Rwanda will host the 5th International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP), which will be held in Kigali from 12th to 15th November 2018. It was announced today at Umubano Hotel during the official launching of the National Steering Committee.
“The Government of Rwanda is privileged to host the5th International Conference on Family Planning delegates in Kigali. Rwanda is committed to working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute to ensure that this event is successfully hosted in the country,” said Minister of Health Diane Gashumba.
Oying Rimon II, the Chair of the International Conference on Family Planning said that Rwanda was chosen to co-host this conference thanks to the achievements it has made regarding health and family planning.
“We picked Rwanda because of our recognition of the spectacular achievements that your country has achieved in the health sector as well as family planning.” He said, adding that the data and the statistics about the reduction of infant and maternal mortality in Rwanda are incredible.
Held biennially since 2009, the ICFP I9S is the largest scientific conference in the world devoted to family planning.
It serves as a strategic inflection point for the family planning and reproductive health community worldwide.
It also provides an opportunity for political leaders, scientists, researchers, policymakers, advocates and youth to disseminate knowledge, celebrate successes, and identify next steps towards reaching the goal of enabling an additional 120 million women to access voluntary, quality contraception by 2020.
The first conference was held in Kampala, Uganda in 2009 and convened more than 1300 participants from 61 countries around the topic of family planning for the first time in 15 years, sparking positive change for family planning policies in Uganda. The conference was co-hosted by Makerere University’s School of Public Health.
The second conference in 2011 drew more than 2200 participants from 87 countries to Dakar, Senegal and highlighted family planning issues in Francophone Africa.
The 2013 ICFP drew more than 3400 attendees from 110 countries to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and focused on the theme of “Full Access, Full Choice.”
The most recent was the 20-16 conference, which was held in Nusa Dua, Indonesia and drew more than 3500 delegates and participants from 100 countries. Under the theme of “ Global Commitments, Local Actions,” the 2016 ICFP shaped and influenced the role and contributions of family planning in attaining the new Sustainable Development Goals.
