Five Members of Parliament from EPF member Parliamentary groups participated in a unique field visit to Bangladesh from 19 to 25 February to visit the UNFPA/EC Reproductive Health Initiative for Young People in Asia (RHIYA). The UNFPA, EPF with DSW jointly organised this study tour of European Parliamentarians, which included: Hon. Ana Manso, MP (Portugal – Social Democrats – People’s Party), Hon. Lyn Brown, MP (Labour – UK), Hon. Roel Deseyn, MP (Christian Democrat – Belgium), Hon. Magda De Meyer, MP (Socialist – Belgium) and Hon. Alexander Graff Lambsdorff, MEP (European Parliament – Germany – Liberal).

The study tour offered a select group of five Members of the Parliament from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Portugal and the European Parliament a unique opportunity to gain first-hand experience of the RHIYA programme and its impact at country and community level. The study tour included visits to four projects, all designed to develop positive changes in sexual and reproductive health attitudes and gender sensitive behaviours and practices among the youth in urban and peri-urban areas. The Parliamentary Delegation visited projects in the Dhaka slum area, the Sylhet tea producing region and in the North of the country in Mymensingh and met with a wide range of local NGOs, including “Concerned Women for Development”, the Family Planning Association of Bangladesh, Marie Stopes, Sylhet-Branch of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society as well as numerous young people and women’s groups.

Alongside these field visits, Parliamentarians were given the chance to meet with national parliamentarians (members of the AFPPD) including the Speaker of the Bangladesh Parliament to discuss reproductive health issues in Bangladesh as well as to meet with the Ministries of Health, Education and Finance, local policy makers, representatives of the EU delegation, national embassies and UNFPA representatives.


For more information on the RHIYA Project, please visit: http://www.rhiya.org