The UCLA Bixby Center on Population and Reproductive Health and UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center present a conference on gender inclusivity in family planning programs and policies in Africa.
Friday, October 15, 2010
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
4240 Public Affairs Bldg.
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA 90095
For the past two decades, efforts to prevent HIV transmission and treat those affected have absorbed the lion’s share of human and financial resources for reproductive health in sub-Saharan Africa. Whereas the 1970s and 80s had witnessed considerable research into African fertility and the introduction of programmatic innovations in family planning service delivery—such as social marketing and community-based delivery—in recent years these efforts have stagnated and fertility reduction in much of Africa has stalled. The purpose of this conference is to examine previous efforts through a “gender lens,” and to consider how a better understanding of men and masculinities in Africa could inform a new era of family planning service delivery.
Gender is increasingly used as an analytical framework for understanding poverty and health in Africa, but generally it focuses on the challenges and disadvantages facing women and girls. Yet gender is a relational identity which should include males. In the past, family planning programs and policies in Africa have centered exclusively on women and girls, with little attention to the relationship context, gender roles, and masculinities.
This conference will consider a gender perspective on fertility and family planning that is inclusive of men and boys. The first day will focus on the broader constructions of African masculinities in different regional, ethnic and national contexts with special attention to fertility and sexuality. The second day will address family planning in varied African contexts, with special attention to gender inclusivity.
Registration to this conference is free. If you are not a presenter and would like to attend, please contact Rachel Veerman at rveerman(at)ucla.edu. To attend you must register. (Space is limited.)
Registration and breakfast will be from 8:15 to 9:00 AM. The first panel presentation will begin promptly at 9:00 AM.
Tentative Schedule Subject to Change
Oct 15, Day 2: Men and Family Planning in Africa
REGISTRATION AND BREAKFAST (8:15a-9:00a)
Panel 4 (9:00a – 10:00a): Innovations in Family Planning Service Delivery in Africa
Philip Adongo, University of Ghana, “Empowering women culturally and addressing men's concerns about reproductive health services in a rural community mobilization program in northern Ghana.”
Joshua Davis, IntraHealth International, “New evidence on vasectomy and male involvement in family planning in Rwanda.”
Alice Cartwright, VSI, “Increasing access to family planning outside the clinic walls: DMPA provision by community health workers in Ethiopia.”
Keynote #2 (10:00a-10:50a)
Professor Caroline Bledsoe, Northwestern University, “Men, Fertility and Family Planning in West Africa”
Panel 5 (11:15a – 12:30p) HIV, Fertility Desires, and Family Planning
Sara Newmann, UCSF, “Fertility desires and family planning decision-making among HIV- affected couples in Nyanza province, Kenya.”
Rachel Steinfeld, UCSF, “Fertility intentions, family planning preferences, and views on the integration of family planning services into HIV care and treatment among HIV-infected men in Nyanza province, Kenya.”
Anne Moore, Guttmacher Institute, “HIV-positive women's and men's reports of their and their partners' fertility preferences: Case studies of Zambia and Nigeria.”
Megan Kavanaugh, University of Pittsburg, “Men’s abortion attitudes in the context of HIV.”
Keynote #3 (1:45p – 2:30p)
Dr. Isaiah Ndong, Vice President, EngenderHealth, “Men and Family Planning in Africa: What works? What next?”
Panel 6 (3:00 –4:15p) Contraceptive Behaviors and Power Dynamics
Rob Stephenson, Emory University, “Constructs of power and equity and their association with contraceptive use among African men and women.”
Jeremiah Chikovore, Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa, “Men’s perspectives of family planning and abortion in Zimbabwe.”
Adel Takruri, Johns Hopkins University, “The role of men in fertility decisions in southern Egypt.”
Susan Igras, Georgetown University, “Engaged and engendered: Men, women, and child spacing in Mali.”
General Discussion on Men and Family Planning in Africa (4:15 – 4:45p) - moderated by Tavrow and Pebley
Conference concludes at 5 PM.
African Studies Center 310-825-3686
africa@international.ucla.edu
www.international.ucla.edu/africa
Download file: MMFPA_Conference_Agenda_10 7 10.pdf
Sponsor(s): African Studies Center, UCLA Bixby Center on Population and Reproductive Health