NEWS ALERT : On December 2,2024 the Taliban issued an order forbidding women and girls from attending medical institutions including nursing and midwifery training in Afghanistan. This announcement comes as the final blow in a series of discriminatory bans that curtail freedoms and restrict access of Afghan women and girls to public life. Over the last three years, Afghan girls have been stopped from attending secondary school beyond sixth grade denying them representation and erasing their voices and agency. As of December 5, 2024, the literacy rate for women in Afghanistan is among the lowest in the world, at only 20.6%[1] and the maternal mortality ratio is one of the highest globally at 638 per 100,000 live births.[2] In many provinces, Afghan women are only allowed to seek medical care from female healthcare providers who have proved to be a lifeline amid the protracted crisis. The ban effectively excludes half the population from contributing to and benefiting from the healthcare system, placing the lives of countless women and girls at grave risk. The violence women and girls in Afghanistan face is structural and systematic. The situation is alarming as we continue to monitor the consequences the decision will have on the health, rights and dignity of all Afghan women and girls.  It poses a serious threat to the well-being of an entire nation with poor overall adult literacy rates and suffering critical healthcare shortages. We stand firmly in solidarity with all Afghan women and girls as we call for immediate reversal of this order and an end to the systemic attacks on their rights. We will not back down as we continue to provide essential life-saving services and to support the voices of Afghan women and human rights defenders who continue to fight for freedom.    

IPPF Statement, Tuesday 10th October 2022 On Tuesday, 20th September 2022, Iranian “morality” police detained 22-year-old Mahsa “Jhina” Amini outside a metro station in Tehran for apparently “violating” the mandatory hijab laws that have been in place since Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1983. On Friday, 23rd September, just three days after being taken into police custody, Amini died in the intensive care unit of an Iranian hospital. Sonal Mehta, South Asia Regional Director at International Planned Parenthood Federation, said: “We are pained by the tragic death of young Masha Amini and offer our condolences to her loved ones. We stand in solidarity with thousands of women in Iran, risking their lives on the streets, demanding a fair probe and equal rights. Controlling a woman’s economic, sexual, reproductive, political, or cultural choice is a form of gender-based violence. The fight for a world free from discrimination is far from over. The continued assault on women’s right to freedom of expression, religion, privacy, travel, education, and much more is just one part of the broader attack on gender equality that we are seeing gaining ground across the globe.” -Ends- About the International Planned Parenthood Federation The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is a global service provider and advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.   For over 65 years, IPPF through its 118 Member Associations and 15 partners, has delivered high-quality sexual and reproductive healthcare and helped advance sexual rights, especially for people with intersectional and diverse needs that are currently unmet. Our Member Associations and partners are independent organizations that are locally owned, which means the support and care they provide is informed by local expertise and context. We advocate for a world where people are provided with the information, they need to make informed decisions about their sexual health and bodies. We stand up and fight for sexual and reproductive rights, and against those who seek to deny people their human right to bodily autonomy and freedom. We deliver care that is rooted in rights, respect, and dignity - no matter what.

We welcome the Indian Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that all women, irrespective of their marital status, are entitled to safe and legal abortion. The Supreme Court observed that the 2021 amendment to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP) does not make a distinction between married and unmarried woman.  “The rights of reproductive autonomy give an unmarried women similar right as a married woman… The foetus relies on the woman's body to sustain. Therefore, the decision to terminate is firmly rooted in their right of bodily autonomy. If the State forces a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy to the full term, it will amount to an affront to her dignity,” the court said, as per the media reports. The court, also for the first time in legal parlance recognised marital rape, under rape, for the specific purpose of the MTP. “We celebrate Supreme Court of India’s ruling, which rightly underlines the bodily autonomy of all women to make decisions about their bodies without any prejudice or pressure. It upholds the right to access quality abortion services to unmarried women and survivors of marital rape. The ruling paves the way for strengthening the current abortion care guideline in the country to include the scope for abortion self-care which centers around autonomy, privacy, and confidentiality. Health service providers like us must dauntlessly work together to leverage this landmark judgment and ensure that no woman in India dies due to unsafe abortions,” said Sonal Mehta, Regional Director IPPF SARO. Read more on the court's ruling here.        

