In 2015, The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) established the Social Enterprise Acceleration Programme (SEAP) with the long-term aim of strengthening the capacity of its Member Associations to apply entrepreneurial best practices in the health sector, while delivering social value and improving lives. The Programme’s focus is to support the establishment and growth of social enterprises to increase and diversify Member Associations funding base to provide for greater sustainability. 

FPASL was selected to host the SE Hub in 2017 as IPPF believed that SEAP's potential and impact will be maximized if delivered in the context of a well-established MA with significant expertise and a successful track record in Social Enterprise.  FPASL qualified to be selected on the strength of its vibrant Social Marketing Programme since 1974.

The Social Enterprise Hub organized a fully sponsored Global Social Enterprise Internship Programme from the 14th of October to the 8^th of November 2019 at FPA Sri Lanka with the participation of 8 delegates from 7 Member Associations. (Represented countries were India, Ghana, Guyana, Kiribati, Mongolia, Kenya and Tanzania).

This multi-faceted capacity-building programme was facilitated by FPASL resource personnel, and external facilitators specialising in business, finance, marketing, entrepreneurship etc. The training was delivered through interactive sessions, field visits, department visits and discussions, case studies, assignments and group work. By way of participating and acquiring this knowledge, the delegates will be better placed to work on their start-up ideas or grow their existing social enterprise operations for better results.

Excerpts from participants on their workshop experience:

Aster, (FPAI, India) - "The training has been thought through and planned well by the SE Hub. The sessions have been interactive and knowledge-wise helpful. The environment created put the Participants at ease to network with one another and also ask any queries or to make a point. I was particularly able to pick up on how to plan and launch a new business model and even identify some of the short-comings in our market research on our ongoing social enterprise project"

Tamoa, (KFHA, Kiribati) - "The trainers and facilitators were skilled, capable and equipped to handle their respective topics. Rishi, Manjula and the FPASL Team have been excellent hosts and have gone the extra mile in ensuring that our 4 week stay was efficiently handled. While most sessions were useful, I was intrigued by the business planning session as I previously thought a Business Plan was only related to financial planning. However, I realised the importance of the non-financial elements during my involvement in this Workshop. "

Mabel, (PPAG, Ghana) - "The Internship has improved my knowledge in running a social enterprise. Also, it has boosted my confidence in applying the various learning to the existing business models at my MA. During the last few weeks I have learnt the importance of readiness assessment and how to conduct good market research. Through the department visits, I picked up on the different income generating models - especially the model that the social marketing unit follows, which can be replicated in the MA"

Renata, (GRPA, Guayana) - "The content has been varied enough to retain interest. The addition of guests speakers was a nice touch as it gave a perspective to other types of enterprise models and experiences. Getting to know FPA Sri Lanka’s operations – particularly Finance and Governance and the exposure to the internal functions of the social marketing unit are some of the key learnings."

Venance, (UMATI, Tanzania) - "The workshop has been highly helpful and insightful. With proper preparation and application of the pre-course work - it helps the participants to use the collected information to test out tools, methodologies and our general understanding. The topic on 'How to effectively do market research and analysis' was particularly an eye-opener."