Women's health in Africa: a major issue in the new sustainable development goals

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-121
Author(s):  
T.A. Yatabary
2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Annalise John ◽  
Elizabeth Gamarra ◽  
Melissa Bird ◽  
Rachel L. Wright ◽  
Caren J. Frost

The health of women is a crucial component to family and community wellbeing. However, social work scholars have not been very engaged in research pertaining to the health needs of women. With the Grand Challenges of Social Work becoming a major element for national discussion and with the revision of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SGD) in 2015, we wondered how connected the 12 Grand Challenges and the 17 SDGs were. We searched the social work literature from 2005 to present to identify what salient publications were available about women’s health and then connected them to the current themes of the Grand Challenges and SDGs. There are no more articles to review in the social work literature. Using a feminist social work framework, we summarize the topics covered in these articles and define a call to action for more scholarly work on women’s health in the context of current national and global conversations about this social justice issue.


Author(s):  
Suhad Daher-Nashif ◽  
Hiba Bawadi

Background: In 2014, United Nations member states proposed a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs) to help further the millennium development goals that they had proposed in New York in 2000. Of these 13 SDGs, Goal 3 (i.e., SDG 3) was titled “Good Health and Well-Being.” This goal highlighted women’s health and well-being via two key objectives. The first, SDG 3.1, aimed to reduce maternal mortality rates (MMR) and the second, SDG 3.7, aimed to ensure access to sexual and reproductive health care services. Drawing on all the latest reports, which have been released by Gulf Cooperation Council states (GCC), this paper sheds light on GCC states’ work on women’s wellbeing through SDG 3. Aim: the paper aims to review GCC states’ work on women’s wellbeing in SDG3, which achievements they obtained, which tools they used and which gaps still exist. The paper aims to explain the socio-cultural background behind these achievements, tools, and gaps. Methodology: For the purpose of this study, we used narrative review approach through which we reviewed reports from 2017 and 2018 on SDGs published online by the Ministry of Development and Planning of each GCC state, and latest reports of the WHO on the same states. Findings: the study found similarities and differences between different GCC states, which in turn reveals gaps and areas that are not meeting women’s needs. The findings show that MMR in GCC countries has declined by nearly half. The main strategies they adopted to address SDG 3.1 included awareness campaigns, improving access to healthcare systems and training professionals. The tools used to meet SDG 3.7 included training health professionals and raising awareness of consanguinity. The study reveals several gaps, such as a lack of discussion around challenges and barriers, and a lack of linkage between an SDG and the targets contained within it. Conclusion: The paper concludes that there is a much greater emphasis on reducing MMR, compared to providing access to sexual and reproductive healthcare. This difference is due to different socio-cultural framing of each of these two issues.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-373
Author(s):  
Canan Örüklü ◽  
Sultan Çakmak

