BENEFITS OF NETWORKING AT EU LEVEL GOOD PRACTICES AND EXPECTATIONS

1. BENEFITS OF NETWORKING AT EU LEVEL GOOD PRACTICES AND EXPECTATIONS Edina Boros MD President of Astarte Foundation Hungary

2. TOPICS • Astarte Foundation for Women’s Health, Education and Rights Women World Wide • What have we got from the EU Organisations up to now • How have we contributed to the EU level networking up to now • What do we expect from the further cooperation • What can we offer in the future during the common work

3. Astarte FoundationWomen World Wide About the Foundation Our foundation was established in Budapest in the beginning of 2004. Our goals are to protect women’s reproductive health, work for women’s education and rights, promote gender equality and empower women world wide. The Astarte Foundation’s main focus is to protect women’s reproductive health but becouse women empowerment cannot be restricted to one subject, the Foundation promotes women involvement in social-, legal-, economical- and artistic issues, too.

4. Astarte FoundationWomen World Wide Our Mission/1 The overpopulation of the Earth has already made irreversible damages to the environment and to the generations growing up in poverty and we can do against this with the empowerment of women and promoting the rights and accessibilities of contraception methods. The global climate change and the growing immigration has made the developed countries sensitive for the population problems of the developing world.

5. Astarte FoundationWomen World Wide Our Mission/2 Even in most of the developed countries there’s an incresing need to improve the status of women becouse the proportion of women in decision making positions is still very low and becouse the next generation needs healthy mothers and the safest obstetrical procedures for the newborns.

6. Astarte FoundationWomen World Wide Main goals of Astarte Foundation/1 • Promote women’s health both phisically and mentally and their emancipation • Increase medical care standard, particularly in countries in need • Help women to access to the right of having contraception in developing countries and, by this means, to stop the overpopulation of the world

7. Astarte FoundationWomen World Wide Main goals of Astarte Foundation/2 • Create safe conditions of childbirth worldwide, to carry out research into different techniques applied in gynecology and obstetrics to see their effects on women’s as well as their children’s later health, taking into consideration differences in law, religion and culture • Succeed in having optimal family-planning, to promote women’s health in the interest of their future children, to decrease abortion-rate worldwide

8. Astarte FoundationWomen World Wide Main goals of Astarte Foundation/3 • Take fetal rights the outmost importance – considering their role as the future generation, to promote prenatal care, to have investigations into effects of different obstetrical techniques on fetus, considering regional differences • Work against AIDS as well as other sexually transmitted diseases • Assure the rights for work and instruction for women

9. Astarte FoundationWomen World Wide Main goals of Astarte Foundation/4 • Support female artists as well as their representations in artistic works • Support to create working conditions that take into consideration special female needs • Help women with making themselves be able to take part both in science and in politics • Work for peace, protection of the environment and to improve general living conditions

10. Astarte FoundationWomen World Wide Accomplished and ongoing projects/1 • We organised a series of articles in one of the leading hungarian female magazine to inform women about the most modern gynecological and obstetcical methods • Our national public awareness campaign about SRHR topics has been going on since 2004 in Hungary’s leading radio and TV channels • The Foundation participated in the 2 days long festival, called Tranzit 2005, organised by HAND, with lectures and conversations about SRHR issues

11. Astarte FoundationWomen World Wide Accomplished and ongoing projects/2 • We joined to the adoptation programme of the Baptist church in Sri-Lanka after the tsunami • The Foundation organised a competition for all of the hungarian departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology to strengthen their preventive work, we provided medical equipments for the winners • We supported the ESP Schools for poor children in India through BOCS Foundation

12. Astarte FoundationWomen World Wide Accomplished and ongoing projects/3 • The Foundation organised a three monthes long survay through internet about contraceptive habits of hungarian women • We organised an international photo competition through internet for pregnant women

13. Astarte FoundationWomen World Wide Projects being in the phase of preparation • Deliver a series of lectures for high-school girls about SRHR topics across Hungary and later on in the regional countries • Kazahstan project: increase the level of medical assistance and decrease the considerably high rate of perinatal mortality • South-Africa project: change the traditionally low status of women in society and within relationships, decrease the high rate of rape, prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV • Empower our contribution in EU level networking

14. What have we got from EU Organisations up to now/1 • A big amount of professional information about non-profit work, lobbiing, fund raising, etc. • Different newsletters which help our work • Announcements about applications, grants, possibilities of cooperation, etc. • Several training facilities for new member states • The possibility to take part in the EU level work of EuroNGOs and CONCORD • The feeling that we have some influance on european politics

15. What have we got from the EU Organisations up to now/2 • Through the EU level policy we can put pressure on our national policy, too (Example: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our new gowernment has declaired that in the field of international development they expect a very strong cooperation with the Civil Society Organisations – this is obviously the effect of EU-level lobbing)

16. How have we contributed to the EU level networking up to now/1 • Already at the beginning of our existence we applied successfully for the membership of HAND (Hungarian Assotiation of Non-Govenrmental Development Organisations) • As HAND is a member of CONCORD we could start to take part in the EU level work • The leaders of the Foundation have participated in several international congresses, trainings and other important events

17. How have we contributed to the EU level networking up to now/2 • After a short time all of the members of the Board of the Trustees of Astarte Foundation have became representatives of Hungary in CONCORD working groups David Gazdag MD – Cotonou Working Group Zsolt Szirony – Presidency Working Group Edina Boros MD – Gender Working Group • The representative of Astarte Foundation in HAND, David Gazdag MD was elected into the Supervisory Board, we started to take a more active role in the work of the hungarian platform

18. How have we contributed to the EU level networking up to now/3 • We created the english version of our website and we are working on it continously to make it available in more languages • We developed a very strong connection with the Jane Goodall Institut, with the hungarian and german Office as well as personally with Jane and we plan more common SRHR projects in the developing countries, especially in Africa

19. What do we expect from the further cooperation/1 • As we have very few experience in the field of non-profit work and international development, we need further trainings and the possibility to learn from the bigger EU level Organisations • In most of the new member states the fund raising has no history at all and the social sensibility of both the political and the economical decision makers are very low, without the help ot the EU we cannot change it • We would like more opportunities to participate as a partner in EU level SRHR projects

20. What do we expect from the further cooperation/2 • Becouse of the history of the past 50 years, in most of the new member states there are no experience at all in some special and important field where we need more help - creating special working conditions which take into consideration the special needs of women - how to handle the relationship with the churches in gender issues Pro rights – pro life? PRO EDUCATION!!!

21. What can we offer in the future common work/1 • If it’s possible we would like to take a more active role in the creation of the EU level gender policy • In most of the new member states sources are quite limited, we accomplish our programmes from much less money than it would be possible in an old member state, so we can provide several methods, how to spare money • We have common border with more coutries which are the object of EU level development and SRHR projects, we can provide our experience in this field

22. What can we offer in the future during the common work/2 • We have quite a lot experience in working among confusious and complicated political and social conditions • We can provide knowledge transfer to the future member states, how to handle the changes and how to take advantage of the opportunities • Roma poulation is a unique minority within the EU with living conditions which are frequently similar to those in the developing world, we can share our experience, which can be useful during the international developing work

23. What can we offer in the future during the common work/3 • As among our members there are more practicing gyneacologists and obstetricians, Astarte Foundation can provide the professional background of any medical projects

24. Thank you very much for your attention!