We are writing to express our support for HIV2020: An Alternative to AIDS2020. The HIV2020 Alliance has formed as an alliance of global key population-led networks, networks of people living with HIV and treatment activists and allies, to organise an alternative event to the 2020 International AIDS Conference. This event will be an inclusive, international community-led event that centres the communities who have been most disproportionately impacted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic; communities who have been excluded by the organisers of AIDS2020.  The Host Country: Worsening Human Rights Violations Violations of the human rights of the communities we serve have worsened considerably in the country where the next International AIDS Conference, AIDS2020, is planned. AIDS2020 is set to collide with the US Administration’s active progression of their anti-human rights and anti-feminist agenda aimed at denying women’s bodily autonomy and women’s rights through policies designed to curtail sexual and reproductive freedoms; including the right of girls and women to prevent or end a pregnancy, to live their gender identity and sexual orientation or for sex workers to safely earn an income. Against the recommendations of community advocates, activists, academics, and networks worldwide, including national networks of people living with HIV in the United States, the International AIDS Society has chosen the US as the site for the next AIDS conference in 2020. In the US, since the last presidential election, minority and marginalised communities have experienced increasingly discriminatory political rhetoric, hate speech, violence, and a rolling back of freedoms and rights. This is especially true for people of colour, migrants, and people of Muslim, African, Caribbean, and Latin American descent and heritage, as well as for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, people living with HIV/AIDS, women and girls, people who use drugs and sex workers.  In the US, in which AIDS2020 is to be held, there are travel restrictions in place on communities most affected by HIV/AIDS, on people who use drugs and sex workers, which make it incredibly difficult for these communities to enter the country for the conference. The conference organisers, in their choice of host country, have therefore chosen to exclude the people who have been excluded, sidelined, and discriminated against in the AIDS response since the 1980s, represented by Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The choice of location for the conference sends a concerning message that implies a willingness to tolerate discrimination and exclusion of these communities.  The HIV2020 Alliance: A Community-Led Event In response to this choice of host country, HIV2020: Community Reclaiming the Global Response is scheduled to take place in Mexico City, between July 5th and 7th 2020, and will run concurrently with the first half of the international AIDS conference. It will provide a safe alternative for individuals who cannot or will not enter the US in 2020 or who cannot afford to attend AIDS2020. This community-led event will centre issues of equity, parity and inclusion. It will be key population-led, inter-disciplinary, and sex positive.  We strongly support this event, which aims to build a safe and friendly space for the equitable exchange of information, knowledge, experiences and expertise by ensuring diverse voices are heard and reflected. We know from our own experience that this can only be possible if community members and representatives are inclusively present in their diversity and treated as equal partners, which will be impossible at the conference hosted in the US.  With this statement, we urge further statements of solidarity from key allies who can commit to disseminating information about HIV2020 as it becomes available. Download the full statement

IPPF’s Director General has led the global Federation in paying tribute to the dedicated and pioneering work of the late Professor Fred Sai. Professor Sai dedicated over fifty years to championing the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls, campaigning and advocating for access to contraception and safe and legal abortion. He was the first African President of IPPF between 1989 to 1995 and the co-founder in 1967 of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), an IPPF member association. Professor Sai also chaired the main committees of both the 1984 International Conference on Population and Development in Mexico City and the landmark 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo. As well as co-founding PPAG, his advocacy for access to contraception in Ghana led to the provision of subsidized family planning services by the Government in 2007 under the Free Maternal Health Policy. In 2014, the Fred T. Sai Institute was established by the IPPF Africa Region in Professor Sai’s honour, as a pioneer public health institute, championing research on population and sexual and reproductive health across the Africa Region and generating evidence of effective health strategies through the funding of postgraduate research and the organisation of a biennial dissemination forum between academia, NGOs and Governments. IPPF President Rana Abu Ghazaleh paid tribute to Professor Sai on behalf of IPPF’s Governing Council: “It is very sad to hear of Fred Sai’s passing. He was a landmark in the SRHR world and his passing is a loss to IPPF and the world. I had the honor of sharing the opening session with him at the ICPD @ 10 conference in 2004 as an IPPF youth volunteer then and to meet him in person.”  IPPF’s Director General, Dr Alvaro Bermejo said: “The world of sexual and reproductive health has lost a giant. We join the world in honouring Professor Fred Sai and paying tribute to a champion and pioneer who did so much to improve the rights of women and girls in Ghana, in Africa and around the globe.” IPPF Africa Acting Region Director Dr Haingo Rabearimonjy said: “We have lost hero of sexual and reproductive health and rights in Africa. Prof Sai was a genuine advocate of gender equality and women empowerment. His work has shaped how we delivery SRH services to youth and women today. He was a champion with an unparalleled gift of garnering support for SRHR from all corners of the globe. It is with deep sorrow that we unite the world to honour our dearly departed godfather of SRHR.” 

