Regional Meeting on Implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

(WHO FCTC), Dakar, Senegal, 9–12 October 2012

Dr Mariam Tendou Kamara, R.Ph HIV Focal point

UN Women in West Africa

UN Women and its role in assisting Parties with mainstreaming of gender sensitive policies and programmes at country level in the context of WHO

UN Women: Overview Mandate and Priority Areas

• UN Women’s Mandate • 5 Key Priorities/Thematic areas•Co Sponsor of UNAIDS as of 2012• H4+/HHA

UN Women in Health:Since 2008, UN Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO) and The World Bank, later joined by UNAIDS and very recently by UN Women, have joined forces to become the Health 4+ (H4+)

Gender Equality: HHA ensures that gender equality is an integral part of all activities and mainstreamed throughout all processes.

“Gender” is defined as the social, economic, and cultural construct of the relations between men and women, and, as such, it underlies the social construction of tobacco promotion, consumption, treatment, and healthservices.

Gender inequality contributes to women’s lack of participation in health policy decision-making.

Gender inequality is embedded in institutions at many levels, from the household to macroeconomic structures.

Why equity in Tobacco control?

Why a gender sensitive perspective?• The emphasis given to men reflects gender

discrimination and the inequality underlying many tobacco control programmes.

• When women are held responsible for reproductive health, much less medical attention has been paid to the negative health effects of paternal smoking on fertility and the health of the fetus.

• The majority of victims of second-hand smoke (SHS) are women and children, exposed in their homes through the smoking of men.

• Pregnancy and Postpartum Smoking Cessation programs, concludes that for female users of tobacco and their partners, pregnancy represents an opportunity to quit

HOW

• Integrating a gender perspective into tobacco control requires an analysis of how biological, social, economic, and cultural factors influence health risks and outcomes and lead to different needs for males and females.

• A gender framework for tobacco control focuses attention on the social, cultural, and economic factor underlying tobacco use among women throughout the life-course.

• Gender Responsive planning and budgeting to be reinforced through training of key actors involved at various levels of planning

Entry points for action• Governments must improve coordination with

national agencies and stakeholders for women’s affairs, provide adequate financing, and apply indicators for gender equality in national planning.

• Gender mainstreaming of policies is more likely to succeed if gender experts are included at senior policy levels. Budgeting for gender equality

• requires development of sensitive, cost-effective indicators

• and baseline data disaggregated by age as well as by sex

UN Women support : Part 1 Current examples of interventions:• UN Women and the Muskoka Program: applying the principles of gender

sensitive programming to influence the social determinants on maternal mortality through the fight against Gender Based Violence

• With UN Women support and the Italian Cooperation the Ministry of Women Affairs in Mali developed a strategy to combat violence against women and girls, accompanied by an action plan to guide interventions and enable consistency in the strategies adopted.

• In June 2011, the National Popular Assembly (ANP) of Guinea-Bissau approved a law prohibiting female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C). (had been on the table for discussion for 16 years, before it was ultimately approved by 64 votes in favor to 1 vote against).

UN Women support : Part 2

Providing Technical supportProviding Technical support:• In Harmonizing national policies and

machineries in integrating gender specific issues affecting women and children through the Ministries of Health, and Gender

• Strengthening Monitoring and Evaluation at various levels

• Responding to specific needs at community level in the planning processes

THANK YOU

For your Kind attention!

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