The Asia-Pacific Digital Sexuality Education Bootcamp for Content Creators (DESIRE Bootcamp 2023) brought together 96 participants from the region, including educators and advocates. Organised by UNFPA Asia-Pacific Regional Office and UNFPA Indonesia, the event aimed to foster partnerships and promote collective learning.  The bootcamp provided content creators with the tools needed to positively impact Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health (AYSRH) in the region through sessions held on November 4th, 5th, and 11th. The first session, led by IPPF ESEAOR, addressed challenges faced by marginalised youth and underscored community-driven solutions.  In his opening remarks, Pio Smith, Regional Director, UNFPA Asia and the Pacific Office, emphasised the importance of harnessing the ever-evolving digital landscape. “In today's world, where youth are gaining unprecedented access to technology, we must leverage digital spaces to deliver accurate, non-discriminatory, age-appropriate information. Our goal transcends borders, demographics and backgrounds,” he said. Navigating the Challenges Malarvili Meganathan, Regional Communications, Voice, and Media Advisor at IPPF ESEAOR, highlighted the critical nature of addressing vital issues in low-resource settings. One key takeaway from the talk revolved around recognising the challenges faced by marginalised and underserved youths, particularly concerning access to adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health information and services. Understanding these challenges deeply emerged as a crucial step toward developing effective strategies for their resolution or mitigation, emphasising adopting a community-driven approach. Transitioning to access to education and information in the region, a report by UNFPA, UNESCO, and IPPF revealed that many young people prefer to obtain information from the internet and peers rather than relying solely on school-based education. This shift in information sources highlights the need for inclusive digital education to ensure marginalised populations, such as LGBTQIA+ individuals, refugees, migrants, people with disabilities, and indigenous communities, are not left behind in the educational framework of numerous countries. Innovative Approaches to Bridging Gaps: Community-Driven Strategies The session proposed actionable strategies to address the challenges collaboratively, including peer education programs, stakeholder collaborations, and policymakers' engagement to prioritise sexual education and digital access in low-resource settings.  Best practices encompassed those implemented by IPPF Member Associations and implementing partners, which involved collaboration with community members, consultation with village representatives in hard-to-reach areas, communication materials in local languages, utilisation of community radios, establishment of public-private partnerships, hands-on training in content editing, and outreach sessions with young people in Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Fiji and the Solomon Islands. Zaira Mendez, Social Media Manager at the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines (FPOP), led a hands-on session to develop innovative methods for creating digital sexuality education content in low-resource settings, drawing inspiration from FPOP's success in engaging young people, especially in Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) supported by the Australian government-funded RESPOND project. These areas include hard-to-reach communities, both geographically and socially, due to uneven socio-economic development. In the interactive session, participants explored various content creation strategies tailored to the unique needs and challenges of these communities. They brainstormed ideas for informative videos, infographics, and quizzes, effectively conveying essential sexual education information. These efforts aim to empower young people with accurate knowledge, enabling them to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.   The session concluded on a high note, with participants demonstrating their strong commitment to positively impacting digital sexuality education. This commitment sets the stage for future partnerships and collaborations to strengthen content creation in the Asia-Pacific region, ensuring equitable access to essential sexual and reproductive health information for all.

Planned Parenthood Association Thailand (PPAT) has a new Executive Director! Please join us in welcoming Dr. Nanthakan Sungsuman Woodham into the IPPF and PPAT families. Dr. Woodham has been associated with PPAT since 2019, in multiple capacities, including Deputy Executive Director. Dr. Woodham will continue to promote the values and principles of PPAT and continue to strengthen relationships with the government, partners, non-government organisations, and the public and private sectors. We are excited and we look forward to continuously work with Dr. Woodham in advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights in Thailand!

The Vietnam Family Planning Association (VINAFPA) commemorated its 30th anniversary with a ceremony on January 11, 2023, in Hanoi. More than 250 delegates from different Ministries, students and faculty members from academic institutions, CSOs, factory representatives, print and social media, social activists and volunteers and staff of the Association participated. The association's pivotal role in shaping policy changes in Vietnam on family planning, reproductive health, women's development and rights, and other social issues was emphasised by Dr. Pham Ba Nhat, President of VINAFPA. Through a diverse range of delivery channels, including clinics, mobile units, associated health facilities, and CBDs in 37 branches throughout Vietnam, VINAFPA has made impressive strides in improving access to SRH information, education, and clinical services over the years. A documentary film on 30 years of VINAFPA was also screened during the event. Ms. Tomoko Fukuda, Regional Director, IPPF ESEAOR, commended VINAFPA for its noteworthy efforts in addressing the SRHR of women, men, and young people in Vietnam, especially those from marginalised and underrepresented communities. She emphasised the importance of putting young people at the centre of SRHR programming and extending access to vulnerable groups like LGBTQI people, people with disabilities, indigenous people, and migrants and internally displaced people as well as highlighting the key elements of the IPPF Strategic Framework (2023-28). She continued by explaining that given Vietnam's declining fertility rates and reduced rates of maternal and infant mortality, it is critical that VINAFPA step up its advocacy for SRHR, particularly by ensuring access to contraceptive options and expanding fertility services (including infertility) in accordance with the life cycle approach. The event reached its end with short speeches from partner organisations and representatives of government agencies followed by a photography session to commemorate this day.

