The early activities of the Region began in 1961 when the South East Asia and Oceania Region (SEAOR) was established and based in Singapore, where the Regional Office was first located. Initially housed at the home of a prominent volunteer, then at a rented room at the YWCA (1960) and later at 10 Kay Siang Road, the Regional Office moved in August 1966 to a more prominent premise at 26 Dunearn Road, on a shared-expenses basis.
Work in the Region in the early years was conducted by the Singapore FPA personnel and volunteers due to lack of sufficient funds. However, from 1965 training became a major regional activity with the setting up of the IPPF Training Institute.
Courses in the medical, social and administrative aspects of family planning were run for doctors, nurses, midwives, administrators, social workers, community leaders, journalists and others from the South East Asian and Oceania countries in the Region (then comprising of Indonesia, Indo-China, Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji). The Philippines joined in 1963.
To cope with the rapidly expanding family planning programs in SEAOR, in 1970 the Regional Council moved the Regional Office to its own premise in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. With this move, the role of the Regional Office evolved into that of a service center, helping national associations in the Region by providing them with technical guidance and back-up services to implement their programs. Consequently, the work program of the Regional Office was largely influenced by the Member Associations’ work programs and was designed to supplement and support them.
Formation of the Double Region
The East South East Asia and Oceania Region (ESEAOR) was one of two “Double Regions” in IPPF which resulted from the fusion of two established Regions, namely, the SEAOR and the Western Pacific Region (WPR). This merger took place in 1974.
The WPR was originally an informal grouping with the Family Planning Associations of Japan, Korea and Hong Kong working together. It was only formally established in February, 1963 at the Seventh IPPF Conference in Singapore. The WPR Regional Office was located in Tokyo.
SEAOR at the time of its merger with WPR comprised the following full member associations: Australia, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Some contact was made with national associations in Burma and Cambodia, while prior to 1975, the Lao Family Welfare Association, the Planned Parenthood Association of the Republic of Vietnam and the Family Planned Association of the Khmer Republic were Associate Members.
The move to establish the Double Region was approved by the Governing Body of IPPF at its meeting in Brighton, United Kingdom, on 29 October 1973, following a recommendation of the Ad Hoc Boundaries Committee.
Representatives to a special committee were then appointed by both Regions to study and make recommendations on such points as representation on Regional and Central Bodies, a common Regional Office and a common Regional Constitution. They met in Hong Kong on 24 March 1974 for initial discussions on these issues, and in September 1974 in Kuala Lumpur, both Regions agreed that they would function as one, with Kuala Lumpur as the site of the office for the new Region. After approval by the Management and Planning Committee, the new constitution was formally adopted at the inaugural meeting of the East and South East Asia & Oceania Regional Council in December 1974.
Since then, ESEAOR has seen a burgeoning membership. The China Family Planning Association, representing 1.3 billion people or one-fifth of the world’s population, became a member of IPPF in 1983.
The South Pacific was later brought into the fold through the Pacific Island Planned Parenthood Affiliation (PIPPA), which was established in May 1988. Eight member countries formed the grouping, namely Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Western Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and the Cook Islands.
ESEAOR is currently the largest IPPF region in terms of population and has 16 full Member Associations [Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Thailand, Vanuatu and Vietnam] and 6 Associate Members [Cambodia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu].
In addition, ESEAOR is active in a further 4 countries where there is not currently a Member Association [Kiribati, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea]. This brings the total number of countries in which ESEAOR is working to 26.