

| 31 March 2016
Sudan Family Planning Association
The Sudan Family Planning Association (SFPA) was established in 1965 by pioneers in obstetrics and gynaecology in response to increases in maternal, neonatal and infant mortality and morbidity. As the statistics show, Sudan is a country in great need of frontline sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. Advocacy, and undertaking information, education and communication (IEC) programmes are critical. The organization has a strong team of health personnel and professional staff that operate 389 service points. These diverse outlets and outreach services are designed to secure the greatest possible access, particularly for vulnerable groups. Outlets include 11 permanent clinics and 4 mobile units, and the organization works in conjunction with 62 associated operations, 60 private physicians, and over 90 other agencies. 158 community-based distributors/community-based services (CBDs/CBSs) provide the essential platform of on-the-ground support which enables SFPA to meet an estimated 64% of the country’s current demand for contraceptive pills. A major priority for SFPA is improving the status of women and enhancing their understanding of their rights. The organization allies SRH closely with development initiatives for women. Economic independence, or the capacity to make a significant contribution to a family’s income, empowers women, and with economic empowerment comes the potential for greater control over reproductive health and family planning. In Sudan (particularly in rural areas) harmful practices such as female genital mutilation are widespread. SFPA is vigorous in combating FGM. SFPA has played a key role in the design, testing and implementation of the HIV and AIDS Stigma Index, and has undertaken critical work in HIV prevention initiatives amongst at-risk groups. It’s a founder member of the Sudan AIDS Network (SAN). It’s highly active as a technical adviser to the government on population policy, and it advocates strenuously for financial and political support for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

| 31 March 2016
Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana
Ghana is a country which has deep-rooted cultural norms, and structural barriers that perpetuate poor sexual and reproductive health. These include high risks of maternal mortality, high numbers of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and low levels of contraceptive use. The Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) was set up in 1967 to provide family planning services to the people of Ghana. Over the years, its work has expanded to cover a whole range of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. Today, in addition to basic family planning support, PPAG provides maternal and child health care, infertility management, and voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV and AIDS. It also provides other SRH services (for example, programmes for the management of erectile dysfunction). PPAG’s operation depends on a team of 103 staff, over 1,000 volunteers, 300 peer educators, 551 community-based distributors (CBDs) and a Youth Action Movement membership of 810 young people. PPAG's delivers services and programmes through 1,356 service points, including 11 permanent clinics, 54 mobile clinics and over 1,000 community-based service points (CBSs). PPAG works with a huge roster of partners, right across government in health, education, HIV and AIDS, youth, and population planning departments. Its civil society networks include over 15 non-governmental organizations. It receives financial support from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning, UNFPA, the Programme For Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), the African Youth Alliance (AYA), the Big Lottery Fund (BLF) of UK, DANIDA, the French Embassy, the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID), UNICEF and GTZ. Contacts Website: www.ppag.org.gh Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Planned-Parenthood-Association-of-Ghana-PPAG-258152110962577/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ppagghana