This programme addresses critical challenges faced by young women around sexual health and sexuality. It has produced a range of advocacy, education and informational materials to support research, awareness-raising, advocacy and service delivery.    Girls Decide is about the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women. Around the world, girls aged 10 to 19 account for 23% of all disease associated with pregnancy and childbirth. An estimated 2.5 million have unsafe abortions every year. Worldwide, young women account for 60% of the 5.5 million young people living with HIV and/or AIDS. Girls Decide has produced a range of advocacy, education and informational materials to support work to improve sexual health and rights for girls and young women. These include a series of films on sexual and reproductive health decisions faced by 6 young women in 6 different countries. The films won the prestigious International Video and Communications Award (IVCA). When girls and young women have access to critical lifesaving services and information, and when they are able to make meaningful choices about their life path, they are empowered. Their quality of life improves, as does the well-being of their families and the communities in which they live. Their collective ability to achieve internationally agreed development goals is strengthened. Almost all IPPF Member Associations provide services to young people and 1 in every 3 clients is a young person below the age of 25. All young women and girls are rights-holders and are entitled to sexual and reproductive rights. As a matter of principle, the IPPF Secretariat and Member Associations stand by girls by respecting and fulfilling their right to high quality services; they stand up for girls by supporting them in making their own decisions related to sexuality and pregnancy; they stand for sexual and reproductive rights by addressing the challenges faced by young women and girls at local, national and international levels.

Integra is a 5-year research initiative in Kenya, Malawi and Swaziland. It aims to reduce HIV infection, HIV-related stigma and unintended pregnancy. IPPF implements the Integra Initiative with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Population Council.  

Ntsetselelo Manzini's story. "Three years ago when I was down with HIV, I had lost all hope. My body was weakening and it seemed that it was not going to be easy for me to go on with life. A friend told me about the Family Life Association of Eswatini (FLAS) and their services. Now at 27 years old, the future looks very bright, and I see myself achieving my goals, thanks to the care, treatment, and support I have been receiving from the FLAS clinic. It all started a few years ago when a Medical Officer at the Association’s clinic noticed that my CD4 cells (immune cells that fight off infections) were low. He said I should start the antiretroviral therapy immediately to prevent me from slipping into the AIDS stage. The reception I received from the staff was very warm. I felt wanted, special and cared for. The counsellors and nurses were very friendly and very welcoming. They listened to my story, gave me rich and useful advice and encouragement, which made me feel better. One of the things I’ve noticed was that the care providers were very nice to everyone. Here I felt respected and valued. This led me to bring one of my children to FLAS for an HIV test. She was found to be HIV negative. The hope I had lost in living got a renewed strength. There is one thing that I like about FLAS clinics: you can discuss anything with the service providers with openness and trust. Unlike other clinics, confidentiality is always maintained. I just feel comfortable whenever I walk into a FLAS clinic. This is the best thing that happened to me in the past three years. Thanks to the high quality and comprehensive services I received there, I have referred a lot of people to the association’s antiretroviral therapy clinic. These people include my brothers and friends who are either infected or affected by HIV. The information I get from FLAS also enables me to help others. For example, I have an uncle who is taking his antiretroviral drugs and relies on me for up-to-date information on antiretroviral treatment, which helps him a lot in terms of proper management of the disease. My wife, who is also HIV positive, is soon going to start receiving her treatment from FLAS after she witnessed how the clinics treat its patients. I believe that the care received at the FLAS clinic was the intervention that helped me stay alive . I am who I am now thanks to the clinic. The renewed hope in me and the energy to be productive again is attributed to the services I receive from FLAS. This is the reason why I always pray that their services continue to be available to poor people like me to keep enjoying life."  -Ntsetselelo Manzini.  For more updates on our work, follow IPPF Africa Region on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube.

The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Inaugural Women’s Parliament has adopted The Access to Safe Abortion motion which was tabled by Honourable Thuli Dladla Member of Parliament of Swaziland. The adoption comes after a one-day meeting held on the 5th of July 2017 at the Eden Bleu Hotel, Mahe Island, Seychelles which was attended by Female Parliamentarians from the SADC States, Government Officials as well as representatives from IPPF Africa Region and other Civil Society Organisations. While moving the motion, Honourable Thuli Dladla told the House that the Commission had observed the general absence of Policy Standards and Guidelines on Safe Abortion in the SADC Region and further indicated that South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia had enacted progressive laws on access to safe abortion while Seychelles allows for abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. However, there are still limited grounds for abortion in other Southern Africa States. The motion recommends that the Forum (SADC-PF) must, among others, spearhead: the development of a Model Law on Access to Safe Abortion in the SADC Region; Member Parliaments must convene in-country consultations with young women and girls on Access to Safe Abortion; The Forum should urge all SADC Member Parliaments to decriminalise laws on abortion; Members of Parliament must promote peer learning and exchange visits to promote sharing of knowledge on access to reproductive health; A SADC Regional Consultative meeting for young women on access to safe abortion must be convened; and Member Parliaments must ensure that laws governing the age of consent must not restrict access to sexual and reproductive health services. The motion was seconded by Hon. Patricia Kainga, Member of Parliament, Malawi. Seconding the motion, Hon Kainga noted that the right to health requires the removal of all barriers interfering with access to health services, education and information, including sexual and reproductive health. Hon Kainga further stated that: “We must urgently give effect to the Protocol of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) which explicitly recognizes that the right to health includes access to safe and legal abortion, at a minimum, in certain circumstances.’’