On Monday 19 April, Alvaro Bermejo held an hour-long webinar with the Member Associations to discuss the Strategy2028 design roadmap.
There were more than 80 people on the call, from all corners of the Federation. For those who missed it, you can view the video here.
There were a range of different questions, both in the chat and on the call. We have listed some the frequently asked questions, and their answer below.
- How will the next strategy reflect our reality?
To ensure that the next strategy reflects our reality, it is important that we contribute to the process and make our voice heard. It is also important that we hear the voices of our clients and national stakeholders, as it is their needs we are responding to. Ultimately, we want a strategy that keeps us relevant in changing times.
- Are the strategic priorities already decided?
So far nothing has been written in our 2023-2028 strategy. The process to develop it begins now. The Member Associations and their clients are the primary stakeholders in this process.
- Why are we speaking about SRHR as Love, Intimacy and Pleasure?
The process to develop the new strategy uses positive language that helps us to think big about possibilities and opportunities in our future, rather than trying to problem solve current issues. This is called “asset framing” which is about “defining people by their aspirations and contributions before exploring their deficits”. Using this approach, the process documents speak about SRHR in terms like love, intimacy, care, sex, pleasure. This language is a tool of the process.
- Will the Board decide on the new strategy?
It is the role of the board to provide oversight and strategic direction throughout the process. At their November 2020 meeting, they informed the type of process required to deliver a bold, new strategy that would meet the challenges of tomorrow, and that will speak to the need of our future clients. You can read the Board paper here. The IPPF members will shape the next strategic framework through the process outlined in the Roadmap. While the Board will oversee and direct this process, the ultimate decision sits with you, the General Assembly.
- Why do we need to move beyond CAIRO?
The ICPD in Cairo (1994) was a milestone in the fight for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Right. It has rightly been celebrated; and it has been a benchmark for our work over the last 27 years. However, CAIRO was not meant to be a ceiling for our ambitions. It is a platform on which to build. With this design process we want to be limited only by our imagination and the vision of a future in which SRHR is not a political compromise, but a lived reality for all.
- How will the writing team be selected?
The writing team will be a group of no more than 5-6 people who will go on a one-week retreat where they will process all the input received, and then develop a first draft of the strategic framework. The members will be selected by the Committee for Strategy, Investment and Policy; and will have a strong MA presence.
- Will the next strategy be a radical departure from the current strategy? Will we stop doing what we are currently doing?
IPPF is a broad tent. The Federation brings together a variety of organisations that are unified by common-held principles and an SRHR-driven mission. We provide a range of services, have different expertise and focus areas. It has been so for 70 years. The strategy will offer new goals and priorities for the Federation, but it will not instruct what you do. The strategy should challenge us to do more, or to do something in different ways. But all with the aim of delivering a purposeful and effective SRHR mission.