Strategies that make a difference: Ipas's small grants programs

Public outreach programs are among the many timely activities made possible by the Ipas small grants program.

Photo courtesy of the David & Lucille Packard Foundation.

Small projects can make a big impact when the funds are available for their timely implementation. That is the strength of the innovative small grants programs (SGPs) offered by Ipas Mexico, Ipas Nigeria and Ipas Ethiopia, which support important short-term initiatives that promote and sustain Ipas's mission. The SGPs are designed to facilitate an immediate response to current and emerging issues related to women's sexual and reproductive rights, in particular abortion and postabortion care (PAC).

The SGPs have provided funds-generally ranging from US $5,000 to US $10,000-to a host of organizations and partners for initiating or sustaining activities ranging from training and service-delivery improvement to advocacy, education and communication, capacity building and infrastructure development.

As one example, Ipas Mexico provided a small grant to an organization called CIDHAL to undertake a 10-month project in the state of Morelos addressing sexual violence. The objectives of the project are to improve public awareness of women's rights related to sexual violence, both in terms of prevention and care; to improve service provision in the public sector; and to provide direct services to victims/survivors of sexual violence.

To date, CIDHAL has used SGP funds to conduct workshops with youth, women and professionals from the state offices for youth and the family; distributed informational materials about sexual violence and the availability of emergency contraception and legal abortion in the case of rape; conducted follow-up with women who had been raped, highlighting ways that services should be improved; and participated in discussions related to women's abilities to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights, including the Commission of Gender Equity in Congress, the Ministry of Health and the Human Rights Commission of the state of Morelos.

Overall, through the SGPs, Ipas has:

• enabled groups and organizations working directly with adolescents and youth to incorporate safe abortion and postabortion care, as well as other issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights, into their activities;
• expanded access to reproductive-health information and services through the media and women's groups;
• improved the capacity of training institutions to implement new activities;
• initiated project activities in priority regions and expanded Ipas's reach to other areas, institutions and partners with especially pressing needs for improved service;
• expanded strategic networks and mobilized partners to implement training programs and expand access to high-quality postabortion and abortion care.

The SGPs have proven effective in Mexico, Nigeria and Ethiopia in supporting creative sexual- and reproductive-health initiatives that need only small and immediate inputs. At the same time, the SGPs have also offered Ipas the opportunity to seek out and develop new collaborative projects with key stakeholders, including individuals, groups and NGOs. In this way, Ipas has expanded well beyond the public-health service sector and united with allies in different arenas to undertake the challenging work of ensuring people's abilities to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights.

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258