Communicating about sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is extremely sensitive, challenging and can put survivors at risk. IPPF abides by the ‘do no harm’ principle, and our top priorities when communicating SGBV internally, with donors and with the wider public are to protect the safety and dignity of survivors. Poor practice around SGBV storytelling and inappropriate messaging, particularly during a humanitarian response, can jeopardize IPPF and the MA’s trusted position in the community, reinforce harmful stereotypes and limit our ability to help survivors. Yet, it’s important that IPPF share powerful survivor stories when appropriate and in a safe and ethical way. Each testimony adds to a wider campaign to end SGBV. We must engage with the public to stop SGBV and contribute to a public discourse that is supportive of survivors by accurately and appropriately explaining what it is and how to help end or address it. Thus, the better IPPF and its MAs can communicate with the public about SGBV in line with core principles, the more effective our work will be. Download our SGBV Communications Guidance Note to learn more. 

For 70 years IPPF has championed and delivered quality services, comprehensive information and advocated for just laws so that more people in more places under more circumstances may realize their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Started with an act of international solidarity between activists from just a handful of countries, IPPF has since grown into a broad and diverse community of services providers and advocates that stretches around the Earth. Our very existence manifests just how the demand for dignity in sexual and reproductive health and rights is universal to people the world over. But that world is changing rapidly. Tough challenges must be confronted – the toxic legacies of longstanding racism, sexism and homophobia, for example; the deepening impacts of the climate crisis, violence, and inequalities; the escalating consequences of new technologies, population displacements, and habitat destruction. Wherever such dynamics impact people’s lives, IPPF knows enjoyment of SRHR is impacted too. Whenever people confront humanitarian crises, we know their SRHR are thrust into crisis too. Whoever is subject to prejudice, bigotry, or exclusion, has their access to SRHR also eroded. We know that the worst consequences of those injustices are borne by young people in the poorest of communities, in the toughest of places, facing the fewest opportunities. To be impactful in a world of change, IPPF must change too. That is what Strategy 2028 is all about: changing IPPF so it is well equipped to uphold SRHR for those who are left out, locked out or left behind. Our Strategy 2028 sets out a familiar path but in a new direction over far tougher terrain to that clear destination. We will walk that path shoulder to shoulder with young people, and with individuals and communities bearing the full brunt of stigma and prejudice. At each step, we will defend, protect, and celebrate safety, pleasure and wellbeing in sex and reproduction. At every turn, we will denounce powers and authorities who, through policy, practice, and law, undermine dignity and human rights in those intimate realms. And, as IPPF, we will be accountable for who we are, what we do and how we do it. That is our Strategy 2028. It is with immense pride that the IPPF Board of Trustees shares this strategic itinerary with you. We very much hope you will travel this road with us – in your own realities, communities, and contexts. Let’s do that together. Let’s come together, for sexual and reproductive dignity for all - for each and every one of us, to the exclusion of none of us, in the interests of all of us. Kate Gilmore, Chair, BoT, IPPF  

Monkeypox was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 23 July 2022 by the World Health Organisation. This is the first time monkeypox cases have been reported concurrently in non-endemic and endemic countries in different geographical areas. The number of cases and countries where the infection has spread has continued to increase, reaching more than 95 countries. This statement addresses that access to vaccination, care and treatment, and related research must be equitable and inclusive for all groups of people, including those already most marginalized.  Download in English, French and Spanish below.

IPPF understands that DHIs can bridge gaps between formal and community-based models of SRH service delivery and offer unique benefits such as accessibility, privacy, anonymity, linkages to the health system and opportunities for continuous programme monitoring and evaluation. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use of DHIs in SRH care globally, and these are becoming part of the spectrum of SRH service delivery options, complementary to in-person and self-care options. This statement addresses the key attributes for providing safe, quality, accessible person-centered care, and ultimately fulfilling clients’, including women's and girls' right to SRH care when, where, and how they choose to. Download in English, French, Spanish and Arabic below.