Actress Catarina Furtado goes to Mozambique
	Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta on HIV/AIDS and India
	Indian actress Shabana Azmi's challenge
	French NGO Equilibres & Populations tackles healthcare in Senegal
	Christine Magistretti of IFPD working with Mali Women's Association

April, 2001. Catarina Furtado, Portuguese actress, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador and Face to Face Campaign spokesperson, went to Mozambique for the first time to meet with government and NGO representatives concerned with sexual and reproductive health. The visit was organized by the Portuguese family planning association, Associação para o Planeamento da Familia (APF) with the assistance of AMODEFA (the local family planning association), UNFPA representatives and the Portuguese Embassy in Mozambique. Ms. Furtado, joined by the Portuguese Parliamentarians Group for Population and Development and journalists from SIC television and Lux magazine, also visited community hospitals and assistance centers for young people. A video journal of the visit aired on the Portuguese television show Mundo VIP. Mozambique television covered the study visit as well.

In Mozambique, the statistics are grave: two in 100 pregnant women die as a result of childbirth, due to a severe shortage of services for pregnant women. Twenty percent of the population is infected with HIV. Thirty percent of females under the age of 18 are mothers, drastically limiting the opportunities for both them and their children. The country has high rates of unsafe and illegal abortions.

After dozens of interviews with women and youth, Ms. Furtado spoke with local officials and media representatives about the repercussions of violence against women, and the importance of male responsibility in family planning and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Ms. Furtado also addressed the importance of HIV/AIDS education -- particularly in a community where many people still believe that AIDS is an invention of Europe and does not affect them -- and called for increased investment in prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, along with improved care and services for pregnant women.

Ms. Furtado's visit culminated with the donation of computers to a local NGO.

The Summer 2001 issue of the National Council of Jewish Women's Journal features UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Lara Dutta on its cover. The entire issue is about international family planning, and it strongly supports the work of UNFPA. It includes articles by Face to Face Campaign Spokesperson Lara Dutta, UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid and Rep. Joseph Crowley.

Ms. Dutta speaks out on the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in India and the importance of open and frank talk about sex in a culture of silence. Ms. Obaid describes the work of UNFPA and its efforts to realize the vision agreed to at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. Mr. Crowley says that passing the UNFPA amendment in 1999 was one of the proudest moments of his congressional career.

The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a volunteer organization that works through a program of research, education, advocacy and community service to improve the quality of life for women, children and families, and strives to ensure individual rights and freedoms for all.

UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador, Face to Face Campaign Spokesperson, Actress, Parliamentarian and Social Activist, Shabana Azmi is a busy woman. Ms. Azmi believes that each member of our society has the ability to change the present social condition of those whose rights and needs are being denied or ignored.

Today, Ms. Azmi challenges all of us to think about how we can individually and collectively help rural women in India with a need most of us in the more developed countries take for granted - sanitary napkins.

Sanitary napkins are used by only about 2% of women in rural India because they are difficult to access and costly to buy at Rs 35 for 10 pads (about US$ 0.90). A survey done by MARG found that rural women can afford no more than Rs 15 for a packet of 10 pads.

Most women use rags which when washed, often never completely dry. Because of embarrassment, the rags are not hung out to dry; instead they are put out of sight and sunlight. The dampness breeds bacteria, which eventually cause infection.

Your ideas and contributions are welcome. Please respond by e-mail to info@facetoface.org or visit the Face to Face Website at facetoface.org to make a contribution to Face to Face International. All contributions received during the months of July and August 2001 will be dedicated to addressing the sanitary napkin needs of at least one community in India. Until we can all do better, it's a start.

French Face to Face Campaign Partner Equilibres & Populations http://www.equipop.org recently finished production of "Women: a New Challenge for Africa," a compelling look into the reality of healthcare in Senegal. This film documentary spotlights the Senegalese NGO, ACDEV (Action and Development), the doctors and nurses who make it function, and the daily hardships and triumphs they face.

Forty-six-year-old physician and ACDEV founder Sheikh Tidiane Athie travels more than one hour from his home in Dakar to work at one of the health clinics run by the NGO. While he describes it as the biggest and most beautiful of the medical centers run by the organization, the building does not have regular access to electricity or potable water. This particular center is located in a community 45 minutes from the nearest hospital. And despite the fact that the hospital exists, there are no ambulances or cars to transport patients, leaving the sick, injured and childbearing denizens of the suburb stranded.

Midwife Mme. Fati Kine Hann Diop drives four hours every day to the center to treat more than 50 women per week, as well as make house visits. She sees healthcare as "a luxury that has no price," and credits ACDEV and health centers like it as the only way to combat the lack of centralization of hospitals in Senegal. In a community where the average number of children per mother is seven, and men often have two wives and as many as 18 children, women's health is a particularly pressing issue.

Sheikh Tidiane Athie emphasizes the importance of NGOs such as ACDEV. Most Senegalese medical centers are falling apart, lacking the basic resources to treat patients. In the suburbs of Dakar, there is only one doctor for every 400,000 people, a ratio that makes it necessary to create non-government health centers for the residents to receive any healthcare at all.

With the help of funding from Equilibres & Populations, ACDEV is much better equipped than most government-run medical stations. The clinic is stocked with the basic medical supplies and medicines, and maintains a committed and well-trained staff.
The project also charges each patient five French francs, a fee that helps support the cost of a medical assistant in each surrounding village. Using a combination of external aid and these small charges, the project is able to sustain its activities.

This film makes clear a hard fact of life in Senegal: the government alone cannot satisfy the demand for healthcare in this country. Local associations like ACDEV play a critical role in filling the need.

Equilibres & Populations plans on offering the documentary to French colleges as a tool to inform students about the quality of life in Africa and the difficulties of access to health and education.

Proceeds from the Face to Face Ballet premiere ticket sales went to the Swiss Face to Face Campaign Partner International Foundation for Population and Development (IFPD) project in Ségou, Mali. Recently, Ms. Christine Magistretti, Executive Director of IFPD, paid a visit to the project.

Mali is one of the five poorest countries in the world. Here, the population suffers severe malnutrition, a high infant mortality rate and a low life expectancy. And women are hit the hardest. Only 28.3% of women in Mali are literate, those who are not are forced into long, hard labor in order to help support their families.

Five years ago, in a poor neighborhood in the town of Ségou, Benkadi, the Women's Association of Bougoufié, was founded. It is a collective of women sharing craft-making efforts and resources. Despite the women's enterprise and determination, they were not earning enough to provide for large families of children, aging parents and other dependents. IFPD became involved to ensure a better and more regular income for these women, with the objective of educating 80 women a year in literacy, crafts and basic management skills. IFPD also provides a micro credit fund.

Heri La, a soft-spoken woman involved in the project, has 10 children, ranging from eight to 22 years old. Her husband is too old to work and she earns the family's income by selling milk, the profits from which she splits between her own 10 children and the 15 children of her husband's other wife, who moved to the capital to work. The success of the IFPD project is her last hope towards feeding her family.

Nia Toure, 21, has a three-year-old daughter, who has not been acknowledged by her biological father. Nia's mother and father are dead, and she lives with her four siblings and an uncle. With no education, she sells little cakes as the sole income for the entire family. While she is eager to learn a skill, she says it will be difficult for her to take part in the project because she must spend her time selling the cakes to bring food home for her family.