Late last month, the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC) celebrated their 10th anniversary at their annual partners’ meeting in Mexico City. The coalition is a global partnership of public, private, and non-governmental organizations dedicated to ensuring that all people in low- and middle-income countries can access and use affordable, high-quality contraceptives and other reproductive health supplies.
PAI spoke with Elizabeth Lule, the very first chair of the coalition, about how far they’ve come and the challenges in reproductive health supplies then and now.
Q. Tell me about your involvement with the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC).
A. I was the first chair of the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition and I served between 2004 and 2006. In reality, much of the work started well before that at the Istanbul conference (a 2001 meeting to discuss global shortages in reproductive health supplies), which PAI was very involved in. We were building on the work of the Interim Working Group on Reproductive Health Commodity Security, whose purpose was to track the commitments governments made in Istanbul.
Q. What was the environment around family planning and reproductive health like?
A. It was a very tough environment. Universal access to reproductive health was not included in the Millennium Development Goals (it took another seven years to get it into the MDGs). Aid for global health was complicated and donor priorities had changed. Donor coordination was very weak. We asked ourselves, how could we formalize reproductive health commodities security to make sure reproductive health supplies are widely available? We held our first meeting at the World Bank with a small group of partners including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), donors, and technical agencies. We agreed to form a community of practice, to allow sharing among members, improve coodination, and work more efficiently with countries.
Q. What was the goal of that first meeting?
A. We were building a long-term vision, and establishing our values and principles. Neutrality was very important to us. We left our organizational hats at the door and spoke as colleagues. It was a passionate group. There was generally a shared belief that where there was will there was a way—that if we worked together we could conquer all the challenges we were facing.
Q. Looking back over the last 10 years, what are you most proud of?
A. I’m here today attending the anniversary and it is beyond my expectations. To see that we have grown from 18 organizations to over 300—it is just amazing. I am proud of the commitment and passion I see—along with the rigor of science, the presence of young people, and the engagement of the private sector. And we have male involvement! I have never seen so many men at a reproductive health supplies conference. Of course, it goes without saying that (RHSC Director) John Skibiak has done a great job.
The three working groups (Advocacy and Accountability, Systems Strengthening and Market Development Approaches) have been there from the beginning, as have been structures like the CARhS (Coordinated Assistance for RH Supplies) and tools like the RH Interchange for tracking shipments. Those have been sustained over the years.
Most of all, I am proud that we have maintained a focus on commodity security and kept reproductive health at the center of the development agenda. I am also very proud of the contributions of our partners. Having been a board member of PAI, I am truly proud of PAI and the work it has done tirelessly and patiently to keep us all accountable.
