A regional collaboration to address SRHR and nutrition

Soul City’s regional partner organisation in Mozambique, N’weti in partnership with MASC Mozambique, will be hosting an international conference on SRHR from 2^nd to 3^rd April 2014 in Maputo. The conference is supported by USAID, DANIDA, Irish AID and DFID. Themed “Exchange of Experience in Monitoring and Advocacy of Quality and Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health, Nutrition and HIV/AIDS” the conference will be attended by partners from the SADC region. Partners will share experiences and showcase success stories on advocating for and advancing SRHR and improving access to better nutrition in their respective countries.

The conference aims to enliven dialogue and reflection between the government, partners and national and international civil society organisations. The objectives of the conference are:

• to reflect upon the various approaches and the national and international mechanisms for monitoring and advocacy of the quality of health, nutrition and HIV/AIDS; to map and discuss the effectiveness of existing public policies in the area of health, nutrition and HIV/AIDS;
• To understand the existing strategies of coordination between public and private stakeholders faced with the problematic of HIV/AIDS and Nutrition;

• To contribute towards the training and strengthening of CSO networks and skills oriented towards the monitoring and advocacy of Reproductive Health, Nutrition and HIV/AIDS Programmes;
• To raise the level of awareness of ordinary citizens about the importance of their involvement in the defence of their rights and duties linked to the quality of health.

Regional partners have similar yet unique experiences to share with their counterparts. Mozambique is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of HIV /AIDS. With over half a million children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS, levels of chronic malnutrition increased. Add to this an increase in food insecurity and a lack of dietary diversity, there is a major impact on effective treatment, care and support programmes for the populace.

These are just some of the challenges the country aims to share with partners and together reflect on strategies for public-private coordination faced with issues of nutrition and HIV/AIDS and seek ways in which to increase knowledge about existing public policies in the area of health, nutrition and HIV/AIDS.

Partners will share ideas for drawing up innovative approaches in the areas of monitoring and advocacy about the quality of sexual and reproductive health, nutrition and HIV/AIDS and strengthen cooperation networks between national and international CSOs. CSOs will be further strengthened in terms of knowledge of their involvement and participation as their duty to influence the planning of health, nutrition and HIV/AIDS care.

View the conference programme here...