Association Rwandaise pour le Bien-Être Familial (ARBEF)
Originally created in 1986, ARBEF is a non-profit organisation that focuses primarily on family planning and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and is the only institution that combines sexual and reproductive health and rights along with dealing with HIV/AIDS. ARBEF is committed to working with groups vulnerable to HIV such as women and young people.
ARBEF’s overall mission is to reduce the prevalence of unwanted pregnancies and criminal abortions; initiate acceptable relations between couples, contribute to the fight against the rise of STI and HIV/AIDS, contribute to the overall reduction of maternal and child mortality, educate young people to adopt responsible behaviour in Sexual and Reproductive Health and to eliminate sexual violence in general and in particular violence that takes place against women and young girls.
Some of the services offered include services and information concerning maternity and prenatal counseling, family planning, consultation and distribution of contraceptives for men and women, STI and HIV/AIDS testing.
Information, Education and Communication (IEC) has been very active at ARBEF. Over the years ARBEF has been able to recruit many volunteers which has lead to the creation of several regional branches throughout the country. At the moment there are an estimated 500 active members. Every year ARBEF organizes exchange conferences with community leaders in different parts of the country on the subject of Sexual and Reproductive Health. In 1996 a youth centre for Reproductive Health began offering services to adolescents and today receives approximately 15 youth a day for sexual and reproductive health services. In addition, five clubs of peer educators have been set up and actively participate in the sensitization of their classmates. ARBEF has also trained 130 community leaders and volunteers in Gender Concept and reproductive health.
In the future ARBEF aims to extend their activities to other parts of the country by opening more sexual and reproductive health centers for youth and aspires to be able to provide a better caring service to people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
ARBEF dreams of a Rwandese society that enjoys its full rights and has equal access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services. And with the help of their partners IPPF, UNFPA, USAID, IMPACT-RWANDA and YIF (Holland) ARBEF hopes to some day soon be able to realize their vision.