More than 1000 people have lost their lives as an earthquake struck Eastern Afghanistan in the early hours yesterday. The Afghan Family Guidance Association (AFGA) with the support of the International Planned Parenthood Federation is responding in Paktika province. Essential Sexual and Reproductive Health Services are being provided to 70 percent women in the reproductive age residing in the areas of response. Two health camps and two mobile vans are being set up for efficient delivery of services. The response hopes to prevent sexual and reproductive health related deaths and morbidities. 

The conference rooms of the Radisson hotel Kathmandu were alive with the energetic chatter of youth participants on Saturday the 23rd of April as the Family Planning Association of Nepal, together with leading NGO youth platform organisation YUWA hosted a full day’s programme under the theme of ‘Advancing Youth SRHR 2022’. The event was produced with the support of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, South Asia Regional Office. With over 80 young people from diverse backgrounds and experiences in attendance, the event was produced with the aim of building networks amongst youth groups for stronger advocacy of Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Nepal. “It is very important to have programs like this where the youth can take the lead” said Surakshya Giri, a long-time youth champion for FPAN and a member of the Board of Trustees at IPPF. “There is a vital need for improving the quality of CSE and evolving teaching methodologies.” “As a young person working towards Comprehensive Sexuality Education for all, we are very glad we created this space where young people of all backgrounds felt safe to voice their CSE needs.” expressed Riju Dhakal; President of YUWA. Expert Panel Sessions The event featured a thought-provoking plenary comprising of a diverse panel of experts, who shared their views on developing Nepal’s systems to meet the SRHR needs of young people. Amongst this panel was Nisha Joshi from the Family Welfare Division of Nepal’s Ministry of Health. Ms. Joshi shared the government’s vision to implement a National Health Strategy for 2022-2030 that will prioritize Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights for adolescents. She was joined by Dr Rajendra Bhadra -an eminent CSE & SRHR expert who opined that CSE should be made a mandatory national conversation, Ms. Divya Dawadi of the Center for Education and Human Resource Development (CEHRD) who believes strongly that Nepal needs to address the challenges of social stigma and shame towards CSE, Angel Lama from the Blue Diamond Society who stressed the importance of ensuring content on diversity, inclusivity and intersectionality in the national curriculum and Ms Anu Bista from FPAN who pointed out that advancing SRHR for young people should be the shared responsibility of multiple government and organisational stakeholders working in collaboration. “We need multi-sectoral, inter-departmental involvement and coordination if we are to bridge the gaps in social education”, said Anu. Interactive Participation The day also consisted of multiple interactive breakout sessions on SRHR topics, fun activities and SRHR-themed games, a crowd-sourced art corner, a special advocacy booth that collected participant views and demands for better CSE and booths by the event partners where participants could obtain further information and stimulus material on SRHR. One of the highlights of the programme was a highly impactful flash mob performance by young activists, depicting the reality of growing up as a trans person in South Asian society. “I loved this programme,” gushed Sarozi Niobani, an 18-year old transgender woman who participated at the event. “It was very motivating and gave me a lot of knowledge. There was inclusion, there was education, it was so much fun! Going forward, I believe it’s important for the youth in Nepal to work hand in hand with the government to ensure SRHR for everyone. Someday, I think the youth will make sure that we change society in Nepal.” The programme ended with a youth charter being developed with the collective thoughts of the participants, to form a guide for the ongoing advocacy efforts of FPAN and YUWA. For more information, press only: PR contact name: Dr. Naresh Pratap K.C. Phone number: +977-01-5010201/5010240 Email: [email protected]   For more information on FPAN – https://fpan.org   For more information on YUWA – https://www.yuwa.org.np   For more information on IPPF SARO - https://sar.ippf.org