We are deeply concerned by relentless attempts to roll back the reproductive rights of women in Poland. This week Poland’s parliament is debating a new draft bill entitled “Stop Abortion.” If adopted, this legislation will further limit the already restricted grounds on which women can lawfully access abortion in Poland. It will place women’s health and lives at risk and violate Poland’s international human rights obligations.  We call on Members of Poland’s Parliament to listen to the voices of women across Poland and to reject this regressive legislative proposal and protect women’s health and human rights. Poland already has one of Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws. Abortion is only lawful to safeguard the life or health of women, in situations of severe fetal anomaly or where the pregnancy results from rape or another criminal act such as incest. Even in those situations in which abortion is legal, multiple barriers combine to limit women’s access in practice. The latest “Stop Abortion” proposal seeks to ban abortion in situations where there is a severe fetal anomaly. If the “Stop Abortion” bill is passed it will mean that abortion care will no longer be available to women in Poland when they receive a diagnosis of a severe or fatal fetal anomaly. Official statistics from 2016 show that in practice 96% of legal abortions in Poland are performed on these grounds.  Most women in Poland who decide to end a pregnancy resulting from rape or because their health is at risk are unable to access legal abortion care in Poland and must travel outside the country to do so. This bill would further hinder women, particularly those from low-income and rural communities, from accessing safe abortion care. Since 2011, Poland’s government has launched repeated attacks on women’s reproductive rights. In 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016 draft legislative proposals were introduced that contained total or near total bans on abortion. Following massive public protests, such as the Black Protests in 2016, these draft bills were defeated.  Prohibiting women from accessing safe, legal abortion violates a number of human rights enshrined in international law, including the rights to life, health and health care, nondiscrimination and equality, privacy, and freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The European Court of Human Rights has previously ruled that the Polish government, in hindering timely access to abortion, has violated women’s rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. Numerous international human rights bodies, including the UN Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Committee Against Torture, have called on governments to remove barriers to abortion services and ensure access to safe and legal abortion.     Signatories Abortion Rights Campaign, Ireland Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, Canada Abortion Support Network, United Kingdom ACAI, Spain Agrupación de Madrid del Forum de Política Feminista, Spain Albanian Center for Population and Development, Albania A.L.E.G. Romania Alianza por la Solidaridad, Spain Alliance des Femmes pour la Démocratie, France Alliance for Choice in Northern Ireland, UK ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa, New Zealand Amnesty International AnA Society for Feminist Analyses, Romania ANCIC, France Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (APA) Asociación con la A, Spain Asociación Feminista, Spain Association Défense de la Démocracie en Pologne, France Association des anciennes députées de l ‘Assemblée Nationale française Association for Family Planning and Sexual Health, Latvia Association HERA-XXI, Georgia Association Histoire, Femmes et Sociétés- revue Clio, France Association Mnémosyne, France AIED - Associazione Italiana per l'Educazione demografica, Italy Asian-Pacific Resource and Resarch Centre for Women (ARROW), Malaysia ASTRA Network ASTRA Youth Network Atria - Institute for Gender Equality and Women's History, the Netherlands ATTAC France ‘’AUT’’ LGBTIQ+ student initiative, Croatia Avortament Lliure i Gratuït. Dret al Propi Cos, Spain Avortement en Europe, les Femmes décident, France Autonomous Women’s House Zagreb – Women Against Violence Against Women, Croatia B.a.B.e. (Be active, Be emancipated), Croatia UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development & Reproductive Health, UK Beyond Beijing Committee, Nepal Calala Fondo de Mujeres, Spain The Catalan Family Planning Association, Catalonia Catholics for Choice Center for Community Mediation and Security, Romania Center for Health, Ethics and Social Policy, USA Center for Promotion and Defense of Sexual and Reproductive Rights, Peru Center for Reproductive Rights Centre Women and Modern World, Azerbaijan Center for Women's Studies of the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia CEDES – Center for the Study of State and Society, Argentina Centro de Estudios e Investigación sobre Mujeres, Spain CGT France CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality, the Netherlands City University of New York Law School, Gender Justice Clinic, USA Clínica Dator, Spain Colectivo de Salud Feminista, Argentina Collectif 13 Droits des femmes, France Collectif des Féministes pour l'Egalité, France Collectif Féministes contre le cyberharcèlement, France Collectif Libertaire Anti-Sexiste Collectif National pour les Droits des Femmes, France Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail, France Conseil National des Femmes Françaises, France Culture, Egalité, France Dziewuchy Dziewuchom Berlin, Germany Diverse Voices and Action (DIVA) for Equality, Fiji Doctors for Choice UK DOK – Democracy is OK, Poland Drogheda Abortion Rights Campaign, Ireland El Colectivo Hetaira, Spain Encore