Creating awareness about family planning

Family Planning Association of India (FPA India),aleading national NGO, has launched a nationwide campaign "Youth Dialogue- A perspective on FP 2020" to create awareness on 'Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for all'.

The campaign intends to mobilise the young population of India residing in various cities, towns, slums and villages and initiate conversation to understand their access to information and services related to sexual and reproductive health.

India has more than 50 per cent of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65 per cent below the age of 35.

According to FPA India data, in 2018,the number of females (Under the age of 25 years) who availedabortionservices is 74,871 whereas 1,60,076 number of males (Under the age of 25 years) took general counseling from FPAI on Family Planning and contraception.

The data also reveal that 1,58,117 number of females (under the age of 25 years) took Oral contraceptive pills (OCP).

FPA India pays great attention towards the rights of individuals including laws and policies around sexual and reproductive rights of young people.

The campaign will be conducted in states like Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal, Nagaland, Bihar and Jharkhand with an aim to connect young people to drive the dialogue across all platforms, using both, online and offline channels of communication.

"Adolescence is the age of experimentation and our youngsters are at risk of turning towards unhealthy avenuesas a credible source of information about issues related to family planning, sexuality education, use of contraceptives method and safety measures like condoms, reproductive health, sexually transmitted Infections including HIV/AIDS etc..

Through this campaign,"Youth Dialogue- A perspective on FP 2020", India's young generation should take the lead in assessing sexual and reproductive health,Family Planning 2020 agenda and drawing up a robust plan for Family Planning 2020 and beyond", said Dr Renu Kapoor, generalmanager, FPA India, Hyderabad.

The campaign will be concluded by submitting a state wise report card which will put together the findings reflecting the voices of young peopleand multiple other stakeholders.

These report cards would then be presented to the Government of India and further discussedatanational-level consultation in the capital city – New Delhi.