Hosted by
Ipas
Description
More than 60 million people—almost five times the population of Rwanda—are living in crisis settings or are displaced due to natural disaster, conflict or other human rights abuses.
The average time a person spends displaced is 20 years—which, for a young person, can be a large chunk of his or her reproductive life.
Sexual and reproductive health services are often overlooked. It’s an invisible problem compared to the need for food, water, shelter and vaccines. But just because it’s invisible does not mean it’s not important.
In crisis settings, women face significant hardships trying to prevent pregnancy. They lose their livelihoods, their normal family and social structures and their health care. They’re at greater risk of gender-based violence, transactional sex and disruption in contraceptive use.
Women in crisis settings face tremendous obstacles to managing their reproductive lives when it’s incredibly crucial.
A 2015 article in Conflict and Health assessed whether facilities in the DRC, Burkina Faso and South Sudan were providing reproductive health services. The authors found gaps in provider knowledge and community awareness, and a lack of drugs. In terms of family planning, of the 63 facilities assessed, some provided pills and injectables but long-acting reversible contraceptives, permanent methods and emergency contraception were all scarce.
This is where Ipas comes in. We work in more than 20 countries, of which at least 12 have some type of protracted humanitarian crisis.
This Facebook Live conversation will focus on the work Ipas is doing with Rohingya refugees.
Dr. Sayed Rubayet, Ipas country director in Bangladesh, and Dr. Anu Kumar, Ipas President and CEO, will discuss the reproductive health needs of Rohingya women and how Ipas is addressing this issue.
It’s time to pull back the curtains on this invisible problem.
Guests
Dr. Kumar, Ipas President and CEO
Dr. Kumar will introduce the audience to Ipas’s work, particularly in humanitarian settings. She will highlight the invisible problem.
Dr. Rubayet, Ipas country director in Bangladesh
Dr. Rubayet will talk about the reproductive needs of refugee women and will take questions from Dr. Kumar about Ipas’s work and life in the camps.