The present study is aim to evaluate the health situation of girls and women within the framework of the main sustainable development goals affecting health status and to specify the factors affecting them. Goals of sustainable development aim to bring individuals to peace, tranquility and prosperity within a sustainable planet. There are three aspects of sustainable development such as economic, social and environmental. Achieving one of the sustainable development goals makes it easier to reach another. The biological characteristics and social roles of women make them an important player that will provide a sustainable world. Although the sustainable development goals have made significant improvements in the quality of life of girls and women from the beginning, the world is still far behind the targets. As women affect their environment, they are heavily influenced by social determinants such as human rights, gender equality, justice and culture. The goals of “ending poverty”, “healthy and quality life”, “qualified education” and “gender equality” are the main targets affecting women's health. Poverty causes consequences such as hunger, unhealthy environmental conditions, inability to access health services, delay in cancer diagnosis, diseases and death in women. High education level, receiving prenatal care, benefiting from sexual and reproductive health services reduce maternal and infant mortality rates. Participation of women in working life has a positive effect which is not only economically but also spiritually. Women are an indispensable factor of sustainable development. Health and Care needs of women who are neglected in every period of their lives should be determined with a lifelong approach, and it should be taken into consideration that they are more affected by biological and social factors in the responses to these needs. Healthy, educated and empowered women will appear as employees, mothers, caregivers, volunteers and leaders who influence the structure of society and advance sustainable development. ​Extended English summary is in the end of Full Text PDF (TURKISH) file.   Özet   Bu çalışmada, sağlık durumunu etkileyen başlıca sürdürülebilir kalkınma hedefleri çerçevesinde kız çocuklarının ve kadınların sağlığını değerlendirmek ve etkileyen faktörleri belirlemeyi amaçlamıştır. Sürdürülebilir kalkınma hedefleri, bireyleri barış, huzur ve refaha ulaştırmayı ve sürdürülebilir bir gezegeni amaçlar. Sürdürülebilir kalkınmanın ekonomik, sosyal ve çevresel olmak üzere üç boyutu vardır. Sürdürülebilir kalkınma hedeflerinden birine ulaşmak bir diğerine ulaşmayı kolaylaştırmaktadır. Kadınların sahip oldukları biyolojik özellikler ve sosyal roller, onları sürdürülebilir bir dünyayı sağlayacak önemli bir güç haline getirmektedir. Sürdürülebilir kalkınma hedefleri başlangıçtan bu yana kız çocuklarının ve kadınların yaşam kalitesinde önemli iyileşmeler sağlasa da dünya halen hedeflerin çok gerisindedir. Kadınlar çevrelerini etkiledikleri gibi insan hakları, cinsiyet eşitliği, adalet ve kültür gibi sosyal belirleyicilerden yoğun olarak etkilenirler. Yoksulluğa son, sağlık ve kaliteli yaşam,  nitelikli eğitim ve toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliği hedefleri, kadın sağlığını etkileyen başlıca hedeflerdir.  Yoksulluk kadınlarda açlık, sağlıksız çevre koşulları, sağlık hizmetlerine ulaşamama, kanser tanısında gecikme, hastalık ve ölüm gibi sonuçlara neden olmaktadır. Yüksek eğitim düzeyi, doğum öncesi bakım alma, cinsel sağlık ve üreme sağlığı hizmetlerinden faydalanma anne ve bebek mortalite oranlarını azaltmaktadır. Kadınların çalışma hayatına katılımı sadece ekonomik olarak değil ruhsal yönden de olumlu bir etkiye sahiptir. Kadınlar, sürdürülebilir kalkınmanın vazgeçilmez bir unsurudur. Yaşamlarının her döneminde ihmal edilen kadınların, yaşam boyu sürecek bir yaklaşımla sağlık ve bakım ihtiyaçları belirlenmeli ve bu ihtiyaçlara verilen yanıtlarda biyolojik ve sosyal faktörlerden daha fazla etkilendikleri göz önünde bulundurulmalıdır. Sağlıklı, eğitimli ve güçlendirilmiş kadınlar, toplum yapısını etkileyen ve sürdürülebilir kalkınmayı ilerletecek çalışanlar, anneler, bakım verenler, gönüllüler ve liderler olarak karşımıza çıkacaktır.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Udi Sommer ◽  
Aliza Forman-Rabinovici

The framers and advocates of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals face a unique challenge when it comes to the goals of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, good health and wellbeing, as it concerns women’s health. The health of women, and in particular reproductive rights, have been politicized in the work of the UN. Forums of the UN have become a battleground between those who would frame reproductive rights as a morality policy versus those who frame them as a feminist policy. This problem is not new to the organization’s work. Indeed, it has been a challenge to the UN’s ability to promote women’s health for years. This article explores how the framing of women’s reproductive rights poses a unique challenge to implementing some of the goals of SDG3, and in particular targets 3.1, 3.7, and 3.8. It also offers strategies to surmount the challenge with an example of a different intergovernmental organization that managed to overcome this issue.


2019 ◽  
Vol 227 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Sandro Gomes Pessoa ◽  
Linda Liebenberg ◽  
Dorothy Bottrell ◽  
Silvia Helena Koller

Abstract. Economic changes in the context of globalization have left adolescents from Latin American contexts with few opportunities to make satisfactory transitions into adulthood. Recent studies indicate that there is a protracted period between the end of schooling and entering into formal working activities. While in this “limbo,” illicit activities, such as drug trafficking may emerge as an alternative for young people to ensure their social participation. This article aims to deepen the understanding of Brazilian youth’s involvement in drug trafficking and its intersection with their schooling, work, and aspirations, connecting with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and 16 as proposed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations in 2015 .


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