Adolescents

HIV and AIDS

Tackling HIV/AIDS has become one of AWRO’s main concerns. Since 2003 all of the AWR MAs have been involved in HIV/AIDS work and introduced ongoing programs to educate young people about STIs and HIV/AIDS.

We work both alone and in close partnership with governmental and non-governmental organizations and with international organizations to reduce barriers that make people vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.

Reducing the Regional incidence of HIV/AIDS and increasing access to prevention, care and services through combating stigma and discrimination against PLWHIV is our main aim. Read more

Access

Much more work needs to be done to ensure that all people, particularly the poor, marginalized and socially-excluded, have access to sexual and reproductive health information, sexuality education and high quality services.

There are variations among countries, but the overall fertility rate in the AWR remains high; and half of AWR countries have a maternal mortality rate exceeding 200 per 100,000 live births.

Modern method contraceptive prevalence rates vary but are relatively low; half of all AWR countries have a rate of less than 40%. Specific strategies are needed, particularly for rural populations, who continue to be greatly underserved. Read more
 

Abortion

Despite the prevailing legal and religious strictures in the Arab World Region (AWR), abortion is still performed under hazardous conditions (unsafe) resulting in 5%* of all maternal deaths in the AWR.

IPPF AWR strategy aims at reducing the incidence of unsafe abortion through improving access to information and health education, data collection about the magnitude of the problem and its consequences and advocacy. Read more 

Advocacy

Strengthening our role as the strongest voice for sexual and reproductive health and rights is at the very heart of our work for implementing our strategic plan. Advocacy-at the individual, community, national, regional and global levels-is a powerful tool by which IPPF/AWR is able to increase its impact.

We have the potential to be very effective in our advocacy at the regional and country level, taking into consideration our specificities, needs and priorities to build up political, public and financial support for our issues,  therefore,  we have to act immediately, since many challenges are facing the region.

This can be done through different strategies such as building effective partnerships, attending international and regional meetings, working with parliamentarians to raise awareness of and mobilize support for the goals set forth in the International Conference on Population and Development, the UN Millennium Summit. Read more

Within the Region’s strategic plan, strategic interventions have been incorporated within each of the five A’s that relate to capacity-building, resource mobilization, governance and policy and evaluation. Similarly, interventions related to gender and rights, which are an important cross-cutting issue for the Region and for all MAs, have been incorporated within the overall portfolio of interventions to address adolescents and young people, HIV/AIDS, access to services, abortion, and advocacy.