the community with
  provincial services
• Focus is on positioning TOP as part of
  comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health.
• Educate in and out of school of youth about
  their SRH rights and choices lead workshops with
  their peers
• Young Women and Abortion Study Peri-Urban study

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Advocacy work the Past
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Previous Activities 2002 to 2011

• Values Clarification workshops all 9 provinces
  for 1st trimester access (throughout)
• VC for 2nd trimester access all 9 provinces 2008
• Providers As Advocates training 2008/09
• Strategic Plan for the Implementation of the CTOP
  Act
• Conscientious Objection Manual and Policy
  Document
• SRH Workshops all provinces, public and pvt
  sector, always include advocacy initiatives
• 2- year initiative (Ford Foundation) 9 CBOs in 3
  Countries Creating support for the Maputo Plan of
  Action Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia

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Cont.

• Values Clarification workshops with Communities,
  providers, management and provincial departments
  of health in Limpopo
• Assisted Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free State, North
  West, Western Cape with updating of TOP policies
  to include MA
• Continued to work with National DOH re adoption
  of policy
• Provinces to adopt own policies from July 2010
• Successfully defended the Amendment Act Act 1
  2008 1st quarter FY08 (National Project)
• Defended the CTOP Act through submissions to
  Parliament (June 2010)
• Pvt Members Bill C. Dudley mandatory sonar,
  mandatory viewing of the sonar and mandatory
  counselling
• Worked/working with SRH partners to include TOP
  in National AIDS Strategic Plan-2012-17

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Lessons Learned

• Need to be vigorous in supporting and defending
  the law
• Legal environment does not always translate into
  access
• Implementation of strict selection criteria
  ensures that - as far as possible - the correct
  person attends the training
• Ensuring TOP is implemented through the system
  (Limpopo) rather than by a person (Mpumalanga)
  leads to sustainability of the service
• Working with CBOs
• Greater reach, larger audience, message spread
• Greater knowledge greater access
• Linking CBOs with Provincial Departments of
  Health

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Training Totals per province
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Provincial Clinical Orientations
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MA Refresher Training
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Advocacy Work Current
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Advocacy work limited to funding

• Donors
• Focus of Department of Health
• Need to have a focused approach
• Combine skills support each other

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July to November 2011 VCAT
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Questions?