A cross-partner coalition, led by IPPF, Marie Stopes International, Ipas, PSI and SAAF, launch SafeAccess, the first digital platform of its kind, working to eliminate unsafe abortion by putting evidence-based guidance in the hands of frontline practitioners and policy makers. According to the Guttmacher Institute, almost half of all abortions that will occur this year, an estimated 25 million, will be unsafe. It’s predicted that seven million women and girls will suffer devastating injuries and over 22,000 will die. The World Health Organization states  that almost every single one of these deaths could be prevented. Through sexuality education, contraception, and the provision of safe, legal abortion and post-abortion care, no woman or girl should die for the right to determine her own future. Yet, from the southern states of America to sub-Saharan Africa, we see every day that people are having their right to access reproductive healthcare denied. With the recent expansion of the Mexico City Policy (also known as the Global Gag Rule) and in the face of an emboldened opposition, five of the world’s largest sexual and reproductive healthcare providers are standing together in support of a woman’s right to safe abortion. Recognising the challenge ahead, IPPF, Marie Stopes International, Ipas, PSI and Safe Abortion Action Fund are launching SafeAccess: an online platform sharing briefs, infographics, videos, toolkits and more, on what quality safe abortion and post-abortion care programming looks like worldwide, how to remove barriers to access and expand safe services. As a coalition of the largest sexual and reproductive health organizations worldwide, the hub will host valuable resources alongside previously unpublished lessons on what works, to support frontline practitioners and policy makers to expand access to life-saving services. In a joint statement launching SafeAccess, the CEOs of IPPF, Marie Stopes International, Ipas, PSI and SAAF shared: “As part of our commitment to both sharing our knowledge and to a more collective approach, Marie Stopes International, IPPF, Ipas, PSI and SAAF are delighted to launch the SafeAccess Hub. As implementing organisations, we share our own learnings on what works, with the hope that those on the frontline can use these lessons to expand access to life-saving services. “With growing opposition to reproductive rights, it is more important than ever that our community comes together in support of a woman’s right to safe abortion. It is time to remove barriers to access, to put women at the centre of reproductive health programmes and to finally eliminate unsafe abortion, together.”

IPPF is a proud sponsor, session organizer and participant of Women Deliver 2019 Conference (WD2019).  Through its participation IPPF will convey the message, ‘There is no Gender Equality without Sexual and Reproductive Rights’ in a series of panel discussions and events concerning medical abortion, contraceptives, gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health. View IPPF's 2019 Women Deliver programme RSVP to SRHR in Humanitarian Settings - Shifting Power Through Community Engagement to Realize the Potential of Localization RSVP to From Global Movement to Local Action: Gender and SRHR within UHC RSVP to  Putting the Power in Women’s Hands: Paving the Path to self-managed Abortion for Greater Access and Choice    

Women and girls must have the information, knowledge, and ability to make the best choices for themselves about their sexual and reproductive lives. Women and girls at increased risk of acquiring HIV are no exception. When a woman can choose effective contraceptive methods, she is put in control of her reproductive health and can better protect herself from HIV, and live a happier, healthier life. As we await the results of the Evidence for Contraceptive Options and HIV Outcomes (ECHO) trial, we know that evidence must guide all efforts to provide better health for women, girls, and their families. The ECHO clinical trial was designed to do just that – by comparing three common methods of contraceptives and whether any of them increase the risk of acquiring HIV among women and girls at high risk. We look forward to the evidence from the ECHO trial that will inform the decisions that women and girls make.  Each woman and girl must have the ability to choose the contraceptive method that works best for her, and receive the counselling she needs to weigh her own risks. Women weigh risks and benefits all the time; decisions about contraceptives must never be made for them. As we await the ECHO results – and into the future – we must all strive to ensure that even more options – and the highest quality counselling – are available to all women and girls who seek to prevent both pregnancy and HIV infection. Putting women and girls at the center is our goal.

IPPF Director-General Dr Alvaro Bermejo and China’s Vice Premier Madam Sun Chunlan have met in Beijing to discuss the changes in family planning and population policy in China and the direction of a new partnership between IPPF and China. In the meeting, which took place on April 3rd, Dr Bermejo said he knew that family planning had been an important part of China's development over the last 40 years, with the China Family Planning Association (CFPA), an IPPF member association, playing a significant role.  He also expressed a desire for IPPF to work more closely with China in the future.     Dr Bermejo said: “IPPF is keen to develop a new partnership with China and IPPF, deepening our joint cooperation and understanding. That should include a focus more on 'quality' of populations (eg migrants, rural-urban disparity, ageing) and family health approach (eg health of women, new-born, child, adolescent and elderly people) in China, a greater role for China in south - south collaboration and its Belt and Road Initiative, and in global heath development. We also needs to see a great global focus on sexual and reproductive health in humanitarian settings. IPPF’s unique federal structure can help in leveraging China's experience and knowledge to the benefit of IPPF member associations in developing countries.” Vice Premier Sun said: “All the areas of cooperation proposed by IPPF are important to China.  China's development process is still continuing and we are happy to share China's experience with developing countries to improve people's health. Let's explore further areas of health together.”  Dr Bermejo also meet with the President of CFPA, H.E. Mr Wang Gang, the Standing Vice President of CFPA, H.E. Mr Wang Paian and Vice Minister of Health H.E. Mr Yu Xuejun of the National Health Commission, and discussing the ways in which family planning can contribute to China's efforts to meet sustainable development goals