History of SCORA In 1992, a new working group in IFMSA was formed, named SCOAS or the Standing Committee on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. The committee was formed out of concern of the IFMSA on the growing number of people living with AIDS and the strong will of medical students to participate in programs for prevention of HIV and STIs. The activities in SCOAS later developed from HIV/STIs advocacy and awareness campaigns, to encompass a wider range of reproductive health-related issues. This lead to a change of focus of the committee in 1998, resulting in a new name: the Standing Committee on Reproductive Health including AIDS, or SCORA in short. From its beginning, SCORA has always believed that one of the important methods of fighting AIDS is prevention, and the only way of prevention is education. Therefore, the main focus of SCORA is on activities that emphasize already existing solutions, and create new educational programs for medical students and the general population, especially teenagers. Other activities have been directed towards promotion of healthy sexual and reproductive behaviour, prevention of HIV and STIs,
SCORA Vision A world in which every individual is empowered to exercise their sexual and reproductive health rights equally, free from stigma and discrimination . prevention of “unsafe” abortion and appropriate use of contraceptives, reproductive rights, women’s rights (gender equality), the fight against domestic violence, Female Genital Mutilation, and maternal health. A number of international workshops have been organized by SCORA throughout the years, which mirror the development of this committee. SCORA develops and The SCORA Manual
SCORA Mission To provide our members with the tools necessary to advocate for sexual and reproductive health rights within their respective communities in a culturally sensitive fashion. This is accomplished through building the skills and knowledge of our members, providing trainings on comprehensive sexuality education and other reproductive health issues, exchanging ideas and projects, as well as drafting policies and working with our external partners in order to create change at the local, regional, and international level. promotes medical students’ empowerment and activities aiming at improving sexual and reproductive health and rights led by students for the benefit of their communities. This is primarily done through peer education and trainings, advocacy and awareness campaigns at all levels from grassroots to international. With a large number of members — SCORAngels as they are called — SCORA has grown wide in its work, centered around five focus areas which are strongly related to sexual and reproductive health and rights. In 2014 the name of SCORA changed once more to Standing Committee on Sexual and Reproductive Health including HIV/AIDS as it is more adequate in terms of topics and problems that SCORA is targeting in its actions.
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