A Message from the Regional Director
Working together as Member Associations and Regional Office is the motto of the next stage of our development in the region. Togther we will build a unified region capable of defending reproductive health rights and centered around member associations by strengthening their effectiveness and efficiency.
Our role, as a Regional Office, will be to support and strengthen the member associations in fulfilling their tasks, in line with IPPF guidelines. This is what we will do internally but externally, with partners, whether national, regional or international, we will strive to further support joint work so that we can meet the multiple challenges we encounter and achieve the multiple goals we share.
As the new year is approaching, we will strive to achieve our goals despite the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on our work processes and our freedom of movement. We have to find alternative ways to overcome the difficulties we may encounter.
We live in a region of the world that is riddled with many challenges and needs. Vulnerable and marginalized groups have rights, and it is our duty to reach out to them and provide them with the services that we can deliver. The Covid-19 pandemic does not reduce the needs of these groups, but rather amplifies them. As such, if we do not respond to their needs in a timely manner, we will lose our raison d’être and abandon our duties towards ourselves in the first place and towards those who believe in our mission and support us.
We will continue to work with decision-makers in the field of advocacy and lobbying with all the available means of communication. The Covid-19 pandemic uncovered many negative aspects in health systems in our various societies and provided a significant number of evidence and indicators that must be taken into account when addressing decision-makers and lawmakers, in relation to the policies and laws that need to be reformulated, abrogated, or added.
Youth will also have a central role in everything we do. Focusing on youth and their role will be a milestone for the Arab region in the coming years, where youth represent nearly 60% of the population. We already know that investing in youth is the best investment. Our goal is not only to deliver services to them and meet their needs in the field of reproductive health, but also, and most importantly for us at this stage, is to actively involve them in decision-making and give them the real opportunity to express their opinions and aspirations.
2020 has been a year of change in the structure and methods of work of the Federation, and we will now work to prove that this change was for the better. And when we say “for the better”, we mean that the impact of our work on our societies is better and that we are also better in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.