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The SPRINT Initiative was designed to address the gaps in the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP). This outlines the minimum standard of reproductive health care in crises settings. It is internationally recognized and can mean the difference between life and death. We work around the world to save lives in crisis situations:

Africa

East and South East Asia and Oceania

South Asia

In some areas of Pakistan, girls and women are vulnerable to harmful traditional practices, like swara (now illegal, a form of reconciliation where a girl or woman is given in marriage to settle a dispute) and early marriage, and many of them face tremendous obstacles to basic services, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. 

Every year the IPPF awards grants to its young volunteers from around the world to support youth-led projects on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

2015 winners

For 2015, the projects were focused on tackling abortion stigma.

Lucella Campbell, Senior Program Advisor with IPPF Western Hemisphere Region, speaks about what is being done in Haiti to improve access to sexual and reproductive health, and repair facilities and infrastructure that were destroyed in the earthquake.

For the work that they've done, PROFAMIL, the IPPF Member Association in Haiti, was awarded the Beacon of Hope award at '50 & Fabulous: Celebrating 50 Years of Women's Advances Since The Pill', a gala, celebrity-studded event held in New York City on 18 October 2010.

“I was given in Swara when I was 14 years old. The man I was given to has married another woman. He has sold my daughters and would beat me regularly for resisting prostitution.” (Project beneficiary)

Swara, is traditionally practiced in north-west Pakistan where women and girls are given in marriage to settle disputes. Although outlawed in 2005, informal tribal elders still consider it a legitimate form of justice (known as Jirga).