20-Years of Contribution

Family Planning activities play a key role in the development of a nation particularly in the developing countries of the world. All development activities are brought-to-naught in economies where available resources go into feeding the ever-growing population as is the case of Bangladesh - the 7th most populated country of the world, inhabited by nearly 158 million people (CIA factbook 2010). The population is growing at a rate of 1.27% annually with almost half of the country’s population (47%) living below the poverty line. Thus, addressing this nation’s high population growth rate is by no means a small task. And in this measure, Marie Stopes can boast of an unqualified commitment to quality Reproductive Health Services in Bangladesh for the last 20 years.

MARIE STOPES in BANGLADESH (MS), affiliated to Marie Stopes International, UK, assists the advancement of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) in Bangladesh through integrated programmes comprising service delivery, advocacy, public awareness and SRH rights. It pledges deep commitment to high grade SRH services in this country through adherence to international systems. At Marie Stopes “client first” is the guiding principle and the result is - over the past 20 years, more than 20 million clients have entered the premises of MS to exercise their preference of SRH methods. All clients are treated equally and with respect; they are made to feel at home in a de-medicalized and friendly environment wherein they can enjoy their SRH rights with confidence, ease and comfort. Marie Stopes believes in innovations; it values collaboration, efficiency and sustainability of actions. Marie Stopes’ programmes embrace communities from every sector, including the hard-core poor and the hard-to-reach. Special approaches have been undertaken to make its services accessible particularly to the left-outs and the vulnerable groups (such as the homeless, those living in haors, isles and coastal locations and the high-risk group). Almost 50% of the total client-mix comes from the poor communities while only 11% of Marie Stopes’ clients are full fee-payers. The income generated from these fees is again fed back into the programmes for cross-subsidization. Today, Marie Stopes has grown to become one of the “BIGGEST” and recognized as one of the “BEST” SRH service providing organisations in Bangladesh spanning 62 districts while maintaining 143 service delivery centres and an extensive outreach - catering to more than 1.6 million clients annually.

HIGHLIGHTS

» Spans 62 districts
» Maintains 143 service delivery facilities
» Caters to over 1.6 millions clients annually
» More than 900,000 poor and vulnerable people are reached through innovative approaches
» More than 60 percent of FP acceptors are long term and permanent method users
» About eighty thousand safe MR services rendered every year
» Maintains 6 Emergency Obstetric Centres (EOC) and conducts 5,500 safe deliveries each year
» First ever health service organisation to receive ISO certification
» Recognition by MSI & GoB