Photo By Tech. Sgt. Amber Carter | A pediatric nurse from the Honduras Ciudad Mujer program treats a patient Sept. 21,...... read more read more
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SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras – The Joint Task Force-Bravo Medical Element, based out of Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, organizes and conducts Global Health Engagements throughout Central America in the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility, providing care to more than 5,000 patients per year, on average.
Recently, JTF-Bravo organized a Global Health Engagement in an area of Choluteca, Honduras, identified by the Honduran Ministry of Health as an area in need, and more than 1,000 patients were provided medical care that they otherwise may not have received.
Through these Global Health Engagements, U.S. military medical personnel are able to further the U.S. Department of Defense’s Women, Peace and Security initiative by partnering with gender-focused programs, such as Ciudad Mujer.
“The Ciudad Mujer Presidential Program in Honduras is an inter-institutional public management module created with the purpose of contributing and improving the living conditions of Honduran women,” said Wendy Mendez, Ciudad Mujer Choluteca deputy manager. “The services it offers are completely free and are channeled through five modules that are coordinated by the institution that is bound by the relevant policies and regulations: economic autonomy module, sexual and reproductive health module, care and protection for women’s rights module, adolescent care module, and community education module.”
Women, Peace and Security is more than making sure women have access to medical care, it also highlights the importance of women’s meaningful participation in leadership roles.
One shared concern between the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the first female VP in the U.S., and Honduran President Xiomara Castro, the first female president in Honduran history, is gender-based violence. In a readout from their January 2022 meeting, Harris stressed the importance the U.S. places on combating sexual, gender-based violence and how this work is a core pillar of the U.S. Strategy for Addressing the Root Causes of Migration in Central America.
Ciudad Mujer is another way to support women in leadership roles, providing women in the medical professions the opportunity to serve as representatives of their specialty.
“Centro Ciudad Mujer Choluteca has been providing free services to women in the Department of Choluteca and Valle for one year and five months,” said Mendez. “The staff that works in our institution is made up of 82 officials. Currently our institution has a record of 50,470 women who have benefited from all the services that our center provides.”
According to Mendez, Ciudad Mujer is motivated to work with and supports JTF-Bravo knowing that both organizations are committed to supporting Honduras with humanitarian assistance.
“[The partnership] brings medical services to low-income communities where there are many needs that were reflected in statistical data … [recently] providing humanitarian aid to the rural areas of the Department of Choluteca, where the access to free medical services is hard since they have no hospitals or health centers nearby,” said Mendez.
Medical and Civil Affairs teams in the region plan to continue the ongoing partnership with Ciudad Mujer, enhancing women, peace and security initiatives in Central America.
“Ciudad Mujer seeks to improve the living conditions of women in Honduras, economic autonomy, attention to violence, sexual and reproductive health, community education, and other related areas through a network of services offered by competent public institutions,” said Capt. Andrew Smith, 410th Civil Affairs Battalion team chief. “This aligns with the goals of the President of Honduras, the U.S. Embassy, JTF-B, and ARFOR in building a more prosperous Honduras, growing partnerships and building personal readiness.”
Future efforts to enhance women, peace and security initiatives include coordination between the CA team and Ciudad Mujer to support the USNS COMFORT mission in the Fall of 2022.
For more information on the upcoming USNS COMFORT missions, visit https://tinyurl.com/4er2mj65.
| Date Taken: | 10.05.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 10.05.2022 10:44 |
| Story ID: | 430748 |
| Location: | SOTO CANO AIR BASE, HN |
| Web Views: | 189 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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