Member Associations

Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa, and the tenth most populous in the world, has enormous sexual and reproductive health (SRH) challenges as the statistics demonstrate. The Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia (FGAE) celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015. It has a broad reach which focuses on providing poor and marginalized populations with family planning, safe abortion care, maternal and child health care, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) including HIV and AIDS and associated opportunistic infections. In the shape of permanent clinics, mobile facilities, community-based services (CBSs), FGAE has numerous service points. Staff, backed by over thousands volunteers, hundreds of peer educators and of community-based distributors (CBDs).  There’s no disguising the fact that achieving proper SRH amongst the Ethiopian people is an exhausting uphill struggle. FGAE has the will, the determination and the backing to fight for people’s rights and welfare. Access is key to the Member Association’s activity, and it works extensively with young people to inform, educate and provide essential SRH services. FGAE also runs special projects targeted at particularly vulnerable individuals and groups: street children, people living with HIV and AIDS, sex workers, and young migrants in 8 of the 11 principal Regions in Ethiopia. FGAE partners with government, with non-governmental organisations(NGOs) including the  Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth, UNFPA-Ethiopia, CARE-Ethiopia, DKT-Ethiopia, Dawn of Hope, the Ethiopian Women’s Lawyer Association, and a broad spectrum of HIV and AIDS-related operations. Private sector partners include Betezata Hospital and Janmeda/medical bio laboratories, and donors to the Member Association’s work include the Royal Netherlands Embassy, the Packard Foundation, IPPF’s Japan Trust Fund, USAID/CDC and Irish Aid. Website: www.fgaeet.org  

Riksförbundet För Sexuell Upplysning (RFSU) has 17 local branches, 19 member organizations, 1 clinic and 1 'open house' youth clinic. RFSU works extensively in education, campaigning, advocacy, research, training, and in the international sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) arena. The organization has been especially active in the field of counselling for people with learning difficulties, visual impairment and disability, and it runs courses for volunteers working with these groups. RFSU runs seminars for the general public on the pursuit of pleasure, gender roles and male and female language, and clinics for young men, who are generally thought to be overlooked when it comes to talking about their sexuality. These clinics are run by male staff and registered nurses. RFSU conducts outreach activities at summer seaside resorts, music festivals and other youth events. This work is carried out by trained peer educators and cover sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV and AIDS, and other SRHR issues. The organization produces a quarterly bulletin which is widely read, especially by the media, and a periodical entitled `Reports on Sexuality and Reproduction'. RFSU's international activities include joint projects with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) in Tanzania andZambia, focused on the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of young people. These projects aim to increase knowledge, to promote openness and acceptance of young peoples’ sexual activity, and to improve access to contraceptive services. Other international projects focus on communicating the Swedish experience of sex education, and on providing input into the development of family planning in Russia and the Baltic States. Contacts Website: http://www.rfsu.se/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rfsu.se/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/RFSU