Media toolkit on reporting SRHR

1. Media toolkit on reporting SRHR

2. About the toolkit HASHTAGS #SADCGenderBarometer10 #SADCGenderprotocol #VoiceandChoice #SheDecides #Childnotbride #RightbyHer #OurGirlsMatter #DayoftheGirlChild #SDG2018 HANDLES @GenderLinks @GenderProtocol @SAfAIDS • The SRHR media toolkit will assist with key information on SRHR in the SADC region. For reference there are links to the relevant chapters in the 2018 SADC Gender Barometer: • Constitutional and legal rights • Education and training • Gender based violence • Sexual and productive health and rights • HIV and AIDS • In the toolkit, you will find information on: • Context • National and local activities • Call for stories • Key dates for action • Themes and calls to action • Examples of media coverage that locates gender based violence (GBV) in the broader context of SRHR

3. Context HASHTAGS #SADCGenderBarometer10 #SADCGenderprotocol #VoiceandChoice #SheDecides #Childnotbride #RightbyHer #OurGirlsMatter #DayoftheGirlChild #SDG2018 HANDLES @GenderLinks @GenderProtocol @SAfAIDS • GL is working with partners in the Southern African Gender Protocol Alliance and in local government on a comprehensive campaign to ensure the full Sexual andReproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) of SADC citizens. • GL views media as an indispensable partner in increasing awareness and changing attitudes and behaviours on SRHR in the region.

4. National and local activities HASHTAGS #SADCGenderBarometer10 #SADCGenderprotocol #VoiceandChoice #SheDecides #Childnotbride #RightbyHer #OurGirlsMatter #DayoftheGirlChild #SDG2018 HANDLES @GenderLinks @GenderProtocol @SAfAIDS

5. Call for stories HASHTAGS #SADCGenderBarometer10 #SADCGenderprotocol #VoiceandChoice #SheDecides #Childnotbride #RightbyHer #OurGirlsMatter #DayoftheGirlChild #SDG2018 HANDLES @GenderLinks @GenderProtocol @SAfAIDS • GL is calling for stories that highlight the SRHR challenges that are evident in SADC countries. The slides on the different themes provide guidelines on some of the key issues. • You must submit at least twopublished stories to GL . These stories will be submitted for the SADC Gender Protocol@Work Summits • The stories must include the voices of key stakeholders and those most affected by the issues not only decision makers. • Take note of the key dates for action, you could cover issues that are relevant on particular days. • Please submit your story ideas using this link, please ensure that you include your budget. https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/4940617/SRHR-pitch-and-story-submission-form

6. Key dates for action International Women’s Day 8 March World Day of Social Justice 20 February World Cancer Day 4 February World Water Day 22 March Zero Discrimination Day 1 March International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation 6 February January to March

7. Key dates for action SADC Day 17 August International Youth Day 12 August World Day against Trafficking in Persons 30 July 19 June International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression 4 June InternationalDay to End Obstetric Fistula 23 May World Health Day 7 April April to August International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict

8. Key dates for action International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 17 October World Food Day 16 October International Day of the Girl Child 11 October World Mental Health Day 10 October International Day of Non Violence 2 October International Day of Safe Abortion 28 September International Day of Peace 21 September September to October

9. Key dates for action International Universal Health Coverage Day 12 December Human Rights Day 10 December International Day of Persons with Disabilities 3 December World AIDS Day 1 December International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women  25 November Universal Children’s Day 20 November World Toilet Day 19 November November to December

10. Menstrual health HASHTAGS/HANDLES #SADCGenderBarometer10 #VoiceandChoice #SheDecidesSADC #MenstruationMatters #period #menstruation #OurGirlsMatter #NoMoreLimits #SDG2018 @GenderLinks @GenderProtocol @SAfAIDS • There has been recent interest in supporting girls to ensure participation in education, with several projects providing disposable or re-usable sanitary napkins and collaborating with schools to ensure they have adequate sanitation facilities. Botswana is the only country in SADC that has a Menstrual Health Policy that requires schools to provide free sanitary pads. • Seychelles and Mauritius are clearly far ahead of the rest of SADC. Ten SADC countries do not have even 50% coverage of basic services nationally and, though urban coverage is much better, seven countries do not have 50% coverage of basic sanitation in urban areas. Water provisionis a critical issue for women’s health and wellbeing. • Calls to action • Adopt menstrual health policies to facilitate the provision of free or affordable sanitary pads. • Invest in programmes to bring safe drinking water and sanitation services to all, including rural and urban communities in all parts of the region.

