The Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Girls - UNFPA

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When Kosovo-Albanian women were asked in UNIFEM workshops about the most important issues for women, they mentioned work, education and health. <strong>The</strong>ir meaning: women’s reproductive health. <strong>The</strong> ratio <strong>of</strong> maternal death is unknown, but its rate is very high. 60 About 20 per cent <strong>of</strong> all pregnant women deliver their babies outside health facilities, 17 per cent without any assistance from trained health pr<strong>of</strong>essionals, which may partly explain the high death rate. Kosovo has a high birth rate: 2.7, which is among the highest in Europe. <strong>The</strong> interval between births is on average 2-2.5 years. 61 A group <strong>of</strong> doctors working in the field <strong>of</strong> reproductive health is trying to convince people that the best way to have a healthy family is to have longer intervals between births. In the UNIFEM survey Women at Work, women were asked whether they alone decided on the use <strong>of</strong> birth control or if they consulted their husbands: 10 per cent said they did not consult their husbands and 90 per cent said they did. 62 This has been hotly debated in the UNIFEM workshops, because many well-educated women find it hard to believe that women do not make such decisions on their own. According to a UNFPA survey, only 8.5 per cent <strong>of</strong> couples in Kosovo use modern contraceptives. 63 Access to contraceptives is difficult and limited. People must visit specialists or health care centres, which are <strong>of</strong>ten far away. <strong>The</strong>re have been campaigns to encourage the use <strong>of</strong> condoms, and they have been distributed throughout Kosovo. Organizations like Doctors <strong>of</strong> the World have <strong>of</strong>fered reproductive health services to women in rural villages and discovered that there is great need and hunger for education about women’s reproductive health and reproductive rights. 64 <strong>The</strong> discussion and use <strong>of</strong> contraceptives is still a cultural taboo and is mostly overlooked by politicians as an important area to consider in fighting poverty, improving health, saving lives and in the necessary empowerment <strong>of</strong> women. One Kosovar tradition is to have big families. Many Kosovo-Albanians are still suspicious <strong>of</strong> birth control campaigns, from times when the Serbian regime promoted the use <strong>of</strong> family planning. <strong>The</strong> Albanians perceived that as an attempt to cut down the Albanian population to secure Serbian rule in the province. Abortions are legal in Kosovo, but there are no figures on their frequency. According to the Kosovo Common Assessment: “One recent indication <strong>of</strong> the sex ratio at birth [1.15 according to a UNFPA/IOM study] is too high for natural population equilibrium. It suggests a possible boy preference leading to selective abortion practices. A combination <strong>of</strong> low contraceptive prevalence and an 60 Kosovo Common Assessment, p. 21. 61 UNFPA Information sheet. 62 Women at Work, p. 76. 63 UNFPA Information sheet. 64 Information from doctors working for Doctors <strong>of</strong> the World and UNFPA. 86
average rate <strong>of</strong> 2.8 children per woman (1999) strongly suggests that abortion, which was legal up to 12 weeks <strong>of</strong> pregnancy and up to 22 weeks for medical reasons, may be widely used for fertility control. A recent UNFPA/IOM study confirms that abortion is a common, under-reported practice, possibly as high as 50 abortions per 100 deliveries. Pr<strong>of</strong>essionals believe that excessive abortions have contributed to Kosovo’s high infant and maternal mortality.” 65 UNFPA figures indicate that the perinatal mortality rate for hospital-born babies in the year 2000 was 29.2 per 1,000 babies. <strong>The</strong> total infant mortality rate was estimated to be 45/1000 in 1999, which was an improvement from the late 1980s. 66 <strong>The</strong> paper “Health Policy for Kosovo” notes that “infants accounted for 40 per cent <strong>of</strong> in-hospital mortality, the mortality <strong>of</strong> sick neonates being alarmingly high”. 67 It is common knowledge that women do not breastfeed their children, but there exists no reliable information. If true, it may partly explain the poor health <strong>of</strong> newborn babies. It is certainly a worthy area for further research. <strong>The</strong>re is also no information available about the consequences <strong>of</strong> losses <strong>of</strong> children for the health <strong>of</strong> mothers. <strong>The</strong> expected lifetime <strong>of</strong> women in Kosovo is unknown. Doctors say that women’s health in general is too poor. Many women suffer from anemia due to bad food and short interval between births, smoking is terribly common among women and men, which has strong chronic disease implications for the future. Many women suffer from losses <strong>of</strong> family members and trauma from the Kosovo conflict. Several women, especially in the areas where the fighting was most severe and where most people “disappeared” continue to be traumatized, are still unable to face a new future. 