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Speak out -- Break the Silence around Sub/infertility 

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Sexual and reproductive health and rights are intrinsically linked to gender equality and people’s well-being, serving as a prerequisite for sustainable development. The Guttmacher-Lancet Commission’s report highlights sub/infertility as a sensitive yet neglected topic within sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Beyond a rights-based perspective, the evidence underscores that sub/infertility is correlated with and can lead to mental stress, intimate partner violence, stigma, and economic hardship. Moreover, while both women and men experience sub/infertility, women often face more blame, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Undoubtedly, people’s access to information, counselling, prevention, and care for sub/infertility is not just a reproductive right but also an issue of health equity and gender equality.

To tackle this issue, policymakers and influencers must recognize that sub/infertility can be either preventable or treatable. Access to relevant information and services, such as comprehensive sex education materials, stigma-free counselling, and affordable, accessible solutions, is imperative to ensure equitable access to care in the future. Consequently, two knowledge products have been developed as tools for awareness, advocacy, and action to encourage everyone to break the silence and address infertility.

The first product is a short film that uses real people’s stories to establish empathic connections between viewers and storytellers. Targeting policymakers and global influencers, these videos are available in Arabic, Bangala, and Kirundi, with subtitles in English, French, and Arabic on YouTube. (Click below on the YouTube playlist).

The second knowledge product is a policy brief along with an executive summary detailing the scale and repercussions of infertility, emphasizing its correlation with broader human rights principles, a sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) agenda, and the sustainable development goals (available for download in English, French, and Spanish below).

 

 

 

 

 

Knowledge product details

  • Small Grants

  • 2020

  • Bangladesh

  • Burundi

  • Jordan

  • Advocacy

  • Fertility and/or infertility

  • Gender

  • Share-Net Bangladesh

  • Share-Net Burundi

  • Share-Net Jordan

  • Arabic

  • English

  • French

  • Kirundi

  • Spanish

  • Executive Summary

  • Policy Brief

  • Video

KP creators involved

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This policy brief documents the magnitude and impact of infertility and its connection to broader human rights principles, an SRHR agenda, and sustainable development goals. It calls on policymakers, public health and health care providers, and other stakeholders to develop a national action plan to address infertility and infertility-related stigma. This document outlines 5 priority areas to engage, educate, address, and advocate for a broader focus on infertility and provides country-specific examples of programs designed to meet these priorities.

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Cette note politique documente l’ampleur et l’impact de l’infertilité et son lien avec les principes plus larges des droits de l’homme, l’agenda de la santé sexuelle et reproductive et les objectifs de développement durable. Elle appelle les décideurs politiques, les prestataires de santé publique et de soins de santé, ainsi que les autres parties prenantes, à élaborer un plan d’action national pour lutter contre l’infertilité et la stigmatisation liée à l’infertilité. Ce document présente cinq domaines prioritaires pour engager, éduquer, aborder et défendre une approche plus large de l’infertilité et fournit des exemples de programmes conçus pour répondre à ces priorités dans chaque pays.

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Este informe de política documenta la magnitud y el impacto de la infertilidad y su conexión con principios más amplios de derechos humanos, una agenda de SDSR y objetivos de desarrollo sostenible. En él se hace un llamamiento a los responsables de la formulación de políticas, a los proveedores de atención sanitaria y de salud pública y a otras partes interesadas para que elaboren un plan de acción nacional que aborde la infertilidad y el estigma relacionado con la infertilidad. Este documento esboza 5 áreas prioritarias para comprometer, educar, abordar y abogar por un enfoque más amplio de la infertilidad y proporciona ejemplos específicos de cada país de programas diseñados para cumplir con estas prioridades.

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Executive summary of Breaking the Silence policy brief.

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Résumé de la note d’information Breaking the Silence.

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Resumen ejecutivo de Breaking the Silence policy brief.

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KP creators involved


Alliance Burundaise Contre Le Sida

The Burundian Alliance against AIDS is a national network of civil society organizations engaged in the fight against AIDS and the promotion of health. The ABS today brings together 94 professional CSOs, PLHIV and other vulnerable and community-based organizations spread across all the provinces of the country and intervening in all areas of the national strategic plan to fight AIDS. The nature and volume of activities vary from one CSO to another depending on its experience, its capacities , and the funding mobilized.

International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)

IPPF is a global healthcare provider and a leading advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all. IPPF’s work is wide-ranging, including comprehensive sex education, provision of contraceptives, safe abortion, and maternal care and responding to humanitarian crises. They pride themselves as an organization on being local through their members and global through their robust network. At the heart of our mission is the provision of – and advocacy in support of – integrated healthcare to anyone who needs it regardless of race, gender, sex, income, and crucially no matter how remote.

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Red Orange

RedOrange is an international communication consultancy creating impact with strategic messaging and stakeholder involvement, strong project design and expert planning and implementation. Our consultancy is focused on understanding the objectives of our clients and designing the strategy to achieve and exceed them

RedOrange brings together all areas of communication expertise to design the best strategy. We have the strategic, the creative, and the implementation skills all under one roof. We understand media buying , we produce TVC’s and engage talk shows in our projects. We are also experts at social and behavior change and community engagement, we have in-house expertise of visibility and branding, our ICT department develops software and ICT solutions. RedOrange excels at media engagement, edutainment, awareness campaigns and advocacy, and we have ample experience with knowledge management

Jordan University of Science and Technology

Jordan University of Science and Technology aims to provide high-quality educational and research services in the medical, technological and applied fields of knowledge to manufacture and disseminate knowledge. The university, also, intends to lead and develop human societies, and to create a technological and scientific environment that stimulates excellence, creativity and innovation through effective local and global partnerships.

King Hussien Foundation – Institute for Family Health

The Institute for Family Health (IFH) serves as a national and regional model for comprehensive and progressive healthcare that addresses the physical, mental, and social welfare of Jordanians and refugees throughout Jordan.

Launched in 1986 by the Noor Al Hussein Foundation (NHF) with support from Sweden’s Radda Barnen, the IFH model evolved from a primary healthcare center for mothers and children to a holistic community healthcare model. It contributes to the wellbeing and resilience of families and individuals throughout their lifecycle by providing integrated prevention, curative, protection, and rehabilitation services that meet the highest professional standards and human-rights principles.

The IFH model is enhanced through a structured referral system with the public and private sectors, local and international NGOs, UN agencies, and, in close partnership with over 200 community-based organizations.

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