With support from the Government of Japan, International Planned Parenthood Federation’s (IPPF) Member Associations in five countries, namely Afghanistan, Palestine, Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen, will provide urgent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services to communities affected by natural disasters and conflict situations.  These IPPF Member Associations will: Provide sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and maternal and child health services for women and girls and marginalized communities in six remote and flood affected provinces in Afghanistan; Provide urgent sexual and reproductive health services to communities affected by the escalating violence in Palestine; Improve accessibility of services and community sustainability to decrease sexual and reproductive health-related mortality and morbidity of women and girls in three States with high internally-displaced populations in Sudan; Restore health facilities and access to maternal health services in conflict affected areas for populations affected by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine;  Provide critical sexual, reproductive and maternal health care to internally displaced people and local communities in Yemen. This vital funding from Japan will help with provision of badly needed but currently missing health services, especially for women, so that they can live with dignity and free from unwanted pregnancies, death of themselves and their newborns, and reproductive ill-health. It will allow us to provide essential and quality SRH and maternal and child health services in the communities, prevent and manage the consequences of sexual and gender-based violence, including the clinical management of rape, equip community-based midwives with skills to provide high quality obstetric and neonatal services and strengthen health information systems to collect high quality data to respond to the needs and priorities of women and girls’ health. IPPF Director General, Dr Alvaro Bemejo, said, "I offer heartfelt thanks to the Government of Japan for their  unparalleled generosity to enable IPPF to respond to the needs of women and girls caught up in crises around the world. This generosity will allow IPPF and our local partners to provide a critical lifeline to the growing number of people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance."   By the end of December 2024, IPPF, through our local partners in the five countries, will aim to deliver health services and information to at least 239,000 people in total.   For further information, please contact Yuri Taniguchi, IPPF London Office, at [email protected].   Photo Credits: IPPF/Hannah Maule-ffinch/Sudan

IPPF provides comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care to clients around the world. HIV testing, prevention, and treatment services are essential parts of our integrated sexual and reproductive health care package. To expand the choices individuals have to protect themselves from HIV, IPPF is excited to announce a special program to provide the newest methods of HIV prevention - injectable PrEP (a 2-monthly injection of cabotegravir-LA) and the vaginal ring (a monthly vaginal ring of dapivirine), as well as expanding where oral PrEP is offered. This program is being launched through a consortium of IPPF Member Associations called the Consortium to Advance Access to new HIV Prevention Products (CAAPP) - led by Family Planning Association of India, and including the Family Life Association of Eswatini, Lesotho Planned Parenthood Association, Family Planning Association of Malawi, Federation of Reproductive Health Associations, Malaysia, Family Planning Association of Nepal, and Planned Parenthood Association of Thailand. We hope this program will increase access to the number of ways people can protect themselves from HIV, supporting individual's choice to find an HIV prevention method that works for them.

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, IPPF has supported partners in Ukraine and surrounding countries to provide access to essential sexual and reproductive health and rights information and services for those affected. Dr. Galyna Maistruk, Executive Director of Women Health and Family Planning Ukraine said: "Today marks one year since the brutal Russian invasion of my homeland. For us in Ukraine, the 24 February is a benchmark of consciousness and striving at any cost to be helpful and effective at their front. We are fully conscious that grieving for losses, despite tremendous, will not benefit us. And we stand together and remain a people not defined by the war but by our strength, resilience and values. Under shelling, air raid sirens, without electricity we remain committed to supporting the healthcare system through provision of essential equipment, medicine and training for doctors. Thanks to our reliable partners in IPPF and its member associations the work carries on supporting women and girls who need to access vital reproductive health care, abortion, and support after sexual violence until there is a free Ukraine." Banner image credit: Marko Subotin/Shutterstock

