FAQ

Who funds IAPG?
The IAPG is funded by private foundations and United Nations agencies such as UNFPA and UNIFEM. In addition, the Japan Trust Fund for Inter-country NGO Activities –a special trust fund channeled through UNFPA– has supported many of our activities, including the development of this website. Since its creation IAPG has received funding from different sources such as the Saavedra Fajardo Foundation; the Academy for Educational Development, through the Central American HIV/AIDS Project (PASCA); the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, and IPPF Western Hemisphere Region.

What does IAPG do to promote Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights issues in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)?
The IAPG has three program areas of work: Advocacy, Information and Liaison, designed to address the issues of Reproductive Health and Rights, HIV/AIDS, Adolescents and Gender-based Violence in the LAC region. Some of our recent activities include: a Parliamentary Study Tour where legislators from Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, the Netherlands and Ireland, visited Colombia and Brazil to learn about the sexual and reproductive health situation in these countries and exchange experiences and best practices. The IAPG has also organized a number of sensitization workshops for legislators in the LAC region designed to enhance the formulation of concrete policy recommendations, such as a seminar for parliamentarians and journalists from the Andean countries (Peru, 1995); training workshop on emergency contraception (Chile, 2002; Ecuador, 2002; Peru, 2003; Uruguay, 2003); a meeting to discuss trafficking of children and adolescents (Brazil, 2003).

Which countries does IAPG work in?
The IAPG’s mandate is to work in the Western Hemisphere region, which includes Canada, US and LAC. So far we have prioritized our work in the LAC region where urgent action is needed to promote and protect the reproductive health and rights of women and men.

What are the parliamentary regional networks?
These are the regional parliamentary groups that work on population and development issues:

The Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD)
The Forum of African and Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development (FAAPPD)
The Inter-European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (IEPFPD)

What is the IPCI?
IPCI is the International Parliamentarians’ Conference on the Implementation of the ICPD Program of Action, which took place in Ottawa in November 2002. The conference was organized by the IAPG, the Canadian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (CAPPD) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and was funded by the Hewlett Foundation, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and UNFPA. The primary purpose of this conference was to focus on the two issues in the population field that are essential for the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action:

Creating an enabling environment in developing countries, including the political will to finance their own programs, and to formulate and implement legislation and policies necessary for providing sexual and reproductive health information and services to all people; and
Mobilizing resources from the donor community commensurate to its ability and its ICPD commitment.

As a result of the conference 103 participants, including parliamentarians from all regions of the world, adopted by consensus the Declaration of Commitment, which is a document that spells out concrete actions to be taken by parliamentarians to create an enabling environment and mobilize resources for the implementation of the Cairo PoA.
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What does population and development with a “rights-based-approach” mean?
At the International Conference on Population and Development held in 1994, the international community recognized the importance of population policies that promote human rights and a human development approach. The IAPG supports laws and policies that integrate the health and rights dimension, focusing on promoting women’s empowerment and improving their position in the family and in society. The IAPG recognizes that equity and equality are two important factors, and that a holistic reproductive health framework translates into a better quality of life for people, and contributes to national development.