By Iliya Kure
Thousands of policymakers, researchers, young people, faith leaders and family planning advocates from around the world will between 12th – 15th November converge on Kigali, Rwanda, to discuss developments on family planning.
The Kigali meeting will be the fifth in the series of International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP), otherwise known as FP2020. It is expected to highlight extensive and far-reaching social and economic benefits of family planning investments — for individuals, families and countries.
The theme for the 2018 conference is “Investing for a Lifetime of Returns.”
Organisers of the Conference say a number of high-level speakers have confirmed their readiness to participate in the global event, among them, Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan; First Lady of Haiti, Martine Moïse; Director-General of World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Others are Canadian Minister of International Development, Marie-Claude Bibeau; Executive Director of United Nations Population Fund, Dr. Natalia Kanem; President of Global Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Chris Elias; and Founder of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Toyin Ojora-Saraki.
In a statement made available to AFRICA PRIME NEWS, Loren Miller of Global Health Strategies, said, the Conference is expected to among other things “feature the release of new data on contraceptive use in Nigeria; a storytelling event with young advocates; and a competitive family planning innovation “pitchfest” with CEOs featuring a cash prize.”
The statement further says three plenaries of the Conference will focus on “The Return on Investment”; Youth & Diversity in Family Planning; and FP2020 Progress.
Other events include, “Women of Impact: Global Leaders Creating Positive Change” Panel Discussion; Red Carpet Evening Among the Stars Reception; and Packard Quality Innovation Challenge and the Excellence in Leadership for Family Planning (EXCELL).
The Conference will be co-hosted by Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Rwanda.
Conversation on the Conference are found on social media:
- Twitter: @ICFP2018
- Facebook: InternationalConferenceonFamilyPlanning
- Instagram: ICFP2018
- Hashtags: #ICFP2018 and #ICFPYouth