Women’s Role in Disease Prevention (Open)

The 29th IFUW Conference resolves:

1. to direct the IFUW Board of Officers to advocate through its Representatives to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) that priority be given to programmes which develop women’s knowledge of health and hygiene, and their capacity to influence behaviour in their families and communities;
2. to recommend to national federations and associations (NFAs) that they advocate to their governments to fund programmes which will ensure that women and girls are comprehensively educated in all facets of health, hygiene and disease prevention; and
3. to recommend to NFAs that they advocate to their governments to enact a legislative framework that protects women’s autonomous control of their health.

Plan of Action

• IFUW to seek information from NFAs about existing programmes in their own countries, including those on education in fundamental principles and the practice of good hygiene, safe sex, safe preparation of food and drinking water, living quarters separate from animals, access to bed nets and, where possible, cessation of burning of dung.
• IFUW to circulate information on successful programmes.
• IFUW to invite qualified members to volunteer to be part of a study group in order to compare existing legislation across national jurisdictions with regard to all aspects of women’s health. Results of the study to be circulated.
• NFAs to pay particular attention to, and widely disseminate, reports from IFUW’s Representatives to UNESCO and to WHO, as published through IFUW networks.