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New Delhi | Friday, Jun 8 2012 IST



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International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Director General Tewodross Melesse today said meeting the family planning needs of the population will require unprecedented commitment and resources to adopt the global practice of approaching family planning under a rights based approach. Addressing a national consultation of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on family planning here he said, "Meeting the family planning needs of the population will require unprecedented political commitment and resources from the government, donors, private sector, civil society and other partners to adopt the global practice of approaching family planning under a rights based approach." The special needs of diversified groups such as adolescents and young people, divorced and single individuals and individuals with special needs should be taken into account along with the traditional concept of 'families', he maintained. He added that counseling and informed consent should form a key part of an integrated service delivery system covering maternal and child health, family planning and HIV services. The consultation was convened by Family Planning Association of India, a national organisation working on sexual and reproductive health including family planning with IPPF. This consultation was the culmination of a series of 13 state level consultations in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal involving 800 participants across 400 CSOs. These consultations critically examined the various models used in different states, looking at the overall picture against the background of policy support, the understanding of political leadership vis--vis population growth and the need for future actions. Key issues on the implementation of the Family Planning programme in India were discussed, gaps have been identified and recommendations made on policies and programmes impacting Family Planning, quality of services, young people and their access to Family Planning resources, expansion of Family Planning access through more choices, integration of Family Planning, Maternal Child Health (MCH) and HIV and Family Planning through a gender and rights' perspective. According to FPA Secretary General Vishwanath Koliwad, "The main idea behind National CSO Consultation is to make significant contribution to the Family Planning programme in India." "Through this we want our voices to reach and reflect at the Global FPA Summit, which is scheduled in July, 2012 in London," he added. Consultations at the state and national level clearly point to a need to adopt the global practice of approaching Family Planning under a rights based approach, he said. Speaking on the occasion Anjali Sen, Regional Director of IPPF-South Asia Region said, 'Family Planning has typically followed what could be called a demographer's approach in India. "There is a need to improve the quality of services and expand the basket of contraceptive choices available to Indians," she observed adding, "There is an urgent need for a focused program to address the reproductive needs of a 1.2 billion strong Indian population." Programmatically, Family Planning has tended to focus on sterilisation, typically female sterilisation to the detriment of reversible methods such as condoms, oral contraceptives and intrauterine devices, she said. Recommendations from this consultation process will feed into the forthcoming Family Planning summit to be held in July 2012 at London. UNI RH GH 2106 NNNN -- (UNI) -- 08DI41.xml Watch News Videos

