European Commission/UNFPA/Africa-Caribbean-Pacific
Sexual and Reproductive Health Programme
Reproductive health services in eight African
and two Caribbean countries are being enhanced thanks to a major,
comprehensive
initiative by the European Commission (EC). The Commission committed 20 million euros over a 42-month period beginning in 2003 for
projects in ten countries, selecting UNFPA as its partner.
Under the same
initiative, which targets the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) countries,
the EC (functioning as an executive body of the European Union)
is partnering with International Planned Parenthood Federation and a network
of other NGOs on projects in 12 other countries, for another 12 million euros.
The ACP countries have been linked with the European Union since the 1975 Lomé Convention
in what is widely considered to be a model of North-South cooperation.
All of
the programme countries face rising HIV/AIDS prevalence rates, a lack of
basic reproductive health services, especially ones serving adolescents
and other at-risk populations, and high maternal mortality rates. All need
help in making basic packages of reproductive health services widely available.
The EC/UNFPA/ACP Sexual and Reproductive Health
Programme is designed to build each country’s capacity to
manage its own reproductive health programmes. It includes a regional
component to address
overall planning, management, advocacy,
reporting and information exchange, and quality assurance. UNFPA is overseeing
the regional component and working with governments to get projects up and
running.
The programme
supports a variety of projects and a range of interventions in
each country including:
- Access to and improvement of reproductive health services,
including family planning, pre- and post-natal care, and equipment
and supplies
- Improved pregnancy outcomes by promoting pre- and
post-natal care, skilled attendance at birth and emergency obstetric
care
- Adolescent reproductive health, including advocacy, provision
of youth friendly services, counselling, communications, youth
centres and training
- Awareness and prevention of sexually transmitted
infections including HIV/AIDS through advocacy, counselling,
behaviour change communications,
community mobilization, and provision of male and female condoms
- Behaviour change
communications to promote different aspects of reproductive
health
All projects also promote gender equity and equality, using a
rights-based approach. Projects selected will respond to the specific
plans and priorities of each country, as identified in country
programmes, which can be viewed by clicking on each country listed
to the left. Building policy support for reproductive health, with
the aim of making the projects sustainable, is another important
aspect of the programme.
Partnership between the EC and the
ACP countries represents a major financial and political framework
for North-South cooperation.
Fighting poverty is at
the heart of the partnership, and improving health is fundamental to the EC’s
approach. The Commission’s total ongoing portfolio includes 4.6 billion
euros for the health sector. Priority is given to making basic health services
accessible to the most vulnerable sectors of the population, and laying the
foundation for long-term improvements in health systems.
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