SLEMSA-SCORA END OF TERM REPORT-2020/2021

SCORA SLEMSA SCORA Manual

Why invest in Reproductive Health?

• Fewer unintended pregnancy • Lower incidence of HIV and other STIs • Dramatic reduction in maternal and newborn deaths

First Edition

Contents

Welcome message

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SCORA Executive 2021

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History of IFMSA

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History of SLEMSA

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History of SCORA SLEMSA -SCORA structure SCORA Programs SCORA Events Articles and Activities gallery Tips

@ Slemsa_scora

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Welcome message

Emmanuel C Egwuonwu National Officer on sexual and reproductive health rights including HIV & AIDS

I can't express the joy I feel for this great opportunity to serve as the NORA, it has been a memorable experience for me with all the hard work of me and my team, their unending assistance made it possible for me to produce the first SLEMSA-SCORA manual. the purpose of this manual is to help Slemsians understand the structure and basics of SCORA, also to keep track of the activities of the Standing committee. it's my pleasure to present to you the first edition of the SLEMSA- SCORA manual, a goodbye gift from the 2020/2021 executive of SCORA. I want to say a very big welcome and thank you for your time, enjoy the new experience.

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SCORA EXECUTIVE 2021

Emmanuel C Egwuonwu National Officer on sexual and reproductive health rights including HIV & AIDS

Alusine Mansaray

Salmadu Gbanyawai

Local Officer on sexual and reproductive health rights including HIV & AIDS

Karifala Balla Sesay Program and Activities assistant 1

Mahawa Fofanah Program and Activities assistant 2

General Assistant

Elizabeth Junne Sowa Capacity building assistant 1

Kadijah Josephine Jalloh Fundraising assistant 1

Anita Sahibatu Conteh Thaimu Abdullah M Koroma Capacity building assistant 2

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Fundraising assistant 2

History of IFMSA The year was 1951. Medical students from 8 countries (Austria, Denmark, England,Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland) gathered in Copenhagen to start a non-political organization for medical students. The purpose was to “study and promote the interests of medical students’ cooperation on a purely professional basis, and promote activities in the field of student health and student relief.” So was born the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA). Initially, 3 committees are formed: the Standing Committee on Medical Exchange (SCOME), the Standing Committee on Professional Exchange (SCOPE), and the Standing Committee on Students’ Health (SCOSH). A bureau of information was set up in Geneva to establish contact between all members and international organizations. Ayear later the first General Assembly (GA) took place in London, where 30 students took part, representing 10 countries. in 2016, IFMSA celebrated its 65th anniversary. The founding member countries have been joined by many more. IFMSA is now the world’s largest student-run organization, representing medical students from 127 countries worldwide. Over the past 65 years, the structure and functions of IFMSA have been changed several times. The IFMSA principles have been further defined in the present constitution, and state: The Federation pursues its aims without political, religious, social, racial, national, sexual or any other discrimination, The Federation promotes humanitarian ideals among medical students and so seeks to contribute to the creation of responsible future physicians, The Federation respects the autonomy of its members.

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IFMSA Vision A world in which all medical students unite for global health and are equipped with the knowledge, skills and values to take on health leadership roles locally and globally.

IFMSA Mission IFMSA unites medical students worldwide to lead initiatives that impact positively the communities we serve. IFMSA represents theopinions and ideas of future health professionals in thefield of global health and works in collaboration with external partners. IFMSA builds capacity through trainings, projects and exchange opportunities, while embracing cultural diversity so as to shape a sustainable and healthy future.

History of SLEMSA Our Story The Sierra Leone Medical Students’ Association (SLEMSA) is an independent students’ Association that constitutes medical students within the confines of the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone (COMAHS, USL), and is a registered National Member Organization (NMO) of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA). IFMSA is recognized by the UN as a nongovernmental organization and as the official international forum for medical students by the World Health Organization. It pursues its aims without political, religious, social, racial, gender, or any other discrimination and respects the autonomy of its members.SLEMSA was founded in 2011 by a group of medical students passionate about unleashing their potentials, developing skills, and using them through advocacy and public service to make the world a better place.