Féministes! - Network, France Ensemble! - Political Movement, France Equidad de Género, Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia, México Equilibres & Populations (Equipop), France Estonian Sexual Health Association, Estonia European Association for the Defence of Human Rights European Civic Forum European Humanist Federation, France European NGOs for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Population and Development European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development European Women's Lobby Family Planning and Sexual Health Association, Lithuania Family Planning Association of Moldova Fédération de Normandie du Planning Familial, France Federation for Women and Family Planning, Poland Fédération Laïque de Centres de Planning Familial, France Fédération Nationale Solidarité Femmes, France Fédération Nationale Sud Santé-Sociaux, France FEMEN International Féministes pour une autre Europe, France Femmes Contre les Intégrismes, France Femmes Libres Radio libertaire, France Femmes pour le Dire, Femmes pour Agir, France Femini Berlin Polska Berliński Kongres Kobiet Manifest Wolnej Polski (Congress of Women), Poland FILIA Centre, Romania FOKUS – Forum for Women and Development, Norway Fórum de Política Feminista, Spain Frente Ecuatoriano por la Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos, Ecuador Freedom of Choice FRONT Association, Romania Fundación Arcoiris. Mexico Fundación ASPACIA, Spain Fundación Desafío de Ecuador, Ecuador Fundacja im. Kazimierza Łyszczyńskiego, Poland Gals4Gals Lodz, Poland Gender Alternatives Foundation, Bulgaria GERT – Gender Education, Research and Technology Foundation, Bulgaria Gender Scan, France Global Doctors for Choice Global Fund for Women, USA Great Lakes Initiatives for Human Rights and Development, Rwanda H.E.R.A. – Health Education and Research Association, Macedonia HowToUse Humanists UK Human Rights Watch ILGA - Europe International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion International Commission of Jurists International Federation for Human Rights, France International Women’s Health Coalition, USA IPPF European Network IPPF Global Federation Irish Family Planning Association, Ireland Kazakhstan Feminist Initiative "Feminita" KOD - Independent Group Berlin, Germany Kollektief Antikonceptie, Belgium Komitet Obrony Demokracji - Niezależaa Grupa Berlin, Germany L'Assemblée des Femmes, France L'Egalité, c'est pas sorcier, France La Paille et le Mil, France Ladder for Rural Development, Malawi League for International Women’s Rights, France Legal Center for Women’s Initiatives “Sana Sezim”, Kazakhstan Lesbian Group Kontra, Croatia Les Effronté-es, France Libres Mariannes, France Lights4Rights, Belgium Ligue des Droits de l'Homme, France Lobby Europeo de Mujeres- LEM España, Spain London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign Luna Abortuscentrum Antwerpen, Belgium Marche Mondiale des Femmes France Marche Mondiale des Femmes Belgique, Belgium Marche Mondiale des Femmes Midi-Pyrénées, France Médecins du Monde, France Medical Students for Choice Mediterranean Women’s Fund, France Mujer y Salud en Uruguay Novgorod Gender Centre, Russia Osez le Féminisme!, France PaRiter, Croatia PARI o DISPARE, Italy Planned Parenthood Federation of America Planning Familial 76, France Planning Familial National, France Plataforma CEDAW Sombra País Valenciano, Spain Polish Society of Antidiscrimination Law, Poland Population Matters, United Kingdom Pro familia Bundesverband, Germany Regards de Femmes, France Regina Women’s Network, Lithuania Reproductive Health Matters Reproductive Health Training Center, Moldova RESURJ Roda – Parents in Action, Croatia Romanian Women's Lobby, Romania Ruptures, France Rutgers, Netherlands Safe2choose SALUS Foundation, Ukraine Sarajevo Open Centre, Bosnia Sensoa, Belgium Sexual Health Switzerland Sexual and Reproductive Justice Coalition, South Africa Sexual Rights Initiative, Canada Society for Education on Contraception and Sexuality, Romania Society Without Violence, Armenia Solidarité France Grèce pour la Santé, France S.O.S. Sexisme, France Spanish Federation of Family Planning (FPFE), Spain Surkuna - Centro de Apoyo y Protección de los Derechos Humanos, Ecuador Sustainable Health Development Center – VietHealth, Vietnam Tendo’s World (Arts & Health), Uganda L'Union des Familles Laïques (Union of French Secular Families), France Union syndicale Solidaires, France Union Women Center, Georgia Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights, USA Väestöliitto – Family Federation of Finland Voice for Choice UK WISH Associates, South Africa Women Enabled International Women’s Front of Norway Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) Women Help Women, Poland Women on Waves Women on Web Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, France Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Italy Women's Link Worldwide Women’s Resource Center, Armenia Women’s Rights Center, Armenia Women’s Room – Center for Sexual Rights, Croatia YouAct - the European Youth Network on Sexual and Reproductive Rights Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights Young Women for Change, Nepal Youth Champions Advocacy Nepal (Youth CAN), Nepal 40 ans de movement, France

