EngenderHealth

This supplemental grant will support EngenderHealth to expand its program for sexual and reproductive health and rights in Francophone West Africa particularly in Benin. In late 2021, Benin’s parliament voted to legalize abortion in most circumstances, the first country in the region to do so. EngenderHealth already had a small program focused on abortion advocacy in Benin and is well positioned to expand its work plan in Benin to prepare for and support the implementation of this new reproductive right. This work is aligned with the Global Reproductive Equity strategy outcome to make safe abortion legal and accessible in Francophone West Africa.

EngenderHealth is requesting funds to develop a prototype tool kit, called Checkpoints for Choice, that will help policymakers, health care providers, and community members identify whether women's choices about contraception are respected when they receive family planning services. The goal of this project is to provide these constituencies with an evidence-based and concrete tool to promote and protect reproductive rights and contraceptive choice. This project grant reflects the Global Development and Population Program’s stronger emphasis on fostering specific improvements in access to and quality of family planning services, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.