Member Associations

The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) was founded in 1969 in response to the appalling health and social circumstances in which many families in Ireland lived. Unmet need for contraception and high fertility resulted in high maternal mortality and morbidity, and poor child survival. Since then the organization has been a pioneering force in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Ireland. Over the years the IFPA has been an educator, a researcher, an opinion former and a service provider. It established the first family planning clinics and pregnancy counselling centres in Ireland. It publishes a comprehensive range of information booklets on contraception. It helped to establish sex education programmes in schools, and it has fought for comprehensive medical and social services for women with crisis pregnancies. The organization provides specialist training in family planning for doctors, nurses, community groups and parents. The IPFA has 2 clinics in Dublin and has 12 pregnancy counselling centres nationwide. The IFPA has clear strategies in relation to abortion and access rights, the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of adolescents and young people, and the reduction of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV.   Contacts Website: www.ifpa.ie Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/irishfamilyplanningassociation Twitter https://twitter.com/IrishFPA

The Association Congolaise pour le Bien-Etre Familial (ACBEF) opened its doors for the first time in 1987. Then it was a small operation dedicated to attending to the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of the urban poor. 25 years later, ACBEF reaches out to the whole country through a network of over 100 community-based distributors (CBDs) backed by static clinics and permanent staff. In addition, ACBEF relies on over 1,000 volunteers, including fully-trained peer educators and a Youth Action Movement.  ACBEF provides a comprehensive range of services covering integrated family palnning, voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), prevention and management of HIV and AIDS, post-abortion care, antenatal and post-natal care, youth-friendly education and information projects, contraceptive and laboratory services. Stigma and taboos around HIV and AIDS are strong in Congo, and ACBEF is engaged in major re-education and sensitization on this front. ACBEF aims its work at a wide public, with particular emphasis on young people (aged 25 and under), internally displaced people, sex workers and women of child-bearing age. Work occurs in both rural and urban areas. With high visibility in the national media, ABCEF is making major inroads in SRH in a very difficult environment. ABCEF works in close partnership with the government’s ministries of Health, Foreign Affairs, and Gender, and with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including Jeunesse Action Sida. ABCEF receives financial support from the European Union, UNFPA and the Congolese Government.   Website: http://www.acbef.org/