Another dangerous tropical cyclone has emerged in the Pacific Ocean. The Typhoon Haima hit the northern part of the Philippines and considering the strength of the storm this cyclone will have had a high humanitarian impact.   Please make a donation now. As of reporting time, a total of 18,157 families (90,589 individuals) were evacuated. Initial reports from the Cordillera Region show that 113 houses were damaged. With the strength and extent of the destruction, it is most likely that health and birthing facilities and schools were severely affected. In the rush to provide shelter and food in a crisis, the health and protection needs of pregnant women and young families are often overlooked. When the Typhoon struck approximately one in five women will have been pregnant.  Without access to the right health care, we expect 20 per cent of them will incur complications during the delivery. Your donation will help us save lives.  Having established partnerships in 170 countries, IPPF is one of the first responders when a crisis occurs. Helping the hardest-to-reach areas, particularly women and girls, we are often the only health providers there. The International Planned Parenthood Federation, working through the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines (FPOP), is responding to this crisis. We have worked together since 1969 and in recent years we have saved countless lives following Typhoon Haikui, Bopha, Trami and Haiyan. FPOP is working closely with the local government and international relief agencies to ensure that no women or her family is left behind and put at risk during this crisis. Nandy Senoc, FPOP’s Executive Director said “While we don’t yet know the full extent to the devastation, we are mobilizing our health workers and volunteers, to provide lifesaving services. As a volunteer organization, we are there before, during and after the crisis strikes. We are ready to respond now. For many women and girls in these affected areas, access to our essential health and protection services could mean the difference between life and death. I would like to thank you for supporting IPPF’s work and for standing by women and girls during difficult times like this. Your generosity today will help us support more women and girls as this crisis unfolds." With your support we reach over 2.2 million clients in crisis settings annually in all corners of the world.

Aug 2, 2016: New Delhi: Manila: The International Planned Parenthood Federation through its humanitarian wing, the SPRINT Initiative, is providing humanitarian assistance in the conflict-affected areas of Cotabato in the Philippines. The armed conflict between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has lasted for more than five decades and has displaced around a million people in central Mindanao, Philippines. According to reports dated April 2016, the armed conflict has escalated, creating concerns over a protracted crisis and the vulnerability of women and girls. The conflict has internally displaced farmers who are living in the hinterland communities of the province of North Cotabato, namely in the municipalities of Makilala, Magpet, Kabacan and Tulunan. The SPRINT Initiative project will reach out to 25 affected villages or barangays located in geographically isolated and depressed areas, thereby making access to healthcare an extremely rare thing. As per the assessments done by IPPF’s East and South East Asia and Oceania Region office’s (ESEAOR) Member Association, the Family Planning Association of Philippines (FPOP), access to Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services in these villages is very limited. “IPPF-SPRINT and FPOP will coordinate the implementation of this project with (the) UNFPA centre in Mindanao throughout the 4-month period from August to November, 2016. The Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) will be implemented on-the-ground. IPPF-SPRINT will reach out to around 15,000 beneficiaries in the area and will provide crucial and life-saving SRH services. An amount of AUD 50,000 has been mobilised for the response,” said Aditi Ghosh, Director, IPPF-SPRINT. This humanitarian response is being funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) under the Australian government. “FPOP is a part of the UN cluster system, particularly Health and Protection clusters in the national level. FPOP will also coordinate the humanitarian response with UN regional centres covering affected areas. The North Cotabato Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC) will also play a key role in implementing the MISP,” said Nora Murat, Regional Director, IPPF-ESEAOR. IPPF-SPRINT will work on prevention and management of the consequences of sexual violence, reduction of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV transmission, prevention of excess maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity, plan for the provision of comprehensive SRH services and integrate into primary health care as the situation permits.   Apart from the above, orientation on MISP and Risk Management for implementing partners and project staff/volunteers will be undertaken.     Contact info: Murali Kunduru: [email protected] Jayamalar Samuel: [email protected] Media Contact: Rhea Chawla: [email protected] www.ippf-sprint.org   The SPRINT Initiative is a Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Programme in Crisis and Post-Crisis Situations. SPRINT ensures access to essential lifesaving SRH services for women, men and children in times of crises, a time when services are most needed yet are not prioritised or recognised by key humanitarian responders.   The SPRINT Initiative saves lives and delivers on behalf of the Australian Government aid program (DFAT: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade), which aims to provide more effective preparedness for and response to disasters and crises.   The Initiative is managed by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and represents its commitment to increasing access to SRH services for crisis-affected populations. The International Planned Parenthood Federation is a global service provider and a leading advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all. It is a worldwide movement of national organisations working with and for communities and individuals.