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News

Latest news from IPPF

Spotlight

A selection of news from across the Federation

IPPF and MAs at CSW
News item

IPPF Statement on the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)

IPPF welcomes the agreed conclusions of the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), on the theme of “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective”. IPPF actively engaged in the process by providing technical inputs to Member States, raising awareness about the interlinkages between SRHR, poverty, gender equality and the empowerment and human rights of all women and girls.
Black protest - Poland
news item

| 22 March 2018

Polish Parliament Must Protect Women’s Health and Rights

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

Black protest - Poland
news_item

| 22 March 2018

Polish Parliament Must Protect Women’s Health and Rights

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

Staff of Syrian Family Planning Association distributing essentials to women.
news item

| 16 December 2016

Plea for Aleppo

My Name is Dr Lama Mouakea. I am the Executive Director for the Syrian Family Planning Association. We are now in the fifth year since the start of unrest in Syria, the situation continues to worsen. With half million people being killed and more than ten million having fled their homes, the conflict has now escalated, violently affecting the people in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. We still are in Aleppo. The situation is difficult. We are struggling to survive. People are coming here because they are not safe. Thousands have left East Aleppo in fear. It is cold. People walk long distances. There is so much crowding and for my staff the hours are very long. There are too many people. Everywhere is crowded and this limits where we can find spaces to provide our services. The security situation in the city means that we are trying to deliver services and see as many people as we can. We know that who we treat today we may not see again. We are providing the highest number of services from mobile clinics, to contraceptive supplies, to essential medicines including vitamins. We have medical teams and volunteers providing sexual and reproductive health services, psychosocial and paediatric through a range of mobile clinics and mobile teams so we can reach people. The risks for women and girls from sexual violence is high. We have seen many cases in our psychosocial support of violence that this kind of displacement exposes them to. We provide tailored support to the survivors of sexual violence, which has increased enormously during the war. There isn't enough services for the people. The demand is high and we need more assistance. With such high numbers and suffering, our internally displaced need urgent help. My staff are also suffering. We cannot keep up and want to survive. We won't leave because our place is here to help our people. I can only hope that the world can hear me. Please consider the Syrian people and what we are going through. We need money to give hope to people and help them survive and save lives. Support IPPF's work in Aleppo   DR LAMA MOUAKEA | Executive Director, the Syrian Family Planning Association Mrs. Lama Mouakea has been the Executive Director of the Syrian Family Planning Association (SFPA) for the last 19 years and has a long history of working with sexual and reproductive health services. Currently she is responsible for supervision of 114 staff and coordination of 600 volunteers. Under her leadership the SFPA has played a major role in responding to the emergency situation in Syria, providing sexual and reproductive health services to people who are internally displaced due to the on-going conflict, with a focus on mother and child care and nutrition, psychosocial support, first aid and training of health personnel in the provision of clinical management for rape survivors and coverage of the minimum initial service package among a lot of other things.

Staff of Syrian Family Planning Association distributing essentials to women.
news_item

