1. Background (brief history)

The Family Planning Association of India (FPA India) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that was formed in 1949 and has a presence in 17 states in India. Additionally, FPA India was a founding member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), which conducts various operations in over 172 countries.  The primary objective of FPA is to advocate for the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of marginalized and vulnerable groups, including poor and young people, and to promote sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services related to family planning, safe abortions, HIV/AIDS, and sexuality throughout India 1. 

 

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   2. Areas of expertise

FPA India seeks to promote access to and expand SRHR information and services through:

• Mobilizing the media and forming strategic alliances to create a supportive base to build pro-issue consensus on policies related to SRHR

• Developing open-advocacy plans at the state-level , in its capacity as Secretariat of the Advocating Reproductive Choices Coalition, on issues ranging from requiring more certified doctors for no-scalpel vasectomies (NSV) to providing emergency contraceptive pills at primary health centers

• Integrating men in sexual and reproductive health and HIV-related packages

• Organizing special sessions on intrauterine devices (IUD) insertions and counselling

• Conducting client exit-interviews and standardizing and developing commodity tracking systems to improve the quality of reproductive health commodities

• Initiating internal capacity-building programs and external training programs on various aspects of sexual and reproductive health and program planning for the government and municipal corporations and development sector-managers

 

   3. Strengths in the ICPD

Through its mission to provide sexual and reproductive health and rights education and services and empower young women, several of FPA’s initiatives fall under the spectrum of the ICPD agenda. These services and projects include:

• Providing primary counselling and referral services to victims of gender-based violence

• Delivering emergency contraceptives including intrauterine devices (IUDs), combined oral pills, condoms, etc., to primary health centers

• Establishing community-based development centers and regional training centers for building the capacity of FPA India branches and health facility staff to administer SRHR services through the “Small Family By Choice” Project

• Increasing awareness, education, and the number of safe abortions through the “Global Comprehensive Abortion Care” project (GCACP)

 

   4. Quality assurance/ previous evaluation

In 2013, the Family Planning Association of India received the Governing Council Award from the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) for its contributions to the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights.  

 

   5. Experience in South-South Cooperation initiatives

With the support of Technical Support Facility South Asia (TSF) and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), FPA has created in-house workshops dealing with the capacity development of women leaders to better manage HIV/AIDs policies and discussion forums for medical officers on their techniques of administering and counselling people on using contraceptives, which were open to regional countries including, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka 3.  FPA India also participated in the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Second Civil Society Forum on sexual and reproductive health and rights held on February 8, 2015 in which they presented and shared their experiences on SRHR alongside the China Family Planning Association (CFPA) and other CSOs.  Additionally, FPA supported and provided technical advice to the Indian delegation regarding maternal health, HIV/AIDS, gender equality, etc., at the First International BRICS meeting of Ministers Responsible for Population Matters and the Second BRICS Seminar of Officials and Experts on Population Matters held on February 10, 2015.