Dear colleagues:
In the midst of these sad and frustrating news updates about the COVID-19 virus, there are some moments of light that are truly inspiring.
In the past few weeks, I have watched as our family planning community came together under various umbrellas to share what information they have and begin to develop strategies to ensure that women and girls continue to have access to family planning care. The Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises (IAWG) has created a programmatic guidance specifically adapted to the COVID-19 crisis. The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC) brought together manufacturers, procurement experts, and program leaders to help us better understand how the pandemic would disrupt contraceptive supplies. The Gates Institute has made COVID-19 a focus of its International Conference on Family Planning platform, where organizations can share blogs and resources that they’ve developed in response to the pandemic. And FP2020 has been and will continue to convene country partners, advocates, and youth leaders so that we can shine a spotlight on the critical importance of including family planning in basic health care packages.
Donors have stepped up as well to fight the virus and slow the pandemic, but also to protect family planning programs during this crisis. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UK Department for International Development have both committed hundreds of millions of dollars to the lowest income countries for programs to detect and treat people with the virus. Other governments have stepped forward as well, with France helping to expand testing capacity and Sweden protecting access to HIV and family planning care. Foundations such as Gates, Packard and Ford are standing by their current family planning funding commitments, and in addition, providing flexibility to organizations who may not be able to carry out their planned work, some even converting their grants to operational support — a lifeline for many organizations.
Finally, a bit of good news this week: the Ouagadougou Partnership Coordination Unit (OPCU) announced that it had appointed Marie Ba as Director. FP2020 has enjoyed a close partnership with OPCU and with Marie as Deputy Director. We congratulate her and look forward to our continued collaboration!
As a global community, we are strong and we are innovative. In the weeks ahead, we will continue to share the resources and learning opportunities as they become available. Please don’t hesitate to tell us what resources your organization has developed, what you have found most helpful, or what you would like to understand better. Share your resources or updates here.
Warm regards,
Beth Schlachter
Executive Director
