News

The World Association of Sexual Health (WAS) has awarded Doortje Braeken – IPPF’s Senior Adviser on Adolescents, Gender and Rights, Programmes & Technical - their prestigious individual Gold Medal in recognition of her lifetime’s contribution to sexual health.

UNESCO has marked a milestone in its efforts to equip young people in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) with the knowledge needed to change the discourse of the HIV epidemic forever.

We welcome the fact that Population is again a subject of debate in the Netherlands. In recent months, the media focussed regularly on population growth in Africa, mostly in relation to the flow of refugees to Europe and to regional instability. We did, however, miss attention to an issue that is at the core of population growth: the lack of reproductive Freedom of Choice, i.e. the freedom to choose when, with whom and how many children one would like to have. That is why we call out for Freedom of Choice for all!

How to make your E/M health strategy sustainable? What are effective strategies in increasing the utilization of services among youth? What are the pros and cons of working with young co-researchers? These were some of the questions that were addressed during the ASK Operational Research Symposium that took place in Kisumu, Kenya in May 2015. The ASK programme – Access, Services, Knowledge – targets key elements in meeting young people’s needs.

"Last Friday I saw an underage girl who came to me for a pregnancy test. It was positive. I could tell that what she wanted was an abortion, but I told her we don’t provide those services at our clinic. Now, after this workshop, having learned about sexual rights, I feel ashamed. I should have referred her to abortion services." These words were shared by a nurse of a health clinic in Tamale, Ghana, during the 5 day training on Youth Friendly Services under the Access, Services, Knowledge (ASK) Programme of the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRHR) Alliance.

Netherlands Minister of Social Affairs, Mr. Asscher, received the Dutch country report of State of the World’s Fathers at a daycare centre in Amsterdam on the morning of 17 June.

Targeting fathers is the key to achieving gender equality. Fathers matter deeply to child development, and they are as biologically hard-wired to provide care as mothers are. Furthermore, fathers with close connections to their children live longer, have fewer health problems, and are more productive and generally happier: these are among the key findings of the first-ever State of the World’s Fathers (SOWF) report, a landmark analysis of fatherhood that draws evidence from hundreds of studies covering all countries in the world with available data.

Rutgers has opened a new country office in Kampala, Uganda. The office will support the programmes carried out by Rutgers in East Africa to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights. Having a Ugandan branch helps Rutgers to build alliances in the region and to contextualize our methods. Rutgers Uganda is our third country office outside the Netherlands, next to the ones in Indonesia and Pakistan.

27 May 2015, American broadcasting company PBS newshour published an item on sexuality education in the Netherlands compared to the US. PBS NewsHour shows how two Dutch teachers in a kindergarten class and at a primary school in Utrecht teach about love and relationships. How young children have butterfly feelings in their stomachs, feelings of 'spring fever'. And how the numbers speak for an early start with relational and comprehensive sexuality education.

From May 26 till June 8th the campaign 1weekextra takes place. With this campaign Rutgers, Simavi and Women on Wings ask attention for their program in India that wants to improve the situation of menstruating girls and women in Bihar in the next three years. Knowledge about menstrual hygiene and availability of sanitary pads will make a substantial difference to their daily lives and future.