Adolescent pregnancy: a community engaged participatory approach to design and implement an educational intervention
- Authors: Siruma, Amanda Tatenda
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MPharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54656 , vital:26597
- Description: Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 focuses on improving maternal health, due to global acknowledgment that no woman should have to die as a result of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Adolescents have an increased risk of maternal death compared with older women. Adolescent pregnancy also poses a threat to the empowerment of young girls by mitigating their physical, educational, social, and economic development. In this context, maternal health promotion strategies which inclusively target adolescents are crucial, not only in improving maternal health outcomes, but also in optimising the overall transition of adolescent girls to adulthood. This study was a first time collaborative partnership of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Community Engagement Office of Rhodes University with the Angus Gillis Foundation (a non-profit community development organisation), and community participants of Glenmore and Ndwayana, two rural communities in the Eastern Cape. The aim of this study was to identify the maternal health issue of most concern to community participants and to design and implement an appropriate educational intervention for a suitable target group. During the baseline phase of this study, ten focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 76 community stakeholders. Semi-structured interviews (SSIs) were conducted with two Sisters-in-Charge from each Primary Health Care (PHC) facility in the study setting. Data on the stock status of World Health Organization (WHO) identified lifesaving priority medicines for women’s health was also collected at both PHCs. Thereafter, pre- and posteducational interventions SSIs with female adolescent participants were conducted. The educational intervention was followed up with the development of a booklet on reproductive health. FGD participants identified adolescent pregnancy as the maternal health issue of most concern. They also highlighted challenges in service delivery of ambulance services for expectant mothers in urgent need of transportation to a referral hospital. A majority of preintervention SSI participants indicated coercion from both younger and older men as a factor influencing early sexual debut amongst adolescent girls in their communities. Despite availability in the PHCs, challenges in accessing contraceptives were highlighted by the participants. Additionally, a number of sexually active adolescent girls defaulted on their next allocated visit to the PHC due to myths regarding use of oral and injectable contraceptives. During the educational intervention sessions, participants recognised knowledge gaps regarding reproductive health issues and the influence of peer pressure as constraining factors in preventing adolescent pregnancy. During the post-intervention phase, participants highlighted that the educational intervention of this study had provided a forum to discuss ways of preventing adolescent pregnancy. The educational booklet developed is intended to serve as a resource tool of the educational programme on prevention of adolescent pregnancy, which is expected to be incorporated into the Angus Gillis Foundation’s existing ‘Positive Health’ Programme. The results of this study show that community-based participatory research facilitated the identification of the maternal health issue of most concern to these communities. Working synergistically with key stakeholders in designing and implementing an educational intervention for preventing adolescent pregnancy provides a good foundation for future up scaling and sustainability of this educational programme.
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- Date Issued: 2014
The principle of complementarity : a critical analysis of Article 17 of the Rome Statute from an African perspective
- Authors: Mohami, Thapelo Adelice
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Complementarity (International law) , Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998 July 17) , International Criminal Court , Criminal jurisdiction -- Africa , International crimes -- Africa , Crimes against humanity -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:3720 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013326
- Description: This thesis attempts to address perennial concerns, mostly raised in some quarters in Africa, pertaining to the development of the complementarity regime established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It grapples with a very important question, whether the principle of complementarity, embodied in article 17 of the Rome Statute, was formulated and is being applied by the ICC in a manner that upholds the ideals and theories upon which the regime was founded. The principle of complementarity is designed to mediate the imperatives of State sovereignty and a legitimate international criminal justice system. Essentially, complementarity gives States latitude to try genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression nationally, with the ICC only intervening where States are either unable or unwilling to prosecute genuinely. Africa constitutes the biggest regional block of membership to the Rome Statute, however, over the years; support for the ICC on the African continent has waned. It has been argued in some quarters that the ICC is anti-African and that it has interpreted and applied complementarity in a manner that diminishes State sovereignty. The thesis argues that this tension may also be due to textual deficiencies inherent within the Rome Statute, in the provisions that embody this principle. It therefore examines complementarity from a theoretical perspective to provide a comprehensive account of the system contemplated by the drafters of the Rome Statute. In this regard, the thesis argues for expansion of States’ ability at the national level to deal with international crimes without compromising international criminal justice processes or threatening State sovereignty. This is suggested as a way of relieving the tension that has characterised the relationship between African States and the ICC. The thesis further sketches out some of the complexities inherent in the modalities through which the Court may exercise its complementary jurisdiction, particularly within the African continent, given that legal systems in most African countries are particularly weak. It thus dissects the provisions that outline the principle of complementarity in tandem with the Court’s interpretation and application of complementarity in practice. Furthermore, through an exploratory survey of the referral of the Situation in Uganda, and the ICC Prosecutor’s proprio motu investigation of the Situation in Kenya, the thesis illustrates how a positive approach to complementarity can help establish a healthy cooperative synergy between the ICC and States, thereby promoting a functional expeditious criminal justice system. This will go a long way towards assuaging State’s fears that the ICC merely pays lip service to complementarity and arbitrarily supersedes national jurisdiction.
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- Date Issued: 2014