SPOTLIGHT:
RIGHTS & EMPOWERMENT
WORKING GROUP MEMBER
“My work has taught me that the human rights community and the sexual and reproductive health and rights community can achieve so much more if they collaborate,” says Elly Leemhuis-de Regt, who represents the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “That’s why I wanted to be in the Rights & Empowerment Working Group.” According to Ms. Leemhuis, the Dutch government has prioritized sexual and reproductive health and rights over the past 10 to 15 years, and played an active role at the 2012 London Summit. She views the partnerships established by FP2020 as critical for the future of family planning. “FP2020 can bring about change because it involves many people with an enormous, diverse set of experiences,” she says. “It’s interesting what people bring together and learn from each other. I think that togetherness will bring FP2020 further.” For Ms. Leemhuis, quality is an essential family planning concern, particularly in terms of the skills and attitudes of service providers. But she draws inspiration from the stories of women who access family planning even against great odds. “The creativity of women is a success story,” she says. “It’s always amazing and also very inspiring to learn from the women how they find their own solutions to get to the contraceptives they want.”
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