“If the project was not here, we wouldn’t do anything.”
Roma woman

Through Project VIHQUINHA, the Portuguese Family Planning Association (APF) is working
with inhabitants of the Biquinha Estate in Porto’s Matosinhos district. The project aims to improve access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services to Roma families.

It has become a model for good practice in establishing relationships built on trust and support with Roma communities.

Roma suffer widespread discrimination, and many in Biquinha face poverty and unemployment.

This case study is one of a series of qualitative reviews called 'IPPF Changing lives' which capture the stories of IPPF’s beneficiaries and clients from around the world.

A rapid PEER (participatory ethnographic evaluation and research) approach was used to train project beneficiaries to interview people in their
social network.

These voices provide us with powerful testimonies on lives changed - in some cases, lives saved - and illustrate how IPPF is making a difference.