Our advocacy work seeks to achieve specific changes in policy, laws, and funding to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.

We proudly promote and protect sexual and reproductive health and rights as basic human rights endowed to all people. The unique structure of our Federation enables us to bring the reality of grassroots work to the international arena, and to apply international human rights commitments at the local level. As pioneers in promoting women’s empowerment and family planning, we have a long history of both challenges and triumphs.

Our strategic approach to advocacy aims to promote our agenda within the political decision-making process from local to international levels, including policies and budget commitments. Our recent advocacy efforts have included comprehensive sexuality education in Panama, Chile, and Peru and access to emergency contraception in the Caribbean. We are active participants in movements to liberalize abortion laws in several Latin American countries. Additionally, we promote the inclusion of sexual and reproductive health and rights as essential components of development, health, and education plans, and advocate for ensuring that sufficient resources are destined for sexual and reproductive health services as new governments and administrations take shape across the region.

At the international level, we represent the Federation in monitoring United Nations conferences and activities on issues like population and development, HIV/AIDS, and gender equality and women’s empowerment. As a new Secretary-General leads the push for UN reform, we are also part of a strong collaborative voice ensuring that gender equality is established as a top priority in this process.

Joining Forces for Voice and Accountability

This project is a seven-year advocacy initiative in eleven countries in Latin America and Central Asia/Eastern Europe, and is managed by a consortium led by IPPF/WHR in partnership with the IPPF/European Network (EN).

Click here to read about the project.

United Nations General Assembly Adopts Resolution for New UN Women’s Agency

On Monday, September 14, 2009 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to create a new UN agency for women. This is a landmark victory following significant efforts by the GEAR campaign, a coalition of more than 300 organizations, including the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region, (IPPF/WHR), to create an independent, women-specific UN agency with adequate stature, resources, operational capacity in the field, and high level leadership to drive the agenda of gender equality. The agency is to be created in early 2010, during the fifteenth anniversary year of the historic UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. “This is great news for the women of the world,” said Carmen Barroso, Regional Director of IPPF/WHR.

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UN Advances Process on New UN Women's Entity

On Monday, September 15, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a Resolution by consensus which seeks to move Member States forward in establishing a new entity focusing the UN’s work on gender equality and women’s empowerment. This is a major achievement in a three year process that began in 2005 with the World Summit.

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