Member Associations

Guinea-Bissau is one tenth the size of its neighbour Guinea-Conakry, but its people suffer equally distressing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) problems. The Associação Guineense para o Bem Estar Familiar was established in 1993 to address the major issue in family planning: equipping couples to make active, informed choices about the number of children they would have, and when they would have them.   Since then, the Member Association’s work has expanded to embrace a full range of SRH concerns. It provides young people with information, education and communication (IEC) and behaviour change communication (BCC) around sexual and reproductive health; it works on the prevention, diagnosis and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) includind HIV; it provides post-abortion care and support; it provides care for victims of gender-based violence (GBV); and it advocates strongly at government level for legislation to prevent GBV. Associação Guineense para o Bem Estar Familiar achieved these results through a small but committed team that operate over hundred service points, including static clinics and community-based service points. Despite the relatively small size of the organization, it is growing rapidly with strong central support from IPPF, influential government partnerships, and backing from non-governmental organizations including UNFPA.

Rahnuma (formerly the Family Planning Association of Pakistan or FPAP) started serving poor and marginalized people in Pakistan as the Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP) in 1953. After over 50 years of momentous achievements, the FPAP felt that its name did not fully reflect the scope of its work. It renamed itself ‘Rahnuma’, an Urdu word meaning 'one who shows the path and provides direction'.  Rahnuma was one of the pioneers in providing family planning services and advocating for spacing of childbirth and for smaller families. The government later embraced the cause by establishing the Ministry of Population Welfare. In the space of a decade, Rahnuma grew from a single clinic, based in 1 room in Karachi, to a large-scale operation with an infrastructure of district branches offering model clinics and information and educational facilities. Today, the network operates nearly 5,000 service points, comprising 118 permanent clinics, 11 mobile units, 191 associated clinics and over 2,000 community-based distributors/services (CBDs/CBSs). It also handles referrals to over 2,143 private physicians. Rahnuma has developed innovative programmes to increase access to high-quality, affordable health services. It has advocated for a rights-based approach to sexual and reproductive health (SRH), for the empowerment of particular groups within communities (especially women and young girls), and for the strengthening of civil society in Pakistan. As the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) agenda has shifted over the years, Rahnuma has increasingly embraced SRHR in the context of national development and poverty alleviation, owing to the direct connection between socio-economic conditions and health and well-being. Contacts Website: http://www.fpapak.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rahnuma.fpap.9 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rahnuma_FPAP