WomenLead

WomenLead is CEDPA’s flagship training program. It builds leadership abilities, technical expertise and program management skills of women dedicated to making a difference on a range of critical issues.

2009 Workshops

WomenLead in Repositioning Reproductive Health
Date: September 7-25, 2009
Location: Washington, DC

Workshop Overview | Application

The USAID | Health Policy Initiative, Task Order 1, is implementing an important training event to build the capacity of women leaders to reinvigorate family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH) programs, funding and policies within their communities and countries.

Reproductive health (RH) is a crucial component of development, yet access to quality services that meet the needs of women and their families remains a challenge. Governments and donors face funding constraints and competing health priorities. HIV and AIDS have led many already overburdened health systems to prioritize the pandemic to the disadvantage of RH services. Calls to integrate family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) services with HIV programs have gone largely unnoticed, and political realities have all but removed adolescent reproductive health from current health portfolios. Results are as expected—decreases in contraceptive prevalence, increased unmet need for family planning, continued high maternal mortality, widespread gender-based violence, unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections and stove-piped service delivery programs.

Overview

The WomenLead in Repositioning Reproductive Health workshop is designed to address these challenges by developing a cadre of confident and highly skilled women who can assume leadership in advocating effective reproductive health policies, programs, and increased funding streams; reinvigorate health sectors with effective reproductive health services; and design and implement integrated service delivery models that reflect best practices.

WomenLead participants are early to mid-career women from civil society, government, and political bodies who are currently working to ensure access to gender-sensitive, quality FP/RH services at national, sub-national or community levels. The workshop is open to applicants from priority countries who meet the following criteria:

• Minimum 5 – 7 years experience working in RH programming or advocacy;
• Demonstrated commitment to promoting women’s leadership in reproductive health;
• Proven ability to meaningfully engage in policymaking at local or national levels;
• Demonstrated motivation and ability to bring about change at community or national levels; and
• High level of proficiency in English.

The three-week workshop is intensive and highly participatory. Working in a supportive learning environment participants enhance technical knowledge and skills, engage in south-south exchange, and develop strategies for effective RH advocacy efforts. WomenLead leverages the rich and varied technical expertise of the Washington DC RH community to offer the latest data and information on successful programming approaches and advocacy tools for expanded and improved family planning, maternal health, and adolescent reproductive health. Major workshop themes include:

• Policy Analysis and Advocacy—situational analysis of national RH programs and policies; data for effective advocacy; advocacy skills development; creation of advocacy strategies.
• Leadership—assessment of leadership traits, styles, and sources of influence; action planning.
• Strategic Communication—application of strategic communication techniques to educate, motivate, and mobilize communities, decision makers and institutions for change.
• Technical Updates—emerging contraceptive technologies, application of the RAPID Model, safe motherhood initiatives, gender integration, constructive male engagement, RH and HIV/AIDS integration, etc.

Participants will also have opportunities to address U.S. audiences through public events in Washington, DC to increase awareness of RH challenges in their countries and promote increased commitment to international FP/RH programs.

Country Eligibility

Applicants from the following countries will be given priority in the selection process: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Haiti, India (U.P.) and Pakistan.

Scholarships

Full tuition and per diem scholarships will be offered to a maximum of 20 applicants. Applicants must secure local funding for international airfare only.

Applicants who are able to secure local funding to cover the full cost of participating in the workshop may also apply. These applications must include a completed Sponsorship Form.

Application

Download the application for this year's WomenLead workshop in word or PDF.