With support from the FY2022 Supplementary Budget received from the Government of Japan, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Member Associations in four countries, namely Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Ukraine will protect the health and lives of vulnerable populations affected by conflict and natural disasters through the community-based provision of sexual and reproductive health and essential health services, including maternal and child health, in the following areas:   Afghanistan: 9 provinces (Karpisa, Parvan, Badakhshan, Laghman, Logar, Bamiyan, Samangan, Baruch and Paktika)  Ethiopia: 3 provinces (Afar, Amhara, Somali).   Pakistan: 2 provinces (Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).  Ukraine: 2 cities (Odessa, Poltava).  In all countries the implementation of activities will be a participatory, inclusive and rights-based process that puts people at the centre, responding to their specific circumstances, challenges faced, needs and aspirations, while allowing the most vulnerable to have a voice. It also seeks to realise human security through the provision of relevant health services, especially for women, so that they can live with dignity and free from threats such as unwanted pregnancy, death of themselves and their newborns, and reproductive ill-health. By using and expanding local networks, knowledge, human resources and facilities developed through years of grassroots activities in each country, IPPF will expand the impact of our activities and cause lasting change in people's lives.  The IPPF Director General, Dr Alvaro Bemejo, said, "I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the people of Japan for this invaluable support they have given to the IPPF. We will fully utilise this opportunity to deliver our services to as many vulnerable people as possible and will do our utmost to be there for them and support them."   In the year to December 2023, IPPF, through our local partners, will aim to deliver health services and information to at least 270,000 people across the four countries.   For further information, please contact Yuri Taniguchi of IPPF London at [email protected].          

The MTP (Amendment) Bill, 2020 passed by the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) has indeed been a momentous victory for women and girls of India. The celebrations are incomplete without recognising the tireless efforts of Family Planning Association of India (FPAI) and all the Civil Society partners, activists and women who never stopped demanding women’s rights to safe and legal abortions.  IPPF applauds the Cabinet on this landmark decision which approved the bill allowing abortion up to 24 weeks. The Bill allows abortion up to 24 weeks of gestational age for vulnerable categories of women including rape survivors, victims of incest, pregnancies with foetal abnormalities and minors. Replacing the term’ married couple’ to woman and her partner highlights that the government is acknowledging the changing social fabric in the country. It also takes a positive step towards ensuring confidentiality of information for the woman, except to a person authorised in any law which is in force. The Bill can now be said to be truly woman-centric which recognizes and respects a woman’s autonomy, her choice and her rights. Dr Kalpana Apte (Secretary General, Family Planning Association of India) said: “It was a very long battle that we have fought along with other CSOs and women groups. Although, the amendments are not fully what we fought for, we are happy with many achievements. The gestation age is expanded, now unmarried women can access safe abortions and reduction in numbers of specialists required for second trimester are some of the important wins. The battle is indeed won, the fight is still on to ensure women's sexual and reproductive rights are supported and protected through enabling legislation!” IPPF Director-General Dr Alvaro Bermejo added: “This bill passing represents a huge shift for the rights of women in India to access safe abortion care- though there is more work to be done. This win would have not been possible without the hardwork and dedication of the Family Planning Association of India, civil society partners and activist. Let this win in India inspire other organizations and activists to continue their fight for safe and legal abortion.” While the increase in gestational limit is only for “vulnerable categories of women”, there is a need to improve accessibility to abortion service for all women who want/need it. In addition to addressing stigma, a key requirement is to increase access to safe abortion services in India – in each and every part of the country women get high quality, dignified and stigma free abortion services, only then we can claim universal health coverage for all. 

After generations of oppression under a colonial-era law, today the LGBTI community in India celebrated the scrapping of key provisions in Section 377 from the Indian Penal Code, which had previously outlawed consensual same-sex sexual relations. Following multiple legal challenges, the Supreme Court finally recognised that “158 years ago, the law deprived people of love”, and ruled that all people should be free from prejudice and persecution. A historic win for communities that have been pushed into the shadows, Chief Justice Dipak Mishra made it clear that  “any discrimination on basis of sexual orientation amounts to a violation of fundamental rights.” Welcoming this ruling, IPPF Director-General Dr Alvaro Bermejo said: “Today is a historical victory for the LGBTI community in India. No longer will their human right to love, and to show that love, be violated by archaic laws. IPPF hopes that is this the first step of many to ensure that the LGBTI community are guaranteed their full fundamental rights and that social, economical, financial cultural and political inclusion of the LGBTI community becomes woven into the fabric of India’s national identity.   Today's decision will bring new-found hope and energy to those LGBTI communities that are still suffering under repressive laws. I would like to thank the individuals and organizations that have fought tirelessly to make this happen. Without people fighting for change, change cannot happen.” Image by Courtesy Photo