Our History

The family planning movement started in the Caribbean during the 1950s; 1955 in the case of Barbados, 1956 in the case of Trinidad, and 1957 in the case of Jamaica.

The family planning movement quickly spread across the English-, French-, and Dutch-speaking Caribbean territories.

Kitts 1961
Grenada 1964
Vincent 1965
Suriname 1968
Antigua 1970
Guyana 1974
Dominica 1976

Anguilla, Aruba, Curacao, Belize, Montserrat, Bermuda, The Bahamas, the US Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, and Martinique, all followed thereafter.

CFPA’s Vision

We envision a world where all people – even in the smallest islands of the Caribbean – have access to non-discriminatory high quality sexual and reproductive health services, and have the power to make their own informed decisions about their bodies and their health as well as assert their Sexual & Reproductive Health Rights

In 1971, the Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation (CFPA) was created as a regional body to represent the collective interests of Caribbean family planning associations at the Councils of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).

The Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation (CFPA) was admitted as a member of IPPF in June, 1974. The member associations of the CFPA became members of the IPPF by virtue of their membership of CFPA.

The CFPA Secretariat meanwhile was first established in 1978, with the first Executive Director being appointed at that time. The first CFPA Secretariat was based in Grenada in 1978 and subsequently moved to Barbados in 1979, before being moved to Antigua in April, 1981. The CFPA was incorporated in 1985.

The first constitution of the CFPA was agreed to in 1971. A number of the objectives agreed to in 1971 remain in force today. These include:

The promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Caribbean
Representing member associations on appropriate international organizations and councils of the IPPF
Securing funding for the programs of CFPA as well as CFPA members
Providing technical assistance to CFPA member associations

CFPA’s Vision

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