tailieunhanh - Investing in Women for a Better World

The grim picture of women’s health, including maternal mortality and HIV, has many causal factors, and solutions are to be found in multiple sectors. However, many of these solutions are mediated through and require the presence of strong and effective local health systems. This level of care, defined in many countries as the “district health system,” embraces the contin- uum of care reaching from the household/community level up through the first referral facility level, to the district hospital. Despite their central importance in women’s health, local health care systems throughout the developing world are plagued by insufficient funding, under- staffing, inadequate drugs and supplies, poor infrastructure, inaccessibility. | her__x project OUR MISSION BSR s HERproject catalyzes global partnerships and local networks in emerging economies to improve female workers general and reproductive health. he reject health enables returns BSR March 2010 Investing in Women for a Better World opportunity 3 impact 11 How HERproject Works 12 Case Studies 16 Challenges and Lessons 26 future 29 Join HERproject 30 Call to Action 32 Letter from the Director Dear Friends and Partners HERproject started more than three years ago with trust and generosity by way of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in the San Francisco Bay Area. From a seminal research report on the health challenges faced by women factory workers to an initiative active in Asia the Middle East and North America HERproject illustrates the vital role companies can play in advancing women s health. Companies play another critical role supporting pilot initiatives that prove why investing in women has such a positive return on investment ROI . With the unfailing support of our partners at the Extending Service Delivery project in Washington . and funding from the Levi Strauss Foundation BSR continues to implement ROI studies in a handful of factories in support of this effort. By reinforcing the point that investing in women s health enhances worker productivity reduces absenteeism and lowers turnover BSR is attracting company participants that might not otherwise have participated. This underscores the notion that innovation comes in many sizes and shapes including nontraditional partnerships like HERproject that link brands factory managers and local NGOs. Looking ahead we are excited about the HERproject expansion into new focus countries most notably Bangladesh and outside of the factory setting. A generous investment in HERproject expansion from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Sida will enable growth outside of our existing focus countries China Egypt India Pakistan and Vietnam and into the farm .