During the last two weeks of May, representatives of makhallyas (communities) of Andijan, Namangan, Fergana, Surkhandarya and Khorezm regions participated in series of cascade training sessions on the issues of male involvement into reproductive health and rights. The training has been organized by UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and Uzbek Association for Reproductive Health (UARH), supported by International Planned Parenthood Federation’s European Network (IPPF-EN). The series of 3-day training sessions was organized for advisers and activists of makhallyas, so that they could in turn organize similar informational sessions for men back in their communities. More than 100 makhallya representatives of the five regions were covered by training sessions.
As men play an important role in decision making process in the family, the main objective of this training was increasing awareness of men in the makhallyas and demonstrate positive attitude and practices regarding the issues of reproductive health and rights, including prevention of sexually-transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS, family planning and gender issues.
Informational sessions covered, among others, the concepts of reproductive health and main principles of reproductive rights, gender equality and equality of roles and responsibilities in the families, as well as the role of makhallyas and other community organizations in safeguarding the families in Uzbekistan.
The sub-project “Male involvement into reproductive health and rights issues in Uzbekistan” is being successfully implemented since 2010, by joint efforts of UNFPA and UARH, with support of IPPF-EN. This initiative is part of UNFPA’s work in educating various target groups on the issues of reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and gender equality.
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