Established in 1979, the Family Life Association of Eswatini (FLAS) is a volunteer-based non-profit organization and a full member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). FLAS focuses on the provision of integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and HIV services and information with a primary target on young people aged 10 – 24 while adults and those below 10 become a secondary target. FLAS provides SRH clinical services through three static clinics located in the three main cities of the country and also provides services through mobile outreach to hard to reach areas targeting vulnerable and marginalized populations. The non-clinical component involves the provision of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) to both in and out of school youth, advocacy and research.
The Delivery of CSE is mainly conducted by the youth volunteer wing of FLAS, Youth Action Movement (YAM), as trained peer educators. Youth peer educators implement their work in communities, in school as well as at 4 youth centres located in the four regions of the country. To support its work in education, the organization has a studio that records and produce programs for airing on national radio stations.
Over the years, FLAS has become the leading national SRHR NGO and has been recognized nationally and regionally as a Centre of Excellence for SRH & HIV integration. FLAS has thus had an expanded and diverse clientele profile wherein the organization has also become a Centre of excellence in key population service provision. For the past years, FLAS programs achieved an average of 380 000 SRH & HIV services which were provided to 56 000 clients, annually.
Recently, FLAS strengthened participation in research and has introduced the first Clinical Trial in the country. Partnerships with various organizations, including government, local and international NGOs have been a key strategy.