This month, we send you a friendly, but very important reminder that on Wednesday, 8 June, registration will close for the Access for All conference and all other side meetings. Anyone not registered by this date cannot be issued security clearance to enter the UN conference facility, where all meetings will be held.  If you are planning to attend and have not yet registered, or are not certain whether you have registered, please do so now via our website or by contacting Francis Fix.
  

Mon. 20		Tues. 21		Wed. 22		Thurs. 23		Fri. 24
PAI country meeting Caucus on New & Underused RH Technologies Francophone Forum		SSWG meeting RMA meeting MDA meeting LAC Forum		Access for All Reception		Access for All   HANDtoHAND dinner		Annual Membership Meeting

Some meetings are by invitation only. Please visit the meeting webpage for all of the latest information, including details on events, agendas, registration, hotels, and logistics.

Congratulations are in store for the CARhs group, which managed this month to save $2 million worth of contraceptive implants that might otherwise have never been used. Thanks to data from the Product Procurement Monitoring Report (PPMR), the CARhs was alerted to an overstock of 100,000 units of Jadelle® in Rwanda. The group then secured the support of UNFPA and USAID to transfer the excess stock to Burkina Faso where it is now awaiting distribution to health facilities. For more information on the CARhs, please contact Kevin Pilz.

This month, Coalition members European Parliamentarian Forum (EPF) and Equilibres & Populations, together with the Mouvement Français Pour le Planning Familial, organized a Global Parliamentarian's Summit entitled “Girls and Population: the forgotten drivers of development.” At the event, more than 60 parliamentarians heard French Development Cooperation Minister Henri de Raincourt describe his country’s strong commitment to improving global reproductive health, including “access to safe and effective contraceptive methods.” In their appeal to the members of the G8 and G20, the parliamentarians called for universal access to RH, including freely available contraceptives. Read the appeal here.

Meanwhile, at the 21st Session ECP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Budapest, French MEP (and member of EPF’s Executive Committee) Françoise Castex posed a question to the European Commission  on the subject of family planning in the context of the G8 commitments on maternal and child health. The Commission’s response highlighted its membership in the Coalition and the recent launch of the HANDtoHAND Campaign. 

This month, Crown Agents became the latest Coalition member to commit to the HANDtoHAND Campaign, a Coalition-led initiative that aims to rally support for the UN Secretary General's Global Strategy for Women and Children’s Health and reduce unmet need for modern family planning by 100 million additional users by 2015. Crown Agents is a leader in the provision of technical assistance and possesses extensive experience in the purchase, quality assurance, and delivery of many RH supplies. Through their pledge, Crown Agents commits to:

• Improve the availability of high-quality contraceptives through the procurement, quality assurance, and delivery of RH commodities.
• Strengthen the operations of RH commodities logistics and supply chain systems.
• Support the institutional development of health ministries and organizations involved in the provision of RH services.
• Build capacity and professionalization of health supply chain managers. 

Dr. Hans Hogerzeil retired this month from his position as Director of WHO’s Essential Medicines Programme. A strong advocate for the right to access essential medicines, Dr. Hogerzeil contributed substantially to the development of national medical policies and essential medicines lists in more than forty developing countries. He also played a pivotal role in bridging the work of the Coalition and the WHO Prequalification Programme for RH supplies. In 2006, he put forth the motion that eventually led to the call for Coalition partners to procure only prequalified RH supplies or those having received the approval of a Stringent Regulatory Authority. His friends and colleagues within the Coalition wish him the best of success on the next chapter of his career.

This month, the Coalition welcomed Planned Parenthood Federation of America, International Division (PPFA International), bringing our total membership to 140. PPFA International supports local partners in ten countries in Africa and Latin America. Their aim is to expand access and reduce barriers to comprehensive RH services, support local partners who conduct service delivery and advocacy programs, and advocate for informed foreign policy and funding in the United States.  

The agendas are now available online for each of the Working Group, Caucus, and Forum meetings to be held Monday and Tuesday, 20 and 21 June in Addis Ababa. Visit the conference webpage and click on the name of the group to access the respective agenda. For more information on these meetings, please contact Steve Kinzett.

FAQ document now available: The Caucus has put online a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the group. The questions address everything from the role and function of the Caucus to the definition of “underused,” and how the Caucus works with the Coalition’s Working Groups. For more information on the Caucus, please contact Bonnie Keith.

8 June	MDA WG Teleconference
20–24 June	Access for All high-level conference and Coalition annual membership meeting, Addis Ababa
28–29 June	People that Deliver conference, Geneva
20–22 July	LAC Forum meeting, Panama City
29 Nov–2 Dec	International Conference on Family Panning, Dakar

For more details on the above and other events, see the events calendar on the Coalition website.

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