ACDI/VOCA works to increase the use of modern contraceptives, refers and councils for greater use of contraception, distributes condoms and lobbies for the availability of surgical sterilization in third world countries.
In 2015, ACDI/VOCA joined Catholics for Choice and Planned Parenthood in signing a letter to congress asking for $1 billion to be allocated to contraception programs for international development and assistance programs.
ACDI/VOCA launched the USAID-funded Enhanced and Rapid Improvement of Community Health (EnRICH) project in the Philippines, with the goal of increasing the use of contraception.
From 2006-2011, ACDI/VOCA expanded its activities in the Philippines through a program called Sustainable Health Improvements through Empowerment and Local Development (SHIELD). In this program, ACDI/VOCA “worked with regional government to establish a contraceptive self-reliance policy.”
In a 2011 posting on the ACDI/VOCA website, it explains how its SHIELD program in the Philippines facilitated the commission of 36 tubal ligations.
ACDI/VOCA uses the access it has to rural farming communities to work with other organizations for the express purpose of increasing the use and distribution of condoms. In this 2004 newsletter, ACDI/VOCA explains how it collaborated with DKT International to indoctrinate over 340,000 farmers in Ethiopia on the use of condoms. The newsletter explains:
DKT International, a well-known social marketing organization that has been working in Ethiopia for over a decade, has struggled to increase the number of Ethiopians who use condoms. While DKT possesses extensive experience in HIV/AIDS training, ACDI/VOCA has access to hundreds of thousands of rural farming families through a network of agricultural cooperatives. In 2003, these complementary strengths led to the establishment of a highly successful partnership.
Because of this collaborative effort, ACDI/VOCA’s newsletter explains:
Along with information on the transmission and impact of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia, participants discussed risky behaviors, HIV infections in their home communities, and perceptions of condom use. Trainers also spent two hours discussing the issues surrounding condoms and demonstrated their proper use. A total of 343,022 farmers have received training in HIV/AIDS, and follow-on trainings are planned for 2004 to ensure continuation of this community education campaign.
In 2009, ACDI/VOCA provided contraceptive family planning counseling in the Philippines. According to the article found on ACDI/VOCA’s website, “Maguindanao has one of the lowest percentages of women in the country using any method of contraception at 23.5 … ACDI/VOCA organizes the CHAT health volunteers under its USAID-funded Sustainable Health Improvement through Empowerment and Local Development (SHIELD) project. Part of the counseling session included an audio drama on family planning”
In January of 2006, ACDI/VOCA boasted the recognition it received for its contraception-promoting program in Serbia called, “Community Revitalization through Democratic Action”. The advertisement run by ACDI/VOCA begins by saying, “My girlfriend doesn’t want to sleep with me. Does it mean she doesn’t love me?” and instructs listeners to “ask about family planning” in the “Youth Counseling Center” at a local health care center.
Conclusion
ACDI/VOCA is not only willing to distribute contraception and promote its use, it is actively using its ability to access areas population-control organizations cannot reach in order to spread the use of artificial contraception.
Because of ACDI/VOCA’s unwavering promoting of these grave moral evils, no Christian could ever, in good conscience, support, provide funds or a clean image for this organization.
