What does the acronym SPRINT stand for?

SPRINT stands for “Sexual and Reproductive Health Programme in Crisis and Post-Crisis Situations in East, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.” The programme is commonly referred to as the SPRINT Initiative.

What is the background of the SPRINT Initiative?

The SPRINT is a rights-based initiative that aims, through its activities, at upholding the right to life and security of person, as well as the right to the highest attainable standard of health – including sexual and reproductive health - for individuals living in crisis and post-crisis situations.

Neglecting sexual and reproductive health (SRH) during crises leads to serious consequences. This includes childbirth complications, maternal and infant deaths and disabilities, sexual and gender based violence, and the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Forcibly displaced women and children are the most affected when their special needs are not addressed, SRH being one of them.

Despite its importance, SRH is not yet systematically integrated into emergency responses and in the management of post-crisis situations. This gap was particularly observed following the Tsunami in 2004. Thus, the SPRINT Initiative was developed in order to address the current gap of SRH in crisis and post-crisis situations mostly through the implementation of the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for SRH in crises. Given its salience on the MISP as a life saving tool, this initiative is the first of its kind in the East, Southeast Asia and the Pacific region especially. Research has shown that applying the MISP for SRH during crises ensures that concerned persons can enjoy the minimum standards necessary for their well-being and survival.

What is the MISP?

The MISP for SRH is a set of priority interventions to be implemented during the early phase of a natural disaster or conflict. It has become an internationally accepted standard and is included in the Sphere Project guidelines[1]. The MISP focuses on displaced populations in acute situations, but can also be used as a minimum standard for post-crisis and chronic situations to ensure that SRH services are established.

The goal of the MISP is to ‘reduce mortality, morbidity and disability among populations affected by crises, particularly women and girls. These populations may be refugees, IDPs or populations hosting refugees or IDPs[2]’. Its objectives are to: 

1. Identify an organization(s) and individual(s) to facilitate the coordination and implementation of the MISP
2. Prevent excess maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity by i) providing clean birth kits to promote clean home births, ii) providing midwifery birth kits to facilitate clean and safe deliveries and the health facilities, and iii) establishing a referral system to manage obstetric emergencies
3. Reduce HIV and STI transmission by i) enforcing universal precautions and ii) ensuring the availability of free condoms
4. Prevent SGBV and provide assistance to survivors by i) ensuring systems are in place to protect displaced populations, particularly women and girls and ii) ensuring medical services and psychological support
5. Plan for the provision of comprehensive SRH services, integrated into primary health care.

What are the objectives of the SPRINT Initiative?

The SPRINT initiative aims to increase access to SRH information and services for populations surviving crisis and living in post-crisis situations in East, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. We will reach this goal by:

• increasing the regional capacity of key stakeholders with regard to SRH response in crisis and post-crisis situations
• strengthening the coordination of SRH responses in crisis and post-crisis situations;
• raising awareness on the importance of addressing SRH in crisis and post-crisis situations at the national, regional and international levels
• responding in a timely fashion to SRH needs in crisis situations
• enhancing access to SRH information and services for persons surviving crisis and living in protracted post-crisis situations.

What are the outcomes?

The initiative and its activities will span over a three-year period extending from 2007 to 2010. By 2010, the SPRINT Initiative will have led to:

• an increased regional capacity of key stakeholders to respond to crisis and post-crisis situations in ESEAOR
• coordinated emergency and post-emergency responses in SRH (at least 9 sites to be determined: 6 emergency and 3 post-emergency)
• the integration of SRH into regional and national emergency response agenda, and
• availability of access to SRH information and services for populations living in crisis situations and for selected internally displaced populations (IDPs) living in protracted post-crisis situations.

What is innovative about the SPRINT?

The MISP continues to face many challenges that prevent and limit its full and systematic implementation during crises, despite its proven impact in saving lives of women and children. These challenges include the scarcity of MISP trainers and experts, difficulty in keeping track of MISP trainees, absence of a regional network of trained coordinators and implementers who could be deployed during emergencies, lack of financial resources to fund short trainings and lack of updated training materials.

The SPRINT Initiative is an attempt to mitigate these challenges in the East, Southeast Asia and the Pacific region. As such, it is a pilot programme that is expected to roll-out into other regions after an evaluation of its objectives and outputs. 

At the same time, the SPRINT Initiative not only emphasizes the implementation of the MISP for new emergencies, but also focuses on providing long-term SRH services and information to underserved communities living in protracted post-crisis situations. It is important to remember that the protection and care of these persons are often not included in national and international agendas and programmes. As marginalized communities, they often lack access to basic rights and related services. The SPRINT Initiative aims to increase such access.

Who are the partners?

IPPF ESEAOR direct partners in the SPRINT are UNFPA, the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the Australian Reproductive Health Alliance (ARHA). UNSW will play a key role in action research and monitoring and evaluation. ARHA will take care of the advocacy component, particularly in relationship to parliamentarians in Australia. UNFPA, through its Humanitarian Response Unit, will collaborate with the secretariat to conduct the TOTs and give technical assistance and support.

To ensure the uptake of the MISP and its sustainability in the region, the SPRINT will engage and collaborate with other advocacy and implementing agencies working in emergency relief (e.g. Asia Disaster Preparedness Center – ADPC, International Federation of the Red Cross/Crescent - IFRC, Doctors without Borders – MSF, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - OCHA), migration (e.g. UNHCR, International Organization for Migration - IOM) or SRH (e.g. IPPF MAs, Marie Stopes International – MSI).

How much is the budget and how is it divided?

The SPRINT Initiative runs on a three-year grant given to IPPF ESEAOR through the Humanitarian and Emergency Health Section at AusAID.

The SPRINT Initiative is coordinated through a newly established SPRINT Secretariat at IPPF ESEAOR. Approximately 84% of the SPRINT budget is allocated to organizational capacity building and implementation of the MISP in 9 intervention sites.

Organizational capacity entails conducting three sub-regional training of trainers on the MISP for SRH in crises and subsequent echo-trainings at the national level. The secretariat’s task is also to fundraise for the implementation of the SPRINT in additional sites. For more information on the how to participate in the ToTs/echo-trainings or in funding possibilities, please visit www.ippfeseaor.org.

Other activities such as research, monitoring and evaluation are carried out by UNSW and account for 5% of the total budget. ARHA focuses on the advocacy component, also through 5% of the budget.

Graphs I and II below, illustrating the budget distribution by agency and activity, show that funds for the SPRINT Initiative go directly into the field.

What is the sustainability of the SPRINT Initiative?

The secretariat will collaborate with key emergency aid agencies of the region to incorporate the MISP into their own relief response. This integration of the MISP into local and regional aid agencies will increase the opportunity for the MISP to be scaled up throughout the region, with a possible roll-out into other regions.

Who to contact for further information?

Please contact the SPRINT secretariat for further information on the SPRINT Initiative at ippfklro@ippfeseaor.org.