| 16 December 2016

Plea for Aleppo

My Name is Dr Lama Mouakea. I am the Executive Director for the Syrian Family Planning Association. We are now in the fifth year since the start of unrest in Syria, the situation continues to worsen. With half million people being killed and more than ten million having fled their homes, the conflict has now escalated, violently affecting the people in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. We still are in Aleppo. The situation is difficult. We are struggling to survive. People are coming here because they are not safe. Thousands have left East Aleppo in fear. It is cold. People walk long distances. There is so much crowding and for my staff the hours are very long. There are too many people. Everywhere is crowded and this limits where we can find spaces to provide our services. The security situation in the city means that we are trying to deliver services and see as many people as we can. We know that who we treat today we may not see again. We are providing the highest number of services from mobile clinics, to contraceptive supplies, to essential medicines including vitamins. We have medical teams and volunteers providing sexual and reproductive health services, psychosocial and paediatric through a range of mobile clinics and mobile teams so we can reach people. The risks for women and girls from sexual violence is high. We have seen many cases in our psychosocial support of violence that this kind of displacement exposes them to. We provide tailored support to the survivors of sexual violence, which has increased enormously during the war. There isn't enough services for the people. The demand is high and we need more assistance. With such high numbers and suffering, our internally displaced need urgent help. My staff are also suffering. We cannot keep up and want to survive. We won't leave because our place is here to help our people. I can only hope that the world can hear me. Please consider the Syrian people and what we are going through. We need money to give hope to people and help them survive and save lives. Support IPPF's work in Aleppo   DR LAMA MOUAKEA | Executive Director, the Syrian Family Planning Association Mrs. Lama Mouakea has been the Executive Director of the Syrian Family Planning Association (SFPA) for the last 19 years and has a long history of working with sexual and reproductive health services. Currently she is responsible for supervision of 114 staff and coordination of 600 volunteers. Under her leadership the SFPA has played a major role in responding to the emergency situation in Syria, providing sexual and reproductive health services to people who are internally displaced due to the on-going conflict, with a focus on mother and child care and nutrition, psychosocial support, first aid and training of health personnel in the provision of clinical management for rape survivors and coverage of the minimum initial service package among a lot of other things.

mother and child
news item

| 04 February 2016

A matter of life and death: IPPF's humanitarian response

Today, the Danish Family Planning Association (DFPA) together with the Danish All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs convened a conference with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) on the challenges of sexual and reproductive health and  rights (SRHR) in humanitarian crises. HRH the Crown Princess of Denmark and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) were also in attendance. HKHK Mary: women are not vulnerable in hum crises because they are weak but because they lack equality #SRHRinCrises pic.twitter.com/EOhV38IpBi — Mette Gjerskov (@MetteGjerskov) February 4, 2016 More than 100 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. It is estimated that 26 million are women and adolescent girls of reproductive age of which 500 die every day from complications related to  pregnancy and childbirths. For example, the Syrian civil war has resulted in a 39% rise in maternal mortality since 2010 and gender-based violence is affecting at least 7 out of 10 women in some crisis settings. This shows a great need for humanitarian actors to ensure that the human rights of women and girls are protected and able to access sexual and reproductive healthcare.   // IPPF: saving lives in crises Right now more than 250,000 women and girls need help. IPPF provides the emergency response needed, like family planning, which can reduce maternal deaths by 33%. SEXUAL & REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES SAVES LIVES. AND IS A HUMAN RIGHT. Posted by IPPF on Thursday, 4 February 2016 The increasing number of humanitarian crises calls for serious rethinking of the current humanitarian response. The status of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) violations in humanitarian crises must be confronted and prevented. Over the past decade, IPPF has reached millions of people during floods, conflicts, earthquakes, cyclones when health care often collapsed, IPPF Member Associations continued to serve the unreachable particularly women which make three quarters of IPPF clients. We have an organizational strategy to address sexual and reproductive needs before, during and after humanitarian crises.  IPPF starts with its Minimum Initial Service Package, which is life-saving, and transition to its Integrated Package of Essential services, which is life-changing. This ensure that a sxual and reproductive health situation is better after the crisis than before. @LcrTrc Crown Princess & @ippf CEO champion #women's #health & #rights in #humanitarian crisis settings pic.twitter.com/4ajLr0rkXg — Matthew Lindley (@t__box) February 4, 2016 Director general, Tewodros Melesse said, "Access to these services,especially in the midst of war or natural disaster, is a human right which does not only saves lives in the short run, but also helps build resilience amongst refugees and displaced people. It’s one of the most important aspects of humanitarian assistance that is often forgotten when disaster and conflicts strike."

