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Health Education and Research Association - HERA
ContextHealth Educationa and Research Association - HERA is a leading organisation in the civil society sector working towards the promotion and enhancement of sexual and reproductive health and rights, especially in the area of provision of direct services in its centers and during its outreach work. Currently it is implementing a number of projects, primarily for the youth and the vulnerable, including those people who are at the brink of the social and economic ladder, the Roma and the people who live with HIV and AIDS, as well as men having sex with men and sex workers, providing them access to comprehensive information, sexual education, as well as free and confidential health and social services.
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Area of Work:
Macedonia Contact Person:
Lenka Popovska |
During the course of the last several years HERA concentrated its efforts in building the capacities of the civil society sector, the education and health systems all in order to introduce the concept of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Along with its direct service provision, the capacity building process in those relevant institutions and organizations and the awareness-raising in general, HERA strongly committed itself to the advocacy in favor of introducing better national policies and legislation in order for the country to accomplish highest possible standards in the realm of sexual and reproductive health and rights for its people.
HERA also has set the following five areas of priority which will be this NGO’s main field of work during the course of the next four years:
Abortion – in order to guarantee the right of choice to any woman, provide access to safe and legal abortion and increase the rate of use of contraception;
Adolescents – in order to achieve greater consciousness among the youth with regard to their sexual and reproductive health and rights and provide access to comprehensive information, education and services for the enhancements of sexual and reproductive health among the youth;
HIV/AIDS – in order to achieve lower rates of HIV/AIDS prevalence in the country, which is in accordance with the 2007 – 2011 National HIV/AIDS Strategy and provide full protection of the rights of the persons infected and affected by HIV.
Access – in order to serve each person with valid information and knowledge in connection with his/her sexual and reproductive health and provide access to a variety of services in order for each person to be able to exercise his/her health, social, sexual and reproductive rights;
Advocacy – in order to achieve full compliance with the different needs of each individual and to protect his/her rights and in this sense achieve highest possible standards, harmonize accordingly: national policies, regulations, laws and programs in connection with sexual and reproductive health and rights.
HERA also has set the following five areas of priority which will be this NGO’s main field of work during the course of the next four years:
Abortion – in order to guarantee the right of choice to any woman, provide access to safe and legal abortion and increase the rate of use of contraception;
Adolescents – in order to achieve greater consciousness among the youth with regard to their sexual and reproductive health and rights and provide access to comprehensive information, education and services for the enhancements of sexual and reproductive health among the youth;
HIV/AIDS – in order to achieve lower rates of HIV/AIDS prevalence in the country, which is in accordance with the 2007 – 2011 National HIV/AIDS Strategy and provide full protection of the rights of the persons infected and affected by HIV.
Access – in order to serve each person with valid information and knowledge in connection with his/her sexual and reproductive health and provide access to a variety of services in order for each person to be able to exercise his/her health, social, sexual and reproductive rights;
Advocacy – in order to achieve full compliance with the different needs of each individual and to protect his/her rights and in this sense achieve highest possible standards, harmonize accordingly: national policies, regulations, laws and programs in connection with sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Approaches to implementing Community monitoring/accountability
HERA is leader organisation responsible for implementation of the Project – community monitoring of antenatal care among Roma women living in Suto Orizari. HERA promotes the concept of accountability through implementation of the following activities: Capacity building on community monitoring of antenatal care among Roma women of local Roma CBOs, Conducting outreach work and workshops for right entitlements among roma women, development of policy analysis on antenatal care, development of community score card, development of brochures for right entitlement, community mobilisation, media advocacy and advocacy for improvement of antenatal care among Roma women .
Results and lessons
So far, following results were achieved through implementation of Community monitoring project:
- Developed policy analysis on antenatal care;
- 35 people from local CBOs and community trained for outreach work;
- More than 3500 brochures for antenatal care rights were distributed among Roma women. Total of 125 Roma women covered through the Capacity building workshops for right entitlement on antenatal care, ;
- Total of 495 Roma women (221 pregnant women and 274 women in reproductive age) were reached with outreach activities for community mobilisation.
- Developed community score card and organised event for public sharing of the results from CSC where policy makers, service providers and community achieve agreement on changes that are needed in order to improve quality of antenatal care services assessed with the CSC.
