The Spotlight Webinar | Securing supplies in insecure times: Ensuring contraceptive security under COVID-19

On Wednesday 29th April, in a webinar hosted by Marie Stopes International and FP2020, representatives from across the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights sector came together to discuss how we can protect access to essential contraceptive commodities during Covid-19.  

The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition, UNFPA, the UK’s Department for International Development, as well as Marie Stopes International and FP2020, shared the challenges they are currently facing, together with suggested next steps to ensure SRHR services can continue during these challenging times. 

The webinar featured:  

• Martyn Smith, Managing Director, FP2020, facilitating the discussion and introducing the range of global perspectives being shared in the webinar. 
• Ben Light, Senior Policy Adviser, Family Planning and Reproductive Health Commodity Security at UNFPA covering UNFPA’s projections on how COVID-19 will impact supply chain and access to SRH services, what’s at risk of stock-outs, and what the UNFPA and partners are doing to secure supplies.
• Abebe Shibru, Country Director for Zimbabwe (PSZ), MSI, speaking about the impact of lockdowns and supply-chain challenges in Zimbabwe, what his team are doing to adapt programming and continue to serve women in the country, as well as what global partners can do now to protect services.
• Julia White, Global Family Planning VAN, Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition discussing the global initiatives to track reproductive supply chain and stock, and how partners can collaborate to ensure we have an accurate picture of stock availability and predicted stock-outs. 
• Emma Foster, Senior Programme Manager, the UK’s Department for International Development, presenting DFID’s response to COVID-19 and their work to secure commodities through their global, regional, and bilateral SRHR programmes. 

The presentations were followed by a question and answer session. 

The full webinar and presentation can be watched here: 

The Spotlight Series 

At the time of writing, the world is in the midst of a global pandemic. Whilst we are all adapting to a rapidly evolving situation, we want to do our part to ensure our communities are still able to remain connected and learn from one another. Our webinar series, The Spotlight, aims to bring together voices from across the SRHR sector to shine a light on the challenges we’re all currently facing. Alongside partners, we’ll be hosting a series of discussions on how we can come together to overcome obstacles and continue to serve communities across the globe. 

The Spotlight Series launched on the 8th April with a discussion on delivering safe abortion in the time of Covid-19. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be announcing upcoming webinars, so please share with your own networks and sign up for email updates, to be alerted as we announce future dates.