mother and child
news_item

| 04 February 2016

A matter of life and death: IPPF's humanitarian response

Today, the Danish Family Planning Association (DFPA) together with the Danish All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs convened a conference with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) on the challenges of sexual and reproductive health and  rights (SRHR) in humanitarian crises. HRH the Crown Princess of Denmark and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) were also in attendance. HKHK Mary: women are not vulnerable in hum crises because they are weak but because they lack equality #SRHRinCrises pic.twitter.com/EOhV38IpBi — Mette Gjerskov (@MetteGjerskov) February 4, 2016 More than 100 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. It is estimated that 26 million are women and adolescent girls of reproductive age of which 500 die every day from complications related to  pregnancy and childbirths. For example, the Syrian civil war has resulted in a 39% rise in maternal mortality since 2010 and gender-based violence is affecting at least 7 out of 10 women in some crisis settings. This shows a great need for humanitarian actors to ensure that the human rights of women and girls are protected and able to access sexual and reproductive healthcare.   // IPPF: saving lives in crises Right now more than 250,000 women and girls need help. IPPF provides the emergency response needed, like family planning, which can reduce maternal deaths by 33%. SEXUAL & REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES SAVES LIVES. AND IS A HUMAN RIGHT. Posted by IPPF on Thursday, 4 February 2016 The increasing number of humanitarian crises calls for serious rethinking of the current humanitarian response. The status of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) violations in humanitarian crises must be confronted and prevented. Over the past decade, IPPF has reached millions of people during floods, conflicts, earthquakes, cyclones when health care often collapsed, IPPF Member Associations continued to serve the unreachable particularly women which make three quarters of IPPF clients. We have an organizational strategy to address sexual and reproductive needs before, during and after humanitarian crises.  IPPF starts with its Minimum Initial Service Package, which is life-saving, and transition to its Integrated Package of Essential services, which is life-changing. This ensure that a sxual and reproductive health situation is better after the crisis than before. @LcrTrc Crown Princess & @ippf CEO champion #women's #health & #rights in #humanitarian crisis settings pic.twitter.com/4ajLr0rkXg — Matthew Lindley (@t__box) February 4, 2016 Director general, Tewodros Melesse said, "Access to these services,especially in the midst of war or natural disaster, is a human right which does not only saves lives in the short run, but also helps build resilience amongst refugees and displaced people. It’s one of the most important aspects of humanitarian assistance that is often forgotten when disaster and conflicts strike."

Black protest - Poland
news item

| 22 March 2018

Polish Parliament Must Protect Women’s Health and Rights

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

Black protest - Poland
news_item

| 22 March 2018

Polish Parliament Must Protect Women’s Health and Rights

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

Staff of Syrian Family Planning Association distributing essentials to women.
news item

| 16 December 2016

Plea for Aleppo

My Name is Dr Lama Mouakea. I am the Executive Director for the Syrian Family Planning Association. We are now in the fifth year since the start of unrest in Syria, the situation continues to worsen. With half million people being killed and more than ten million having fled their homes, the conflict has now escalated, violently affecting the people in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. We still are in Aleppo. The situation is difficult. We are struggling to survive. People are coming here because they are not safe. Thousands have left East Aleppo in fear. It is cold. People walk long distances. There is so much crowding and for my staff the hours are very long. There are too many people. Everywhere is crowded and this limits where we can find spaces to provide our services. The security situation in the city means that we are trying to deliver services and see as many people as we can. We know that who we treat today we may not see again. We are providing the highest number of services from mobile clinics, to contraceptive supplies, to essential medicines including vitamins. We have medical teams and volunteers providing sexual and reproductive health services, psychosocial and paediatric through a range of mobile clinics and mobile teams so we can reach people. The risks for women and girls from sexual violence is high. We have seen many cases in our psychosocial support of violence that this kind of displacement exposes them to. We provide tailored support to the survivors of sexual violence, which has increased enormously during the war. There isn't enough services for the people. The demand is high and we need more assistance. With such high numbers and suffering, our internally displaced need urgent help. My staff are also suffering. We cannot keep up and want to survive. We won't leave because our place is here to help our people. I can only hope that the world can hear me. Please consider the Syrian people and what we are going through. We need money to give hope to people and help them survive and save lives. Support IPPF's work in Aleppo   DR LAMA MOUAKEA | Executive Director, the Syrian Family Planning Association Mrs. Lama Mouakea has been the Executive Director of the Syrian Family Planning Association (SFPA) for the last 19 years and has a long history of working with sexual and reproductive health services. Currently she is responsible for supervision of 114 staff and coordination of 600 volunteers. Under her leadership the SFPA has played a major role in responding to the emergency situation in Syria, providing sexual and reproductive health services to people who are internally displaced due to the on-going conflict, with a focus on mother and child care and nutrition, psychosocial support, first aid and training of health personnel in the provision of clinical management for rape survivors and coverage of the minimum initial service package among a lot of other things.