The Global Forum on International Population Trends and ODA – Marriage and Gender Perceptions of Young People in the 3 Asian Countries (Korea, Mongolia and Vietnam) was held on 4th November 2022 at the National Assembly, Seoul. It was co-hosted by Korea Population, Health and Welfare Association (KoPHWA – IPPF MA) and Korean Parliamentary League on Children, Population and Environment (CPE). The event opened with a congratulatory remark from Mr. Lee In-young, the chairman of CPE and member of the Democratic Party of Korea. This was followed by a remark from Mr. Kim Chang-soon, President of KOPHWA. Mr. Kim emphasized the significance of the event and encouraged continual cooperation among parties who attended the event.    ESEAOR, Director Programmes and Performance Dr Jameel gave an opening presentation on International Population Trends and IPPF Programme to address SRHR of young people. There are nearly one billion adolescent and young people aged 10 – 24 years living in 31 low- and middle-income countries in Asia and the Pacific, accounting for 53% of the world’s adolescent and youth. He emphasised on youth centered approach, preventing and addressing unintended pregnancies among adolescents and increasing international development assistance to young people. KOPHWA's lead researcher, Ms. Jung Yuri, presented the results of an online survey conducted from October 6th to 14th among 1,003 young people in South Korea, Vietnam and Mongolia. The survey was conducted to investigate the experience of and perception towards sexual reproductive health of young people in their 20's across the three Asian nations. The survey showed a need for sexual reproductive health education and increased availability of medical services. The presentation concluded by highlighting the importance of ODA and recommending sexual reproductive health policy that contextualizes the changing perceptions of the young people in their respective countries.      Following KOPHWA's presentation, Mr. Phuong Thi Thu Huong—consultant for the VINAFPA—and Ms. Munkhtsetseg Batmunkh—Executive Director of MFWA—presented on "Imbalanced sex ratio at birth in Vietnam and Cooperation with Korea" and "Mongolia's current state of SRHR", respectively. There was a discussion with Mr. Sodchimeg Khongor—representing Vietnam—and Ms. Nguyen Van Truong—representing Mongolia—to better understand thoughts and concerns of the young people in the current times about marriage and sexual reproductive health. The event ended with a discussion with Mr. Cho Hyungyu representing KOICA about the importance of and the need for ODA to improve the sexual reproductive health of young people in Asia.

IPPF ESEAOR Regional Director, Tomoko Fukuda emphasized on the importance of person-centered care in the delivery of SRH services and lauded RHAC's leadership for hosting a 5- day regional workshop on Quality-of-Care (QoC) last week at Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was attended by 22 MA QOC focal points from 10 East and Southeast Asian countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Fiji, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam). The workshop provided an opportunity for our Member Associations to discuss, learn and share QoC related issues & promising practices in development and humanitarian settings. This included IPPF QoC framework & Quality Assurance System, QoC in humanitarian settings, QoC for Digital Health Interventions, the Virtual Quality Assessment (VQA) Tool Consultation with MAs and introduction to IPPF New Strategic Framework - Centre Care on People & measuring key expected results (IPES plus and Net Promotor Score) which will further support MAs to implement their 3-year Business Plan (2023-2025). Dr. Nathalie Kapp facilitated the online session on the recently released IPPF Client-Centered Clinical Guidelines (2022) and Peter Mutanda has also shared WISH QoC experience & Adverse Event Reporting and Learning (AERL) in Africa MAs. Tigest Tamrat, Technical Officer (WHO Geneva) introduced WHO SMART guideline/Digital Adaptation Kits for digitizing SRH care in this workshop. During the workshop, the participants also visited RHAC clinic at Phnom Penh and pilot-tested the VQA tool. The regional workshop was jointly organized in collaboration with Humanitarian/SPRINT and the RESPOND.     

IPPF-ESEAOR will serve as the host of FP2030 Asia Pacific Regional Hub starting this year. This is the fourth FP2030 Regional Hub, preceded by the North America and Europe Hub in Washington DC, the East and Southern Africa Hub in Nairobi, Kenya, and the North, West and Central Africa Hub in Abuja, Nigeria. This is part of the ongoing transition of FP2030 - from a single secretariat office in the United States and now to a global support structure and presence. Both FP2030 and IPPF, a pioneering commitment-maker of then FP2020, are delighted to see these hubs come onboard and begin building their staffs and regional networks. Given its deep connections in the Asia Pacific region, IPPF ESEAOR was chosen by a selection committee composed of regionally diverse multi-sectoral stakeholders reporting to the FP2030 Governing Board. The strategic location of IPPF ESEAOR will be a great advantage to enable the new hub to serve partners across the region, and deliver strategic and timely support to countries related to commitments, localization, accountability, and expansion of the family planning movement in Asia Pacific, due to their expertise and longstanding partnerships. “Thanks to our member associations across Asia and the Pacific, we’ve been active for 70 years,” said Kate Gilmore, Chair, Board of Trustees, IPPF. “On behalf of IPPF globally, we are honored and privileged to host the FP2030 Asia the Pacific Hub. “Our vision for this partnership is to bring the spotlight back to how important and crucial having access to information and contraceptives is for women,” added Tomoko Fukuda, Regional Director for IPPF ESEAOR. Launching the Asia and the Pacific Hub is a critical next step in building the FP2030 Global Support Network, a structure designed to ensure greater support, collaboration and country-led direction to the partnership. The new FP2030 partnership is the result of careful work planning and consultation with stakeholders all over the world. “We’re keeping the best of FP2020 — the convening power of the partnership, the collaborative platforms, the dedication to high-quality data and evidence, the unswerving commitment to the rights and needs of women and girls — while embracing changes that emphasize country leadership, inclusion, equity, transparency, and mutual accountability,” said Dr. Samukeliso Dube, FP2030 Executive Director.   Watch the video message here