11. Maternal health • HASHTAGS/HANDLES • #Voice&Choice • #SADCGenderBarometer10 • #SheDecidesSADC • #Childnotbride • #RightbyHer • #OurGirlsMatter • #DayoftheGirlChild • #SDG2018 • @GenderLinks • @GenderProtocol • @SAfAIDS • Maternal mortality represents one of the sharpest indicators of inequality. Thus, while maternal mortality in the developed world stands at only 12 per The maternal mortality rate in SADC varied from a high of 693 per 100 000 live births in DRC to a low of zero in Seychelles. • Countries also have internal inequalities between younger and older women, rural and urban, poorer and wealthier. Achieving the SADC Protocol goal of eliminating maternal mortality will require commitment from families, local authorities, national governments and development partners. • Call to action • Most maternal mortality is preventable with access to good prenatal, delivery and post-natal care. This includes at least four ANC visits, with the first in the first trimester of pregnancy; deliveries in health facilities, attended by skilled health personnel; special support for younger and older mothers; adequate spacing between pregnancies; safe abortion and post-abortion services; and prevention and management of malaria and HIV and AIDS.

12. Sexual education and services HASHTAGS/HANDLES #Voice&Choice #SADCGenderBarometer10 #SheDecidesSADC #SexualityEducation #WhySexualityEducation! #HealthRights4Youth #YouthSRHNOW @AfrYPoD @GenderLinks @GenderProtocol @SAfAIDS • Leaders in SADC must address the differentials in access to all sexual and reproductive health services and maternal health services between rural and urban and across wealth quintiles to achieve the goals of the SADC Protocol. • Considerable effort is being invested in HIV prevention including Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC), services for key populations such as harm reduction, condoms, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and continued Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT). South Africa is set to become the first country in Southern Africa to decriminalise sex work. • Call to action • Provide and promote evidence-based, human-rights based, quality, socio-culturally sensitive and dignified care, especially to women and new-borns. • Improve the quality of services for all, including training and motivation of health care providers. • Improve provision of SRHR services for adolescents, including information, menstrual health and access to contraceptives.

13. Teenage pregnancies HASHTAGS #Voice&Choice #Girlchild #MyBodyMyChoice #Voice&Choice #SheDecidesSADC #Childnotbride #RightbyHer #OurGirlsMatter #DayoftheGirlChild #IDG2018 #11Daysofaction HANDLES @GirlsNotBrides @GenderLinks @GenderProtocol @SAfAIDS • Teenage pregnancies prevent young girls from attending secondary school. In seven SADC countries (Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, DRC, Tanzania, Madagascar, Zimbabwe) more than 10% of every 1000 girls between the age of 15 and 19 have given birth. While a little lower, the rates of teenagers giving birth in Lesotho, Zambia and Namibia are between 7.6 and 9.3% per 1000 girls between ages 15 and 19. Mauritius and Botswana have the lowest rates of teenage pregnancies. • Though SADC has seen some progress in reducing child marriage (e.g. Malawi and Zambia), teenage pregnancy remains an issue in several countries in the region. • Calls to action • Ensure that adolescents have access to comprehensive sexual education and contraception. • Provide economic support to teenage mothers to facilitate their re-entry into schooling.

14. Safe abortion HASHTAGS/HANDLES #MyBodyMyChoice #SheDecidesSADC #RightbyHer #Savelivesdon’tmoralise #ReproductiveJustice #AbortionIsLegalinSA #NormaliseAbortion #SafeAbortionsSavesLives #OurBodiesOurFight #Sept28 #SDG2018 @GenderLinks @GenderProtocol @SAfAIDS • In 2006, the African Policy Framework on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights recommended that policymakers needed to consider the issue of unsafe abortion in a dispassionate way. They called on them to view it as a public health issue because it results in elevated levels of morbidity and mortality in women, and particularly young women. However, in most SADC countries, the legislative environment remains unsupportive of safe abortion. • South Africa and Mozambique offer legal abortion without qualification. Click here to read the Gender Links and SAFAIDS Abortion fact sheet. • Calls to action • Increasing accessibility and availability of contraception to all to reduce the need for termination of pregnancy. • Reviewing legislation and provision of services to make safe abortions more readily available.