Staff of Syrian Family Planning Association distributing essentials to women.
news_item

| 16 December 2016

Plea for Aleppo

My Name is Dr Lama Mouakea. I am the Executive Director for the Syrian Family Planning Association. We are now in the fifth year since the start of unrest in Syria, the situation continues to worsen. With half million people being killed and more than ten million having fled their homes, the conflict has now escalated, violently affecting the people in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. We still are in Aleppo. The situation is difficult. We are struggling to survive. People are coming here because they are not safe. Thousands have left East Aleppo in fear. It is cold. People walk long distances. There is so much crowding and for my staff the hours are very long. There are too many people. Everywhere is crowded and this limits where we can find spaces to provide our services. The security situation in the city means that we are trying to deliver services and see as many people as we can. We know that who we treat today we may not see again. We are providing the highest number of services from mobile clinics, to contraceptive supplies, to essential medicines including vitamins. We have medical teams and volunteers providing sexual and reproductive health services, psychosocial and paediatric through a range of mobile clinics and mobile teams so we can reach people. The risks for women and girls from sexual violence is high. We have seen many cases in our psychosocial support of violence that this kind of displacement exposes them to. We provide tailored support to the survivors of sexual violence, which has increased enormously during the war. There isn't enough services for the people. The demand is high and we need more assistance. With such high numbers and suffering, our internally displaced need urgent help. My staff are also suffering. We cannot keep up and want to survive. We won't leave because our place is here to help our people. I can only hope that the world can hear me. Please consider the Syrian people and what we are going through. We need money to give hope to people and help them survive and save lives. Support IPPF's work in Aleppo   DR LAMA MOUAKEA | Executive Director, the Syrian Family Planning Association Mrs. Lama Mouakea has been the Executive Director of the Syrian Family Planning Association (SFPA) for the last 19 years and has a long history of working with sexual and reproductive health services. Currently she is responsible for supervision of 114 staff and coordination of 600 volunteers. Under her leadership the SFPA has played a major role in responding to the emergency situation in Syria, providing sexual and reproductive health services to people who are internally displaced due to the on-going conflict, with a focus on mother and child care and nutrition, psychosocial support, first aid and training of health personnel in the provision of clinical management for rape survivors and coverage of the minimum initial service package among a lot of other things.

