User:Etratsa/Astarte project

Astarte increases access to reproductive health services through strengthening leaders in communities burdened by crisis.

= Background = The Astarte Project has been providing reproductive health services to conflict areas since 1995. THe project was created, as part of John Snow, Inc, a public health research and consulting firm in the United States and around the world, to increase the number of local organizations providing quality reproductive health services in crisis areas around the world.

In order to increase access to comprehensive reproductive health care for those in the midst of crisis, the project partners with local organizations and leaders within the communities in crisis.

= Name = Astarte is the goddess of resilience, fertility, sexuality, and war. Astarte best describes the project because of the difficulties community members and service providers encounter in providing and receiving quality reproductive health services during crisis. Furthermore, it demonstrates the resilience shown by females in difficult conditions.

= Location = For 15 years the project has responded to needs in nearly 20 countries experienceing crises, wether war or natural disasters.

Using small grants, the project has given money to initiatives providing reproductive health services in crisis areas to begin growth. Instead of throwing large amounts of money at a problem; small grants engage grassroots community initiatives. Money is only part of Astarte's response: the project works with leaders to strengthen their leadership skills and better provide necessary services for their communities.

In the past 15 years, Astarte has has granted more than $1 million dollars to organizations serving communities in crisis. Though a global project, Astarte currently works with local organizations in Liberia and Sierra Leone—two countries where war has affected the lives of many people.

Past locations:
 * Bosnia
 * Croatia
 * Guinea
 * Rwanda
 * Somalia
 * Thailand
 * Colombia
 * India
 * Nepal
 * Lebanon
 * Cote d’Ivoire
 * Pakistan
 * Tanzania
 * Uganda

Present Locations
 * Liberia
 * Sierra Leone

= Future = Conflicts have become long term affairs which continually repeat themselves. On average, a person in the midst of war is displaced for more than 15 years. In response, local leaders in these settings are responding to the increasing needs within their communities.

Astarte will continue parnering with local initiatives early in a crisis to address a community’s immediate and future needs.

When media attention and funding leave a crisis, international relief organizations that had served communities in these areas leave as well. The remaining communities are often unable to provide necessary health services. Investment in community leaders and local initiatives can provide services before, during, and after a crisis, even after the international community has left.

=External Links=
 * 1) http://www.astarteproject.org/


 * 1) http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/maternal.shtml


 * 1) http://www.rhrc.org/

=References=

Etratsa (talk) 19:53, 7 June 2010 (UTC)