68 Different sexual orientations are one <strong>of</strong> the many cultural taboos in Kosovar society. Among women and men, “most [gay people] have decided to ignore, hide, or deny their sexuality.” 69 <strong>The</strong> author has no information about sex education or sexual diseases, except that six cases <strong>of</strong> HIV were reported to the Department <strong>of</strong> Health in 2000. Trafficking in Women One <strong>of</strong> the first issues to be <strong>of</strong>ficially addressed by international agencies and NGOs working on gender in Kosovo was trafficking in women. After only three months <strong>of</strong> an international presence, it became clear that this was a growing problem. A Gender Task Force Meeting was organized by UNIFEM, and resulted in a subgroup that developed the UNMIK Regulation on trafficking in persons. This was later approved by the United Nations after a long process. 65 Kosovo Common Assessment, p. 21. 66 UNFPA Information sheet. 67 Ibid. 68 UNIFEM workshops 2000-2001. 69 No Safe Place, p. 109. 87
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A UNFPA Strategy for Gender Mainstr
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FOREWORD The natur
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword List <st
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LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
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PART I. CONSULTATIVE MEETING INTROD
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BACKGROUND Women and girls constitu
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information should include document
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BACKGROUND PAPER SUMMARIES Backgrou
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NGOs feel they have the right to wi
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includes the physical, sexual and e
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services to women and by organizing
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parties, including national and int
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WORKING GROUP REPORTS Working Group
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2) Provide technical assistance on
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4) Provide reproductive supplies an
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Report of Working
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2) Advocacy: Problem: • Insuffici
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• Support, for perpetrators <stro
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Report of Working
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population groups can be disrupted
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• Implementation, monitoring and
Page 43 and 44: Report of Working
Page 45 and 46: • Build advocacy skills, networki
Page 47 and 48: • Coordinate and promote cooperat
Page 49 and 50: PART II. BACKGROUND PAPERS THE IMPA
Page 51 and 52: isolation and brings into the analy
Page 53 and 54: Target Groups Women Women and child
Page 55 and 56: Approaches The Def
Page 57 and 58: and take necessary steps to overcom
Page 59 and 60: Refugees must be involved in defini
Page 61 and 62: Sexually Transmitted Infections and
Page 63 and 64: Return and Reintegration In additio
Page 65 and 66: This will involve much more than th
Page 67 and 68: • Greater attention should be giv
Page 69 and 70: Post-conflict regions have not effe
Page 71 and 72: “Although the particular forms <s
Page 73 and 74: A major premise of
Page 75 and 76: participate refused. 15 In the surv
Page 77 and 78: problems. These SO
Page 79 and 80: community. It could destroy a victi
Page 81 and 82: and Herzegovina. The</stron
Page 83 and 84: IPTF operates geographically throug
Page 85 and 86: WOMEN AND GIRLS IN KOSOVO: THE EFFE
Page 87 and 88: More than two years have passed. On
Page 89 and 90: young girls to attend school, among
Page 91 and 92: to different cultural attitudes tow
Page 93: opportunities as a result o
Page 97 and 98: strict rules and have punished thei
Page 99 and 100: One of the issues
Page 101 and 102: difficult issues such as the budget
Page 103 and 104: Legislative reforms are needed in m
Page 105 and 106: Transitional Council and convinced
Page 107 and 108: • All agencies should have instit
Page 109 and 110: insecurity about the future, unempl
Page 111 and 112: Walking the painful path of
Page 113 and 114: decide to return to their husband
Page 115 and 116: Crises usually affect more women th
Page 117 and 118: • Establishing communication chan
Page 119 and 120: • Supporting grass-roots women’
Page 121 and 122: Women and men have different approa
Page 123 and 124: organized meetings to promote recon
Page 125 and 126: Recommendations Post-conflict socie
Page 127 and 128: 7. Presentation and discussion <str
Page 129 and 130: The Role o
Page 131 and 132: Working Group Three: The</s
Page 133 and 134: Country/City Participant Agency Spe
Page 135 and 136: Kyrgyzstan Bernara Alimbaeva Nepal
Page 137 and 138: New York Mohammad Nizamuddin UNFPA-
Page 139 and 140: United Kingdom Sippi Azerbaijani- M
Page 141 and 142: John Snow International Research an
Page 143 and 144: UNFPA: Pamela DeLargy, Emergency an
Page 145 and 146:
ANNEX 5: MINIMUM INITIAL SERVICE PA
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• Staff trained and sensitized on
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