mother and child
news item

| 04 February 2016

A matter of life and death: IPPF's humanitarian response

Today, the Danish Family Planning Association (DFPA) together with the Danish All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs convened a conference with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) on the challenges of sexual and reproductive health and  rights (SRHR) in humanitarian crises. HRH the Crown Princess of Denmark and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) were also in attendance. HKHK Mary: women are not vulnerable in hum crises because they are weak but because they lack equality #SRHRinCrises pic.twitter.com/EOhV38IpBi — Mette Gjerskov (@MetteGjerskov) February 4, 2016 More than 100 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. It is estimated that 26 million are women and adolescent girls of reproductive age of which 500 die every day from complications related to  pregnancy and childbirths. For example, the Syrian civil war has resulted in a 39% rise in maternal mortality since 2010 and gender-based violence is affecting at least 7 out of 10 women in some crisis settings. This shows a great need for humanitarian actors to ensure that the human rights of women and girls are protected and able to access sexual and reproductive healthcare.   // IPPF: saving lives in crises Right now more than 250,000 women and girls need help. IPPF provides the emergency response needed, like family planning, which can reduce maternal deaths by 33%. SEXUAL & REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES SAVES LIVES. AND IS A HUMAN RIGHT. Posted by IPPF on Thursday, 4 February 2016 The increasing number of humanitarian crises calls for serious rethinking of the current humanitarian response. The status of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) violations in humanitarian crises must be confronted and prevented. Over the past decade, IPPF has reached millions of people during floods, conflicts, earthquakes, cyclones when health care often collapsed, IPPF Member Associations continued to serve the unreachable particularly women which make three quarters of IPPF clients. We have an organizational strategy to address sexual and reproductive needs before, during and after humanitarian crises.  IPPF starts with its Minimum Initial Service Package, which is life-saving, and transition to its Integrated Package of Essential services, which is life-changing. This ensure that a sxual and reproductive health situation is better after the crisis than before. @LcrTrc Crown Princess & @ippf CEO champion #women's #health & #rights in #humanitarian crisis settings pic.twitter.com/4ajLr0rkXg — Matthew Lindley (@t__box) February 4, 2016 Director general, Tewodros Melesse said, "Access to these services,especially in the midst of war or natural disaster, is a human right which does not only saves lives in the short run, but also helps build resilience amongst refugees and displaced people. It’s one of the most important aspects of humanitarian assistance that is often forgotten when disaster and conflicts strike."

mother and child
news_item

| 04 February 2016

A matter of life and death: IPPF's humanitarian response

Today, the Danish Family Planning Association (DFPA) together with the Danish All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs convened a conference with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) on the challenges of sexual and reproductive health and  rights (SRHR) in humanitarian crises. HRH the Crown Princess of Denmark and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) were also in attendance. HKHK Mary: women are not vulnerable in hum crises because they are weak but because they lack equality #SRHRinCrises pic.twitter.com/EOhV38IpBi — Mette Gjerskov (@MetteGjerskov) February 4, 2016 More than 100 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. It is estimated that 26 million are women and adolescent girls of reproductive age of which 500 die every day from complications related to  pregnancy and childbirths. For example, the Syrian civil war has resulted in a 39% rise in maternal mortality since 2010 and gender-based violence is affecting at least 7 out of 10 women in some crisis settings. This shows a great need for humanitarian actors to ensure that the human rights of women and girls are protected and able to access sexual and reproductive healthcare.   // IPPF: saving lives in crises Right now more than 250,000 women and girls need help. IPPF provides the emergency response needed, like family planning, which can reduce maternal deaths by 33%. SEXUAL & REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES SAVES LIVES. AND IS A HUMAN RIGHT. Posted by IPPF on Thursday, 4 February 2016 The increasing number of humanitarian crises calls for serious rethinking of the current humanitarian response. The status of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) violations in humanitarian crises must be confronted and prevented. Over the past decade, IPPF has reached millions of people during floods, conflicts, earthquakes, cyclones when health care often collapsed, IPPF Member Associations continued to serve the unreachable particularly women which make three quarters of IPPF clients. We have an organizational strategy to address sexual and reproductive needs before, during and after humanitarian crises.  IPPF starts with its Minimum Initial Service Package, which is life-saving, and transition to its Integrated Package of Essential services, which is life-changing. This ensure that a sxual and reproductive health situation is better after the crisis than before. @LcrTrc Crown Princess & @ippf CEO champion #women's #health & #rights in #humanitarian crisis settings pic.twitter.com/4ajLr0rkXg — Matthew Lindley (@t__box) February 4, 2016 Director general, Tewodros Melesse said, "Access to these services,especially in the midst of war or natural disaster, is a human right which does not only saves lives in the short run, but also helps build resilience amongst refugees and displaced people. It’s one of the most important aspects of humanitarian assistance that is often forgotten when disaster and conflicts strike."