15. HIV and AIDS HASHTAGS/HANDLES #VoiceandChoice #SADCGenderBarometer10 #SheDecidesSADC #worldaidsday #TellSomeone #PrEP #knowyourstatus #EndAIDS #TreatmentForAll #SDG2018 @GenderLinks @GenderProtocol@SAfAIDS • SADC is still the epicentre of the HIV epidemic, accounting for 38% of new infections globally in 2017. South Africa accounts for 39% of new infections in SADC, Mozambique 15% and Tanzania 10%. Though rates of new infections are declining, at the current rate of decline the region will still have at least 570, 000 new infections annually in 2020, more than double the target of 230,000. • Young women 15 to 24 years old are only 10% of the total population but 26% of new HIV infections. • Call to action • Focus of prevention, including prevention of gender based violence and access to services for the most marginalised. Currently only 20% of global funding for HIV is being focused on prevention. • Focus on adolescents and young people, one of the best vaccines for young people is to make sure that they are in schools which are safe, supportive and where they are learning skills that they can use in life. • The epidemic in young girls and women must be tackled with specific approaches tailored to this age group and must also include boys and young men.

16. Gender based violence HASHTAGS/HANDLES #VoiceandChoice #SADCGenderBarometer10 #SheDecidesSADC #16daysofactivism #endvaw #orangetheworld #HearMeToo #metoo #GBV #SDG2018 @GenderLinks @GenderProtocol @SAfAIDS • SADC is working towards a regional approach to meet the goal of “eliminating” gender-based violence by 2030. Despite the fact that 12 out of the 15 countries now have domestic violence legislation and 13 have sexual assault legislation, criminal justice system responses to GBV remain weak throughout the region. • Fourteen countries now have legislation on sexual harassment. All countries have laws on human trafficking, but many lack the data to track victims. Allcountries offer some form of services to survivors of GBV, however under-resourced NGOs continue to do most of the work. All countries offer comprehensive treatment, including PEP, to survivors of violence. • Calls to action • Preventionneeds to sit at the centre rather than at the end of the continuum for ending GBV. • Many countries provide services to survivors and perpetrators of GBV, services are of low quality, better support services are needed. • Addressing the different forms GBV requires strengthening the multi-sectoral approach.

17. Child marriages HASHTAGS/HANDLES #Voice&Choice #Girlchild #MyBodyMyChoice #Voice&Choice #SheDecidesSADC #Childnotbride #RightbyHer #OurGirlsMatter #DayoftheGirlChild #IDG2018 #withMalala #11Daysofaction @GirlsNotBrides @GenderLinks @GenderProtocol @SAfAIDS • While all SADC countries subscribe to a minimum age for marriage for girls and boys there are often exceptions to the law. SADC Parliamentarians adopted a model law to eradicate child marriages in June 2016. The law aims to address any inconsistencies and gaps in national laws. The law stipulates that girls and boys can only marry after they are 18 years old. • SADC member states need to explicitly outlaw child marriages and align their national laws and policies to the SADC Model Law to Eradicate Child Marriages. Click here to read the Girl Child fact sheet. • Call to action • End child marriage, including legislation and mobilisation of families and local leaders.

18. Sexual Diversity HASHTAGS/HANDLES #Voice&Choice #SADCGenderBarometer10 #loveislove #lgbtinclusion #diversity #beyou #bornthisway #betrue #takepride #poweredbypride #lgbtsupporter HANDLES @GenderLinks @GenderProtocol @SAfAIDS • While all SADC countries subscribe to human rights and dignity only South Africa, Mozambique and DRC have decriminalised homosexuality. Homophobia runs high in most SADC countries. South Africa is the only country in the world with a constitution that recognises sexual orientation and only African country in which gay marriages are legal. But lesbian women are frequently subjected to GBV. • Click here to read the GL Policy Brief on LGTIQA. • Call to action • Decriminalise homosexuality; recognise all forms of sexual orientation and gender identity.

19. Examples of SRHR stories