ASTRA activity in 2004

Study Tour - Geneva

From January 10 to 15, 2004, a study tour of ASTRA members to the international institutions working in the area of the reproductive and sexual health and rights took place in Geneva , Switzerland . The tour was organised thanks to a special grant from the Public Health Program of the OSI. Also, several ASTRA representatives participated in the European Population Forum which took place in Geneva from 12 to 14 January, 2004. 

ADVISORY BOARD II

In June 11-12 (2004) the meeting of ASTRA's Advisory Board (AB) took place in Warsaw. 
AB's discussions focused on the three topics which has been outlined in the discussions both within ASTRA and among AB members.

ASTRA WORKSHOP IN YEREVAN ( ARMENIA )

On 6-10 October ASTRA organized the international conference on advocacy for RSHR which took place in Yerevan/Armenia. The conference was organised (in terms of logistics) and hosted by Women's Rights Center from Armenia , ASTRA member, and gathered NGOs from Eastern Europe and Central Asia . The aim of the conference was for ASTRA members and NGOs from the region to get to know each other and to open possibilities of building partnerships and cooperating in the future.  

GLOBAL ROUNDTABLE - COUNTDOWN 2015

Twelve ASTRA members participated in the London Roundtable – a large NGO forum commemorating 10 years from the adoption of the Programme of Action in Cairo 1994 by most countries of the world. The main purpose of the conference was to assess the status of the implementation and to strategize for the advancement of the SRHR in international agendas and funding policies. The conference ended with quite good declaration . You can read it  at:  http://www.countdown2015.org/ContentController.aspx?ID=4516

Conference on Medical Abortion - OCtober

The conference was organized by the ICMA (International Consortium on Medical Abortion) in Johannesburg.  The Conference was very successful due to quality
presentations and participants. There were 120 participants - doctors,
policy makers and women's advocates -  from 50 countries incl. 8 ASTRA
members plus 3 other persons from CEE - all very committed and
preffesional. Wanda Nowicka (ASTRA Network, Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning) as a member of  ICMA Steering Committee was participating in
Organizing Committee.

ASTRA website was significantly improved. Changes to the website include:

-          some changes in general design of the website (what’s new and ASTRA publication sections, the color proportion)

-          update of the policy and activities section

-          publication on the webpage of the reports on ASTRA events (ASTRA strategy planning session and advocacy workshop in Sofia/Bulgaria; report on the Advisory Board meeting; study tour in Brussels) and ASTRA open letters (on Bush administration HIV-GAG rule policy; a letter to the president of Portugal)

-          all issues of the ASTRA Network’s bulletin  (11 issues from the year 2004)

-          publication on the ASTRA website of the report: Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Health in Central and Eastern Europe

-          running the astrarhr list – internet discussing group of the ASTRA Network. Astra members and people involved in ASTRA meetings use this forum to discuss future plans and activities of their organisations and the network itself. It gives ASTRA members the  possibility to share their skills and information about the region

-          running AstraYouth list – Internet discussion list of ASTRA member organisations' youth activists. The list serves similar aims as the above described astrarhr list.

Publications

ASTRA has been preparing a guide for NGOs on how to use European system of human rights protection (namely European Court of Human Rights) to protect reproductive rights of women from CEE countries - GUIDE: How to use the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in matters of reproductive law: the case law: The case law of the European Court of Human Rights. 
In January 2004 ASTRA prepared, especially for the European Population Forum in which ASTRA members participated, a publication collecting reports from ASTRA member countries ( Armenia , Belarus , Bulgaria , Croatia , Georgia , Poland , Romania , Russia , Slovakia , Ukraine ), entitled "Reproductive health and rights in Central and Eastern Europe ".
In June 2004 ASTRA published the fact sheet Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the European Union (EU) – Present status and potential directions for advancement.
If you want to receive hard copies of these publications, please contact ASTRA secretariat.

ASTRA Bulletin

ASTRA Bulletin has been published every month. The bulletin is sent via e-mail to more than 800 recipients worldwide, and new ones are still joining the list. The bulletin provides information about the situation in the field of RSHR in CEE countries, not only to NGOs and individuals working in the region, but also to those who do not work directly in CEE, yet still need information and would like to be updated on the situation there. The bulletin is prepared by the editorial committee composed of three ASTRA members' representatives and ASTRA secretariat staff. ASTRA members contribute to each issue of the bulletin with information from their countries, as well as information about their mother organisations' activities or relevant national and international events. 

ASTRA activity in 2005

ASTRA WORKSHOP

ASTRA Brainstorming meeting , Warsaw/Poland, 11-12 February
The brainstorming session was realized as the part of the project founded by UNFPA: Advocacy for Reproductive Health and Rights: Developing the strategy at national and regional level in the context of European Integration. All participants were representing the new EU and applicant countries for the CEE region – ASTRA member organization (representatives of Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland).
Facilitators of the meeting: Julia Ekong - Senior Advocacy Manager, Marie Stopes International (London) and Joyce Haarbrink - European Advocacy Manager, Marie Stopes International (Brussels).  

meeting in the European Parliament - Brussels, 16 February

Meeting in the European Parliament - The Enlarged EU and Related Challenges for the SRH&R was organized by EuroNGOs with the support of Anne Van Lancker, Member of the Parliament, Chair of The Parliamentary Working Group on Reproductive Health, and HIV/AIDS in Development Cooperation (EPWG) .
Three ASTRA representatives participated in this event: Esmeralda Kuliesyte ( Lithuania ), Wanda Nowicka and Elwira Chrusciel (Poland, ASTRA secretariat).
Next they took part in the:

EURONGOS CONFERENCE, 17-18 FEBRUARY

The conference "Poverty, Politics and Sex: Will the Millennium Development Goals Deliver Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights". The conference's participants were UN experts, EU policy-makers, donor agencies, parliamentarians and the civil society. The one of the objectives was to examine and assess progress and challenges in ensuring that central goals of ICPD are prioritized within the interpretation and implementation of the MDGs.

Bejing+10

17 ASTRA representatives participated in the 49th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women on Review and Appraisal of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA ) which was held in New York UN Headquarters from 27 February till 11 March 2005 . The session brought together ministers from numerous countries and thousands of women from all over the world.
The adoption of the Declaration reaffirming Beijing at 10 was a significant success of progressive governments and international women’s movement.  

ASTRA position statements

Publications

ASTRA published the report:  Closing the Gap on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Enlarged European Union. Inside you can find: ASTRA recommendations to the EU in the area of SRHR, general framework of health protection within the EU related to SRHR, situation connected with contraception, abortion, sexuality education, HIV/AIDS in CEE countries and the EU. You can order hard copy in ASTRA secretariat office.