| 31 March 2016
Mauritius Family Planning & Welfare Association
Established in 1957 as a grass-root movement, the Mauritius Family Planning & Welfare Association (MFPWA) was one of the earliest organizations in Africa focusing on family planning issues. As the nation struggled to find a way to address pressing population issues, a group of advocates formed MFPWA and started to provide contraceptive services directly to women. In 2018 the MFPWA is governed by an Act of Parliament 2018 as a body corporate. Today, the organization caters for the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of the whole community. It also has particular strands of activity relating to specific groups including sexually abused children, elderly people, men and marginalized populations on Rodrigues and Agalega Islands. MFPWA has 30 staff and 50 volunteers and offers services through 2 permanent facilities and several service points. It also runs a day care centre for infants and children as a social enterprise initiative. The Association delivers services that include family planning, the prevention and management of HIV through voluntary counselling and testing, infertility management, antenatal and post-natal care, post-abortion care, the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and screening for cancers of the reproductive systems in particular breast, cervical and prostate. The Association began its first rehabilitation of sexually abused children in 2003 and has built a solid reputation in the domain. Services for the rehabilitation of victims of gender based violence had been extended to Rodrigues Island on a pilot basis in 2019. The Member Association also operates peer-educator-led outreach programmes targeting work places, namely: hotels, manufacturing industries, call centres, male-dominated sectors such as transport, police, agriculture and fisheries. MFPWA has played a critical role in promoting the integration of comprehensive sexuality education into the national school curriculum and its powerful, informed advocacy has been influential in shaping government’s agenda and policies on SRH and population issues. MFPWA partners with and advises government departments which address health, quality of life, women’s rights, child development, family welfare, social security and youth and sports. MFPWA works with a large number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), para-statal and government institutions and international partners like UNFPA, Help Age International and the European Union.
| 31 March 2016
Association Togolaise pour le Bien-Etre Familial
The Association Togolaise pour le Bien-Etre Familial (ATBEF) was formed in 1975. ATBEF’s services include voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) for HIV and AIDS, antenatal and post-natal care, post-abortion care, pre-marital counselling, and infertility treatment. ATBEF carries out its work through over one hundred service points, including permanent clinics, mobile units, associated centres, and community-based distributors/community-based services (CBDs/CBSs). The majority of all clients are poor, marginalized, socially excluded and/or under-served. Special emphasis is placed on reaching internally displaced persons, sex workers, street children and drug users. ATBEF works closely with government ministries dedicated to contraceptive commodity supply, to the reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality, and to HIV testing. In its advocacy role, the Member Association was central to the legislature’s adoption of more favourable abortion laws. ATBEF works with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including FORUMSIDA and FONGTO, and its donors include Plan Togo, the PMLS, UNICEF and the Global Fund. It has established and maintains strong links with organizations working in related SRH fields both nationally and across the Africa region.