The Association applied for candidate membership with IFMSA in 2013 and became a full member of the Federation in 2013. Since then SLEMSA has had nine (9) presidents as follows: Dr. Fanny Koroma (2011/2012) Dr. Howard Nelson-Williams (2012/2013) Dr. Asad Naveed (2013-2015) Dr. John Mammie (2015/2016) Dr. Mohamed Bella Jalloh (2016/2017) Dr. Emmanuel Adetunji Wilson-Taylor (2017/2018) Dr. John Tamba James (2018/2019) Dr. Abdul Karim Bah (2019/2020) Dr. Foday Abdul Koroma (2020/2021) The Association has developed tremendously over the years and activated all its IFMSA standing committees. It has been fully represented in almost all IFMSA meetings and was almost on the brink of hosting the African Regional Meeting 2020 but the efforts were short-lived due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Our Mission Statement Our mission is to provide a forum whereby medical students can develop a comprehensive approach to local and global health issues. We also develop culturally sensitive students of medicine, determined to identify and address the inequities and disparities that affect the health of our society.

Aims and Objectives - To empower medical students in using their knowledge and capacities to impact society positively.

- To provide a forum for medical students to discuss topics related to individual and community health, education, and science and to formulate practical solutions from such discussions.

- To inform and interact with medical students on issues of importance in the health sector.

- To promote and facilitate professional and scientific exchanges for medical students thereby sensitizing them to other cultures and societies and their health problems.

- To communicate and interact with other groups who have a wider interest in health and education.

- To ensure adequate and effective networking with other Agencies in the Health Sector.

- To organize and provide activities and services for the members of the Association.

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, 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

SCORA Vision A world in which every individual is empowered to exercise their sexual and reproductive health rights equally, free from stigma and discrimination.

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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.

History of SCORA SCORA Focus Areas 1. Comprehensive Sexuality Education 2. Sexuality and Gender Diversity 3. HIV and other STIs 4. Maternal Health & Access to Safe Abortion 5. Gender Based Violence

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SCORA structure External partners

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LRA SCORA D

NORAs

DA RAs

NORA Assistants

LORAs

SLEMSA-SCORA structure NORA

GA

LORA

FRA

CBA

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PAA

SCORA Programs Structure of Programs IFMSA Programs encompass mutual efforts of the IFMSA Team of Officials,Program Coordinators and National Member Organizations (NMOs) in addressing different global health issues, including medical education through a wide range of activities related to capacity building, research and advocacy. They are strongly linked to the work of the Standing Committees and other capacity building streams in IFMSA ensuring that Programs receive the needed support in terms of scientific background and basic studies. Having a centralized stream of work in each field allows our Federation to monitor and evaluate the impact of mutual efforts of all NMOs towards solving emerging global health issues. IFMSA Programs also serve as a network between NMOs activities including them on a bigger picture corresponding to the role of IFMSA as a network of NMOs. With the IFMSA Program Impact Reports, IFMSA showcases its position within the global society as a Federation by proving a needs assessment for other organizations working in a similar field, while increasing the organizational credibility.

Vice President for AActivities

NMOs

Report

Standing Committee Director + Liaison Officer

Program Coordinator

Data Analysis

Capacity building

Research

Events Projects

Campaigns

Activities

Conferences

Activity Coordinator

Workshops

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Advocacy

SCORA Programs International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.

Genital Mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM) are procedures that involve altering and/or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons. Since it reflects inequality between the sexes and displays an extreme form of discrimination against women and girls it is internationally recognized as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

To raise awareness for FGM and promote abandonment of FGM coordinated efforts are needed which must engage whole communities and focus on human rights and gender equality. These efforts should comprise empowerment of communities to act collectively to and the practice and address sexual and reproductive health needs of women and girls who suffer from it's consequences.

Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness Day Held on the February 12 of each year, this day is an opportunity to raise awareness about sexual and reproductive health issues and to educate to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections. Health awareness events create publicity for healthissues and aims to improve the condition and help save lives, sometimes theseevents encourage preventative action against conditions becoming more serious.

It focuses on spreading knowledge about the most common STIs, and their signs and symptoms.

International Women's Day International Women’s Day is a traditional international day that focuses on raising awareness about problems related to girls and women all across the globe. In this part of the Manual, you will have the possibility to explore the history and specific themes related to this event, as well as to get few pointers on International Women’s Day in the IFMSA. International Women’s Day (March 8) aims at honoring the achievements of women and promoting women’s rights.

