Member Associations

Established in 1985, IPPF’s Member Association in Guinea-Conakry faces many stark sexual and reproductive health (SRH) challenges including some of the highest fertility and child mortality rates in the world, coupled with very low levels of contraceptive use.   The Association Guinéenne pour le Bien-être Familial (AGBEF) has mounted a vigorous response to these challenges. Through its services points (static clinics, mobile clinics, associated clinics, community-based distributors (CBDs) and community-based services (CBSs) the organization reaches out to poor and marginalized groups with a particular emphasis on young women and men, and displaced persons and refugees. The Member Association’s services include disseminating information, education and communication around sexual and reproductive health (SRH); youth-friendly SRH services; prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV and AIDS through interventions such as voluntary counselling and testing (VCT); improving access to contraceptives at community level; and advocating and mobilizing the public to demand  their SRH rights. AGBEF’s team includes volunteers, peer educators and thousand of CBDs. Its youth action movement has a membership of over 100. The Member Association partners with government departments and large international NGOs to promote and develop its work.  

The Latvian Association for Family Planning & Sexual Health (LAFPSH) focuses on information, education and training activities for health personnel and the general public, and sex education for teachers and young people. The organization has a highly active youth group which runs a safer sex campaign (in conjunction with national media). The group also publishes an advice section in a major youth magazine dealing with problems relating to (for example) puberty, relationships, contraceptives and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). It operates a telephone helpline which is run by young people, for young people. More broadly, LAFPSH runs seminars and workshops on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) concerns such as sexuality and people with disability, gender-based violence and menopause. LAFPSH has significant influence as an advocate at government level, and has been closely involved in developing the national reproductive health programme. This is reflected in the organization’s active programme of information, education and communication (IEC) in conjunction with the Latvian Teachers Association. It has led to the training of over a 1,000 teachers in sex education. A project jointly supported by the Swedish Family Planning Association and the European Commission has enabled LAFPSH to produce and disseminate high quality materials on STIs, condoms and sex education.   Contacts Website: www.papardeszieds.lv Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/papardeszieds Twitter: https://twitter.com/PapardesZieds