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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Rossana Cifuentes, MD¹, Cizel Zea, MD, MPA¹, Esther Tahrir, MPH², and Gwendolyn Smith, MPA². (1) Master in Public Health Program, University of San Carlos Guatemala, Centro Universitario Metropolitana, 9 avenue 9-45 Zone 11, Edificio de Investigacion D, Nivel 3, Guatemala City, Guatemala, 502-2-485-1900, rcifuentese@yahoo.com, (2) International Health Programs, Public Health Institute, 210 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

The defense and promotion of human rights (HR) is one of the most valuable social practices that the Mesoamerican region has contributed to the field of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) through highlighting exclusion in economic, social, political and cultural arenas. Therefore, the development and implementation of international SRH programs in Mesoamerica should be based on evidence based practice and founded in HR, gender and inter-cultural practices and the rights-based approach of Cairo and Beijing that “family planning exist within the broader framework of SRH and sexual and reproductive rights (SRR) ”.

From the beginning, Mesoamerican leaders participating in the International Family Planning Leadership Program (IFPLP) saw the need to advocate that IFPLP respond to the socio-cultural context of the region based on a HR framework. This contribution and participant leadership is evidenced in the expansion of the mission and values of IFPLP from Family Planning (FP) to HR, as well as reflected in the curriculum design, reading material and selection of trainers and Fellows. In shifting IFPLP to Mesoamerica in 2004, the regional counterparts further expanded HR through focusing the training on lived experiences and rights of the participants and expanding the curriculum topics of gender equity, inter-culturalism, and SRR to cross-cutting themes. This participant-driven initiative to base IFPLP on HR and SRR is reflected in the institutionalization of IFPLP as an accredited Specialization in Leadership in SRH within the University of San Carlos Guatemala and naming of the Alumni Network the “Mesoamerican Network of SRH and SRR”.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Identify necessary elements in the transition to democracy within Mesoamerica in order to successfully develop and implement regional Sexual and Reproductive Health Programs.
• 2. Identify important decision makers in regional social movements to assure the building of strategic and innovative alliances.

Keywords: Leadership, Latin American

Related Web page: www.ihp.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered