News from FPA Sri Lanka

The IPPF Social Enterprise Hub

Since 2018, the IPPF Social Enterprise Hub has been hosted and managed by FPA Sri Lanka. The Hub has been supporting a number of MAs and the Secretariat to promote or guide social enterprise initiatives.

Social Enterprise is the activity of generating income through a business venture, the surplus of which can be reinvested in growth and in serving the community.

In December 2020, the Hub launched a new web-based knowledge sharing and learning platform for IPPF Member Associations.

The platform, which is called the Social Enterprise Academy, will support interested MAs to build relevant, real-world skills relating to building a social enterprise.

The SE Academy has developed two online tools that are now ready for use:

A Readiness Assessment Tool that helps the user/team assess enterprise readiness as well as the capacity of the MA to start up a new social enterprise/income generating business .

A Business Planning tool that enables the formation and generation of a comprehensive business plan, including financial analysis.

Already a number of MAs have benefited from working with the Hub. Click here to view MA snapshots. The photographic Snapshot series showcases the different types of social enterprise concepts that MAs have developed.

If you would like to explore a Social Enterprise concept, please get in touch with the hub by writing directly to the Hub Manager Rishikesh Thiyagaraja: rishi@fpasrilanka.org

FPA Sri Lanka Delivers During COVID

5000 Hygiene Kits were assembled at FPA Headquarters to be distributed to marginalized and underserved women and girls in quarantine facilities and in districts undergoing curfew/lockdown, thereby promoting and ensuring frequent hand washing, personal hygiene and menstrual hygiene. A leaflet containing hotline numbers of SRH, GBV and psychological counselling service providers and information on prevention of transmission of COVID19 was also included.

1500 Hygiene Kits were handed over to the Colombo Municipal Council – The picture depicts Dr. Yakandawala – Consultant – SPRINT III Project handing over the Kits to Her Worship the Mayor of Colombo, Rosy Senanayake.

Periods Don’t Stop for Pandemics! At a time when personal hygiene is of utmost importance, menstrual hygiene management is an important element. The lockdown/travel restrictions in certain areas of Sri Lanka have resulted in restricted access, mobility and freedom for many, and for women and girls making it even more difficult for them to manage their monthly cycle in a dignified, healthy way.

FPA Sri Lanka donated 15,000 sanitary napkins to the girls/women in quarantine facilities and in areas under lockdown in the Districts of Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara.