Structure
Founded in 1976, Marie Stopes International has grown from a single centre in London to become one of the largest global providers of voluntary family planning with operations in 40 countries spread across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.
Our 629 centres form the backbone of the organisation’s service delivery infrastructure. Our centres are designed to be comfortable, non-intimidating environments where women, men and adolescents receive information about their reproductive choices and access vital services. They are often referred to as the gold standard in reproductive health service delivery in their countries, demonstrating to host governments and other providers what is possible in terms of quality, safety, productivity, confidentiality and customer focus.
Extending from these centres are Marie Stopes International clinical outreach teams, which provide services to hard to reach populations in around 6,000 rural locations and urban slums. Marie Stopes International outreach teams bring family planning choices to women and men in rural and remote areas who otherwise would have access to only short term methods or no family planning at all. Marie Stopes International’s outreach approach transforms government facilities, community buildings and even workplaces into sterile surgical environments to deliver intrauterine devices (IUDs), implants, female
sterilisations, vasectomies, short term contraception and other reproductive health services when needed.
To expand clients’ choice of provider, wel also work with public, private and other non governmental organisation (NGO) health providers to broaden access to voluntary family
planning and safe abortion services. As an organisation that always seeks new ways to deliver services, we use the following innovative approaches:
- social franchising – our franchise networks now comprise more than 1,300 private, public, faith-based and NGO healthcare providers that deliver a range of high quality family planning, safe abortion (where legally permitted) and post-abortion care choices to low income women in their communities
- demand side financing – we reimburse accredited private or NGO healthcare providers for providing sexual and reproductive health services, often through voucher schemes that transfer purchasing power to the poor and vulnerable
- community-based distribution – we bring contraceptive commodities directly to hard to reach populations by providing training and supplies to community health workers and members of the community
- social marketing – we increase access to affordable condoms, contraceptive pills and emergency contraception through pharmacies and non-clinical settings.
Service delivery is complemented with marketing and behaviour change communication
campaigns that improve health-seeking behaviour and build social support for sexual and
reproductive health within communities. Our country programmes receive programme, technical, financial and human resource technical assistance from our support offices in London, Melbourne and other regional offices in Nairobi and New Delhi.
Chief Executive Dana Hovig
CEO, Marie Stopes International Global Partnership
MSc Intl Pol Econ, BA Econ
Mr Dana Hovig has worked for over 20 years extensively in the development and running of family planning organisations and programmes.
As Chief Executive, Dana Hovig manages Marie Stopes International programmes in 40 countries including clinical services, social franchising, clinical outreach programmes, contraceptive social marketing, project management, advocacy and consultancy.
After completing a postgraduate degree in international economics at the London School of Economics, Mr Hovig joined the Peace Corps and subsequently lived in West Africa for five years in small villages working with women’s cooperatives and small businesses.
During the early nineties, Mr Hovig joined Population Services International. He lived in Pakistan as PSI Country Director for four years, where he started and managed a large reproductive health clinic social franchising programme. In 2003 he joined Options, Marie Stopes International’s consultancy subsidiary as Managing Director, where he remained until joining Marie Stopes International as Deputy Chief Executive in 2005.
Mr Hovig was appointed Chief Executive in January 2007 and took over from former Chief Executive and founder of Marie Stopes International, Dr Tim Black CBE, who retired in December 2006 to become a Trustee of the Marie Stopes International Board of Directors.
The Marie Stopes International Global Partnership
Since being founded, we have worked with, and funded, local country Partners. We help to establish these Partner organisations and works closely with them to achieve the Goal, Mission and Vision. This global network of Partner programmes is known as the Marie Stopes International global partnership.
Many Partner organisations have a small five to seven member board. Day-to-day operational management is vested in the Country Director who is supported by a small support office team.
By sharing expertise, lessons learnt and best practices from around the world, and by innovating constantly, Marie Stopes International and its Partners are making a global impact and are improving the lives of millions of women, men and children each year.