Recognized as a national holiday in numerous countries, it has been sponsored by the United Nations (UN) since 1975 under the name of United Nations’ Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.

Ever since 1996 UN has selected a special theme for IWD to put a special focus on one aspect of empowerment of women all across the globe.

International Memorial

AIDS

Candlelight

The Candlelight Memorial began in 1983 when a mysterious disease spread within the gay community in San Francisco. At that time four men decided to put a face on the disease and coordinated a march during the night with candles in their hands behind a banner reading ‘Fighting For Our Lives. This movement inspired countless other people living with HIV and AIDS in other countries to raise awareness for communities and national leaders. For more than 30 years the Candlelight Memorial has brought together people in every region of the world to honor those who lost their lives to AIDS and support people living with HIV. This day is organized annually every 3rd Sunday of May.

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SCORA Programs Sexual Month

Assault

Awareness

In 1976 when women marched and protested against rape, sexual assault and the fear that women encountered walking the streets at night. These events coordinated to a movement across the US and Europe. In the late 1980s the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NCASA) determined in cooperation with other sexual assault coalitions a preferred date for a national sexual assault awareness week and April was selected. In 2009 Barack Obama proclaimed April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

World Breastfeeding Week The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action WABA was formed in 1991 with the goal to follow up on the Incentive Declaration done by UNICEF. The declaration supports a global breastfeeding culture and support breastfeeding everywhere. In 1992 the WABA) brought the World Breastfeeding Week to life. Now it is celebrated during the 1st and 7th of August in over 120 countries by UNICEF, WHO and their partners including individuals, organizations and governments.

Global Day of Action for Access to safe & Legal Abortion

This day is celebrated on the 28th of September and has it’s origins on Latin America and the Caribbean where women’s groups have been mobilizing on that day for the last two decades to demand their governments to decriminalize abortion and provide access to legal and safe abortion. Another aim was to end stigma and discrimination towards women who choose to have an abortion. In 2011 the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) took that day to the global level in solidarity with the women’s movement in Latin America. Access to safe and legal abortion continues being denied for too many women in too many countries. In African countries abortion is prohibited and only allowed in cases to save the mother’s life. In some Asian countries law permits abortion but it is still severely restricted. In some European countries opposition groups wish to cut women’s reproductive freedom by imposing legal and financial restrictions to abortions. Due to all those restrictions this day is standing for a global movement for sexual and reproductive rights for all women.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month The Breast Cancer Awareness Month is celebrated during the month of October across the world. Aim of this month is to increase and support for the awareness, early detection and treatment. Since Breast cancer is the most common cancer found in women worldwide in developed and developing countries and in low and middle income countries another goal of the breast cancer awareness month is to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure.

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SCORA Programs Movember

Three men in Australia found Movember in 2004. that charity event aims to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues like prostate and testicular cancer and ‘change the face of men’s health’. Therefore, during the month of November men are growing their mustaches awareness. Their platform is movember.com where people have the opportunity to form teams and donate money for the cause of men’s health. In 2012 Movember was listed on the world’s top 100 Non-governmental organizations.

International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women On 19th of the December in 1999 the United Nations General Assembly designated the 25th of November as the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women. Women’s activists have marked the 25th of November as violence against women since 1981, and this day is rooted in the history of the assassination of the three Mirabal sisters in the Dominican Republic in 1960. Since 1999 it is the aim to raise awareness on violence against women since it is a violation of human rights, the consequence of discrimination against women and imp, acts on and impedes progress in many areas including poverty eradication.

World AIDS Day World AIDS Day was conceived and adopted unanimously by 140 countries meeting at the World Summit of Ministers of Health on AIDS, London in January 1988. The day was envisaged as an opportunity for governments, national AIDS programs, nongovernmental and local organizations, as well as individuals everywhere, to demonstrate both the importance they attached to the fight against AIDS and their solidarity in this effort. World AIDS Day is commemorated around the globe on December 1st. It celebrates progress made in the battle against the epidemic — and brings into focus remaining challenges. Community-based actions take place all over the world, media supported campaigns take place to attract people’s attention and remind them that HIV/AIDS is not to be forgotten. World AIDS Day is also important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away and that there are many things still to be done.

