Latest update April 17th, 2024 12:59 AM
May 05, 2013 News
Sexual and reproductive health for both men and women, as well as family planning, are key issues in any society, and for decades there has been a local organization that has been carrying the mantle in these areas.
The Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) was established in 1973 as an educational, training and family planning institution, but in 1995 the entity expanded its scope and developed a more holistic approach. Today it would be safe to assert that it is one of the leading non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the area of sexual and reproductive health and chronic diseases, providing optimum services in a safe and comfortable environment.
GRPA is an associate member of an umbrella organization known as the Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation Ltd (CFPA).
The CFPA serves 13 island-Member Associations and 6 Associate Member Associations in the Caribbean, Central and South America. It supports these Associations with technical assistance and materials, and represents their collective interests at International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) meetings and in the Caribbean region among governments and NGOs.
CFPA Island Member Associations are located in Anguilla, Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent. CFPA Associate Member Associations are located in Belize, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
In a recent interview with this publication Mrs. Patricia Sheeratan-Bisnauth, Executive Director of the GRPA said over the years the organization has added numerous services to those initially offered. She said that the main objective is to develop high quality sustainable services and programmes in the area of sexual and reproductive health.
Through funding from the New-York based IPPF, the United Nations Population Fund, an annual Government subvention and United States Agency for International Developmemt, the GRPA has been able to keep most of its vital services open to the public.
At its Quamina Street-based clinic, the GRPA offers family planning services via its very competent physicians. According to Mrs. Bisnauth, the clinic offers pap smears, colonoscopies, punch biopsies and cryosurgery, and has facilities for the diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections including HIV.
In addition, there are services for Gynecological conditions – irregular menstrual cycle, menopause, infertility; Family Planning – orals, injectables, condoms, Intra-uterine devices, Medical Termination of Pregnancy, Pelvic Examination. There is pregnancy testing, Pre-natal Care, Voluntary Counselling and Testing, Testicular Examination and Management of Sexually Transmitted Infections. Focus is also placed on Chronic Diseases – diabetes, hypertension and arthritis
The outlet provides access to a full range of contraceptive methods, including voluntary sterilization for men and women. There is a small fee attached, but no one is ever turned away if they cannot afford to pay. The mission statement of the GRPA is “Promoting, advocating, providing services and support, and ensuring that every person, particularly those who are poor and vulnerable, have access to information, education and services needed to attain and maintain good sexual health and family life.”
Apart from its clinical services, the GRPA also caters to teens and young adults through its Youth Advocacy Movement (YAM) programme. The YAM, as it is called, runs special youth initiatives, including an Under-20 Club. This provides training and support for out-of-school young people and teenage parents. Public engagement with sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) issues is promoted through lectures, family planning discussions, radio spots, poster displays and the distribution of pamphlets, brochures and manuals.
Mrs. Bisnauth explained that the youth arm of the GRPA targets in-school youths including with the aim of educating them on sexual and reproductive health issues. This is done through lectures at schools, upon invitation. YAM also has an open-door policy where youths can walk in and have interactive sessions with staffers of the GRPA as well as use the entity’s research centre for vital information.
“In order to help reduce some of the social issues we have, we need to get to the core; we have to educate the young and upcoming population so that they don’t fall into the troubling social cycles. We need to make information available to them and that is what we try to do,” Ms. Bisnauth said.
While acknowledging the need for more outreach programmes, the Director said the Association is involved in some level of community outreach, such as Family Life Education in schools, as well as training of service providers in Sexual and Reproductive Health and related issues. In addition, focus group discussions with men in relation to gender-based violence and sexual violence are held monthly.
She pointed out that gender-based violence screening is a prerequisite in all interaction with clients, while counseling is provided for victims and perpetrators as well.
Speaking of some of its past work, Ms. Bisnauth recalled that in 2011, the GRPA delivered nearly 174,000 condoms and 56,000 sexual and reproductive health services. It provided an additional 12,000 HIV-related services and 14,000 services were provided to young people in less than 25 years. Currently, the Association is working with Guyana Sugar Corporation workers with the aim of targeting men as part of the gender-based violence programme.
This programme, notably, is very close to Mrs. Bisnauth, as she feels men, while they are oftentimes the perpetrators, are also victims themselves. Being a religious leader, Mrs. Bisnauth said she has been privileged to work with men and to listen to their views on many issues ranging from domestic violence to what it is like to be a man in a society and their roles.
“We want people to know that the GRPA is not only an organization which serves the need to women and children, yes, I will say we have a very low number of men who access our services, but we are working on a plan to target more men, as they too play a very important role in our society”.
Mrs. Bisnauth believes that communities become stronger when the abilities and competence of all persons, including men, are respected, embraced and maximized. It is for this reason, she says, the GRPA does not discriminate, as it is important for persons of any race, creed, ethnic origin, political belief, religion or sex, to have equal access to their services. Very soon, she added, the GRPA will be implementing a number of new programmes with the aim of getting more involved as they gear up to get the gender-based violence venture in full swing.
“While men are the main perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence, that is not the only fact about them… men are a part of the solution to end gender-based violence,” Mrs. Bisnauth stressed.
Hence, together with ‘Men of Purpose’, the GRPA will be embarking on a transformative process of promoting positive masculinities and transforming forms of masculinities, which are destructive to women, men, families and society as a whole.
The approach is not to demonize men or to instill feelings of guilt and powerlessness, but to peel away the layers of gender construction, which are key to understanding manhood within the Guyanese cultural, economic, political and social context. Activities include establishing men’s networks across Guyana, awareness and education, advocacy, anger management, training in mentorship, peer counseling, and other community action. An Action Plan is being developed in collaboration with key stakeholders.
In highlighting some issues men face, Mrs. Bisnauth noted that there is widespread unemployment and underemployment, thus leaving many men unable to fulfill traditional gender roles. As a result, she said, some men are turning to violence against women and children because they see it as one of the few remaining ways that they can display power over others and ‘feel like a man’. These and many more issues will be addressed once the programme gets started.
Meanwhile, as the demand for services continues to grow, the GRPA is faced with obvious challenges. Currently the organization is governed by a Board of Directors, of which all its members are volunteers. They are statutorily required to meet on a monthly (second Wednesday) basis. The Board comprises 13 members (five males and eight females) of which two are ex-officio members. The day-to-day activities at the clinic are carried out by trained nurses and a doctor who works part-time. However the organization is seeking to boost its staffing capacity at the facility. Training will soon commence for volunteers.
Mrs. Bisnauth said that another area of concern is the inability to “reach out to other parts of Guyana”. She said that plans are in the making to reach the hinterland communities through the training of teachers, health workers and community development workers. These persons will provide assistance to those suffering from any form of abuse or other social problem. If a referral is needed, the same will be done so that the individual can access professional help as well as legal services if needed.
The GRPA works closely with sister agencies with the aim of ensuring that persons get the requisite help and support that is needed. Some of these agencies include Red Thread, Help and Shelter, Child Care and Protection Agency, the Ministry of Health and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
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