As part of our commitment to strengthening the women’s movement through building regional partnerships for advocacy, the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) periodically organizes regional strategic planning meetings. At these events, our partners participate in identifying emerging challenges to women’s health and rights, and facilitate regional cooperation aimed at enhancing the national […]

While the ARROW-organised symposium at the 4th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSH) looked at Catholicism, Hinduism and Islam, we saw many convergences in the excellent presentations showing all too 1graphically what religious exceptionalism is, and what impact it can have. I will summarise these convergences around six points: Rhetoric: […]

As we enter our fourteenth year of operations, ARROW’s strength continues to be our special niche in the region as a women’s health and rights programme which focuses on: i. The strategic dissemination of action-oriented information, materials and analytical tools; ii. Research, monitoring and evidence-based policy advocacy at national, regional and international levels; and iii. […]

Sexuality has been and still is considered as a sensitive and taboo issue in Vietnamese society. Yet this does not mean that Vietnamese people do not talk about sexuality. Sexuality issues are discussed in daily life, but mostly in the form of jokes or sexual innuendoes. Talking about sexuality as a serious issue in communications, […]

Rural women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are not simple and straightforward issues that can be addressed effectively and efficiently through universal blueprints developed in urban centers. They represent a complexity and dynamism that need to be understood because strategies to address the concerned issues would have to be placed within the domain […]

ແນວທາງການດຳເນີນວິຖີຊີວິດທາງເພດ (Sexuality) ມຢີ ຫູ່່ າຼ ກຫາຼ ຍດວ້ ຍກນັ . ບນັ ດາ ແນວທາງທ່ີໃຊ້ຫຼາຍທ່ີສຸດແງ່ຂະຫຍາຍຕົວ ດາ້ ນ “ສຂຸ ະພາບ” ແລະ “ການປອ້ ງກນັ ການ ໃຊຄ້ວາມຮນຸແຮງ” , ຊງ່ືຖກືຢນືຢນັແລວ້ວາ່ເປນັ ຈດຸເລມ່ີຕນ້ົ ທເ່ີປນັປະໂຫຍດໃນການປະຕບິດັ ວຽກງານດາ້ ນວຖິ ຊີ ວີ ດິ ທາງເພດ ແລະ ເປນັ ເລອ່ື ງ ຂດັ ແຍງ່ ໃນສງັ ຄມົ ອະນລຸ ກັ ນຍິ ມົ ຫາຼ ຍ ແຫງ່ . ແຕວ່ າ່ ຍອ້ ນບນັ ດາແນວທາງທງັ ສອງ ນ້ັນມີເປ້ົາໝາຍທ່ີສະເພາະເຈາະຈົງເພ່ືອສ່ົງ ເສີມສຸຂະພາບຫືເຼພ່ອືປ້ອງກັນຄວາມຮຸນແຮງ […]

There are many ways to approach work on sexuality. The most common approaches are from health and violence prevention perspectives, which have proven to be useful entry points for work on sexuality that can be controversial in many of our conservative societies. However, because these approaches have specific purpose—to promote health or to prevent violence—they […]

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) has a young population structure, with 54% of its 5.6 million population below 20 years of age, and 23.7% being 10-24 years of age. This makes issues related to adolescents and young people, including their sexual and reproductive health (SRH), of extreme significance. Several factors affect the attainment of […]