English - EPF

WHAt We Do:Taking the Lead to Save Lives and Improve HealthAbout EPF Field VisitsEPF conducts field visits that bring MPs to developingcountries to see first hand the need for sexual andreproductive health and rights programmes.Parliamentarians talk to the people who receive andprovide services, community leaders and local experts toget a better understanding of the challenges they face.They meet with government ministers, NGO representativesand the delegations of European governmental donorsto emphasise the importance of SRHR to the overalldevelopment of the country.Back home, Parliamentarians relate their experience togovernmental policies and budget priorities, thus becomingmore committed and effective advocates.2005 Sri LankaAt the end of 2004 the world learned about the tsunami that brought tremendous deathand destruction to Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. Hundreds of thousands ofpeople were left homeless, traumatised and without access to medical services – includingobstetric care.In August 2005 EPF brought adelegation of women Parliamentarianson a field visit toSri Lanka to learn first handhow the country was copingwith the disaster. The delegationwas particularly impressedby a visit to the MahamoderaHospital in Galle, a maternityhospital that was devastatedby the tsunami. Women were evacuated to a general hospital in the same district thatdid not have a maternity ward or labour room facilities. But with UNFPA support, the Mahamoderahospital was reopened. “I contacted members of the North South Committee inmy party,” said Belgian MP Céline Delforge. “Reconstruction efforts in the Tsunami-struckareas should be higher on the political agenda.”For some MPs the field visit was a completely new experience. “We used to concentrate onour own problems first,” said Katrin Saks, an MP from Estonia. “Now that my country hasjoined the EU we have become a donor country. This opens our eyes to a wider world. Globalissues like a tsumani need to be addressed and we have to shape policies accordingly.’’Field Visit - Sri Lanka, 200506