Dear colleagues,
We are very happy to report that we had successful meetings in Johannesburg October 1-5, 2012 on “Gender transformative norms” and “UNAIDS Agenda for accelerated action on HIV for Women and Girls”.
UNFPA staff members from ESA countries and partners were committed, working very hard, sometimes late in the day to carry the assignments and share experiences. It was a wonderful week, rich and exciting. A total of 77 participants (35 females and 42 males) from 19 ESA countries and Sierra Leone, actively contributed to the positive outcomes of the meetings. More country offices nominated participants and unfortunately we could not accommodate their requests, because of dateline in finalising the logistic preparation. The final reports will be shared with all of you as soon as they are available.
We are exploring the possibility of organising another capacity building workshops early in 2013 for countries that could not make it this time.
We would like to thank all ESA UNFPA Country Office Representatives for their support, UNFPA staff and MenEngage Network members. Tremendous experiences and incredible good practices from the countries were presented, we need to keep the momentum and find a way of capturing those experiences. UNFPA staff and MenEngage Network members have seen the potential and opportunities of collaboration. We encourage you to explore more the strategies of involving men and boys in SRH, GBV and HIV programmes.
We are confident that you will use some of the knowledge shared while preparing your 2013 AWPs. You can count on SROJ support in this regard.
Mr Luis Mora Chief of Gender, Human Rights and Culture Branch (GHRCB), Ms Nafissatou Diop Coordinator of the FGM/C UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme and Ms Leyla Sharafi Gender Specialist (GHRCB) took part in the meetings and brought us insights and global perspectives. SROJ, UNFPA CO staff members and the partners appreciated their contributions and interaction during the week. We felt privileged by their participation. We take this opportunity to thank them again for their technical and financial support.
Finally, we would like to thank Sonke Gender Justice, Athena Network, HEARD and Ms Caroline Sande from UNAIDS for their excellent partnership, collaboration and valuable contribution.
With regards
Seynabou Tall