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    • Humanitarian

    Our Priorities: Humanitarian

    IPPF leads a locally owned, globally connected civil society movement that provides and enables services and champions sexual and reproductive health and rights for all, especially the under-served.

    Providing Lifesaving Care in Emergencies

    Our Humanitarian Programme provides a distinct model for sexual and reproductive health and rights in crises, connecting key elements of humanitarian action with long-term development. We are one of the world’s largest provider of sexual and reproductive healthcare in emergencies.

    Women’s need for reproductive health care is not suspended in crises. One-quarter of people affected by crises are women and girls aged 15-49. One in five women are likely to be pregnant and one and five of all deliveries will experience complications. In crisis settings there is also a heightened risk of early marriage, rape and sexual violence, unsafe abortions and unattended births. Transmission rates of STIs, including HIV, increase in emergencies.

    During crises we work closely with our clinics on the ground to deliver life-saving care to people in need. Our mobile health clinics provide on the spot services such as STI and HIV diagnosis and treatment, short and long-acting contraception, and emergency obstetric and neonatal care.

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    Crisis Settings

    Increasing numbers of people face crises or live in chronically insecure settings. Humanitarian crises expose weaknesses in health systems, with particularly serious consequences for women, young people and marginalised groups.

    Inclusivity

    IPPF focuses on meeting the needs of the underserved, in particular the needs of young people, women, and marginalized groups. These may include ethnic minorities, people on the move, refugees and stateless people as well as those of diverse sexual and gender identity, expression and sex characteristics, and persons with disabilities.

    Localisation

    IPPF currently has membership in over 170 countries. Our approach is to build on existing local partner capacity and skills and extend these services to crisis-affected populations. As the situation normalises after a crisis, we aim to leave behind stronger local partners.

    Where We Respond

    COVID-19 in humanitarian settings: the double crisis

    Conflict and fragile settings now face a double crisis. First, there is the real effects and threat of COVID-19 on already stretched and under resourced settings.

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    Papua New Guinea: serving essential healthcare during COVID-19

    The COVID-19 pandemic has put many vulnerable communities in Papua New Guinea further isolated from essential access to sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH). Stay-at-home orders in place, lack of public transport services, and fear of being infected in public health facilities have deterred many women and girls from accessing care and credible information on SRH.

    Papua New Guinea Family Health Association (PNGFHA) mobile clinics with local aid workers have travelled to some of the most remote villages to deliver lifesaving SRH services since March 2020.

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    The Climate Crisis

    The climate crisis is one of the key challenges of this time. As a major healthcare provider and advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights, IPPF is committed to supporting communities to adapt to the effects of the climate crisis. The impacts on SRHR can include reduced or unavailable SRHR services in areas affected by disasters, changes in women’s family planning decisions due to uncertain futures, and increased incidence of sexual and gender based violence.

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