Blood Donor Day

world blood donor day (WBDD) is held on June 14 each year. The event was organized for the first time in 2005, by a joint initiative of the world health organization, the international federation of the red cross, and red crescent societies to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood. Transfusion of blood and blood products helps and saves millions of lives every year. It can help patients suffering from life-threatening conditions live longer and with a higher quality of life,

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SCORA Programs and support complex medical procedures. It also has an essential, life-saving role in maternal; and perinatal care. Access to safe and sufficient blood and blood products can help reduce rates of death and disability due to severe bleeding during delivery and after childbirth.

SCORA Events EVENT

DATE February 6 February 12 March 8 April

International Day to Zero Tolerance to Genital Mutilation Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness Day International Women's Day Sexual Assault awareness month

3rd Sunday May May 28 June14

International AIDS candlelight memorial day.

August1-7

World breastfeeding week

September 26 September 28 October November November 11 November 28 December 1

International menstrual hygiene day.

Blood Donor day

World contraception day Global day of access to safe abortion and legal abortion.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month Movember (raising awareness of cancer-related to men Sex education and obstetric violence awareness International day of elimination of violence against women World AIDS day

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Activities Gallery

International AIDS candlelight Memorial, 3rd Sunday May 2021

International menstrual hygiene day 28 May 2021

# Pad a girl, end period poverty 13

Activities Gallery

Introduction to SCORA 3rd July 2021 14

Activities Gallery

World breastfeeding Week 15

Activities Gallery

Sexual and Reproductive health workshop, 15 November 2021 16

Activities Gallery #Lef 4 set mot

Gender-based Violence conversation circle 9 December 2021

#16 Days of Activism 17

Activities Gallery #Lef 4 set mot

#16 Days of Activism 18

Activities Gallery #Lef 4 set mot

SCORAngels

School to school TALK on GBV

#16 Days of Activism 19

Activities Gallery #Lef 4 set mot

Walk with GBV survivor #16 Days of Activism

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Activities Gallery

Blood donation drive (it's in our blood to save lives ) February 21st - 27th 2022 21

Activities Gallery

# it's in our blood to save lives 22

BODY SHAMING

she's "too" curvy, she should lose weight.

She's "too" thin, she has no curves. No, you are " too" judgemental and you should stop.

Did you ever stop to think about how often we are told to change our appearance? How to hide our imperfections?

Body shaming is an act of making inappropriate and negative comments about another person's weight or size. Typically people are body shamed when they appear overweight or underweight and don't fit society's view of a perfect body. It was usually something that overweight people are subjected to but there's an increasing trend in criticizing those who look too skinny. Also, it extends to the perception that one does not sufficiently display masculinity or femininity, like men with wide hips, prominent breasts, or even a lack of developed muscle. Similarly a woman with a broad shoulder, muscular or deep voice. Many of us spend a significant portion of time engrossed by social media. Connecting with friends, browsing through photos, and commenting on other people's appearance. It seems like harmless fun, but the downside is we actively body shame people freely. It's ubiquitous, it's in magazines, newspapers, television shows, movies, conversations between friends, and sadly even between family members.

Some forms of body shaming have ancient origins in popular superstitions such as prejudice against red ( ginger ) hair. Unfortunately, this act of shaming people occurs among both men and women, boys and girls of all different shapes and sizes. Criticism of being "too" fat or skinny, "too" tall or short picking on completely irrelevant flaws Nobody should have to live in a world where they are made to feel bad about their bodies.

A shocking example is a cruel photo of pregnant Kim Kardashian being likened to a whale which went viral across social media Cheryl Cole a former girls Aloud star has campaigned against bodyshaming after being subjected to cruel taunts about her slender frames and people like Megan have not been spared from this hurtful act In an interview with a teen vogue singer Kesha opened up about her experience " It became a vicious cycle when I compare myself to others . I would read more mean comments about my body which only fed my anxiety and depression ". The sad reality is nobody is immune from harmful words and the perception of other people.

