Introducing Interact Worldwide
Interact Worldwide (IW) is a UK-based international Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) NGO.
IW specialises in working with partners through a rights-based approach that allows poor and marginalised people to demand as a 'right' the basic conditions that allow them to live in dignity.
Our work focuses specifically on the most marginalised communities and individuals: those who most commonly experience stigma, discrimination, abuse and denial of rights.
History
IW (formerly Population Concern) was founded as an independent entity in 1991, but had been operational while under the auspices of the UK Family Planning Association (FPA) for more than 20 years. The organisation split off from FPA under the name of Population Concern, as FPA wanted to concentrate on its domestic activities, and the mandate of the new Population Concern was the management of the international project portfolio. The change from Population Concern to Interact Worldwide was effected in April 2003 to reflect an increasingly rights-based approach to SRH issues.
IW merged with Plan UK on 1st October 2009 but remains an autonomous organisation with its own Board of Trustees as part of the Plan family. The merger will allow Interact to expand its SRHR programming to more countries and develop new business models to ensure even more young people and adults can lead healthier lives.
IW Vision
IW's vision is a world where all people are equally able to enjoy sexual and reproductive health and well-being and exercise their sexual and reproductive rights.
IW Mission
To improve the sexual and reproductive health of, and attainment of sexual and reproductive rights by, marginalised groups.
Problem Statement
The overarching problem that Interact focuses on is lack of demand for SRH services amongst marginalised groups which leads to ill health and fatalities. The key determinants that contribute to this lack of demand which we will address are:
- A lack of knowledge and awareness about SRHR at the community level, particularly among marginalised groups
- A lack of involvement of communities in the design and delivery of community level programmes
- Poor quality services that are inappropriately designed for marginalised groups
- The lack of integration of services at the local level, particularly reproductive health with HIV and maternal health services, which leads to inefficiency and high out of pocket costs for poor communities
- Insufficient resources and poor policies which undermine the provision of services and the reproductive rights of marginalised groups
Theory of change
For marginalised communities to improve their health status there needs to be an increase in the realisation of their sexual and reproductive rights and the provision and uptake of appropriate services. For this to happen, demand for services needs to be created and amplified at the community level. Effective community based SRHR organisations play a critical role in supporting and empowering communities by providing information and tools to enable communities to influence service providers and local decision makers. Community based organisations also play an important role by advocating for a change in national policies and prioritisation of national resources for improved SRHR.
IW Philosophy
IW works through a rights-based approach meaning that our goal is the greater realisation of rights by marginalised groups within the sexual and reproductive health arena. This approach will focus on increasing the capacity of the rights-holders (those currently not realising their rights) and by increasing the capacity of duty-bearers (influencers, decision-makers and service providers) to fulfil the rights of the rights-holders through increasing the advocating capacity of local civil society. Interact uses evidence from programmes to influence donors in the UK and EU to support SRHR.
[1] Those who are most marginalised will vary according to the local context, however there are key groups who Interact works with which are universally marginalised: Adolescents, people living with HIV(PLHIV), sex workers (SW), men who have sex with men (MSM), injecting drug users (IDUs) remote eg fishing communities, communities affected by emergencies