Body shaming manifests in many ways including criticizing your apearance, through a judgment or comparison to another person. The consequences of body shaming are severe, whether you're chastising yourself or someone else, and can contribute to mental health problems, eating disorders or low self-esteem, and unrealistic expectations about their body. Over 30 million people suffer from eating disorders like bulimia anorexia or binge eating disorders as a consequence of body shaming No matter how this manifests there has never been a better effect of it other than perpetuating the idea of judging people basede on physical features.

However, we cannot control the action and comments of other people but we can stop ourselves from entering the vicious cycle of body shaming. " STOP BODY SHAMING YOURSELF " accept who you are rather than condemning yourself. Find something you like about your body and celebrate that We spend so much time witnessing advertisements about how to make our eyelashes millimeters longer, lose belly fat, and many more just like what the Internet portrays as a perfect body which is masked by filters. Despite our body image struggles, there's still a better part of us we fail to discover, we fail to acknowledge and we fail to be grateful for. And that part, we should celebrate every day because that completes us, it's who we are and it's unique. There's no definition of beauty, the only way to achieve beauty is to feel it from within without breaking it down into individual physical attributes.

Mahawa Fofanah

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ScorAngel

Gender-based violence Gender-based violence discussions cannot be overemphasized, especially when it comes to this part of the world Sierra Leone where this issue is still complicated by many as some believe gender-based violence is preached to destroy families and other relationships.

As a standing committee, we deliberately placed our ears to the ground to know people’s opinions on this issue in other to attack it from a specific point of view. Our discoveries were shocking and unexpected at some point because we saw the emergence of younger subjects like younger women and children are more abreast about the issue but ironically we are still seeing its ugly head surfacing like no man's business. There were cases where a 22-year-old lady was manhandled by her 43-year old boyfriend who is married and his first son is of the same age as the lady. The lady claimed she was deceived by the man that he is divorced and he promised her marriage. Upon finding out the lady continued by saying she confronted Abu which is not his real name and was properly molested and beaten. Long story short the young lady said her family threatened to disown her if she goes to the police as she has come with disgrace to the family but the lady said she is sure that her family was bribed by the man since she lost both parents to Ebola her uncle and auntie are all she knows. These cases and more are in the society and funnily we know where we can get help but we deliberately back out.

Interestingly many men tend to shy away from the fact that they can be abused or violated too, or if they are in that mess they will hide or run away from it. I know of two cases where young boys are abused and raped by older women at a very young age so emphasis should be placed on these gray areas.

As a standing committee, we are not going to give up on fighting these issues but we are going to include different angles we are going to fight from because for the area of sensitization we are going to add more effort but the effort should be placed on the subject involved. Their psychological state and more. It is like providing support to the victims and families.

Mary Sathela Kanu 24

"Kanda Wam, Kanda Kol" For the past few days, I've practically been surviving. Charles could care less. He went about his business as if he did not leave a half dead woman at home.

I dragged myself throughout the day finding something to munch on but all there was were leftovers from the previous night when his friends had come over to hang out. My body greeted me with slams of pain as I got up.

The left eye could barely make out the furnitures in the living room and the rest of my body had belt marks all over. What did I do again?, I couldn't remember. Oh , it must have been me going out without informing him and coming home past the stated curfew time. I had tried to explain to him upon my arrival my reason for stepping out and being late but he did not want to hear any of it, within seconds his huge hands were greeting my face with slaps. Dragged by my hair , he hurried to get something to aid his palms. There was no room for escape as he had locked up all doors. I wailed for help but no one came to my aid , the sounds of whipping filled the atmosphere in no time. I lost count of how many lashes and succumbed to the beating. I was already used to it "Kanda Warm, Kanda Cold."

Mariama Alhassan Sesay

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Tips SCORA: Standing Committee on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights including HIV & AIDS SCORA D: Director SCORA RA: Regional Assistant LRA: Liaison Officer on Sexual and Reproductive health issues including HIV/AIDS SCORA IT: International Team NORA: National Officer on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights including HIV & AIDS LORA: Local Officer on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights including HIV & AIDS CBA: Capacity building Assistant FRA: Fundraising Assistant PAA: Program and Activities Assistant GA: General Assistant Focus Areas CSE: Comprehensive Sexuality Education GBV: Gender-Based Violence MHASA: Maternal Health and Access to Safe Abortion SGI: Sexuality and Gender Identity HIV/AIDS & Other STIs

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Red hugs🤗