Ipas

This program grant will support Ipas’ Francophone Africa regional program to improve access to quality abortion services. Since the office was established in 2015, Ipas has become a leading and established presence in the region, working closely with governments, advocates, and clinicians to advance abortion access and reproductive rights. Their approach is holistic, adapting their programming to the abortion ecosystem in each country. This grant is aligned with the Global Reproductive Equity strategy outcomes to strengthen the sexual and reproductive health ecosystem and to support legalization and access to safe abortion in Francophone West Africa.

This project will support implementation of Ipas’ relatively new program to address unsafe abortion in Francophone West Africa. Ipas’ strategy for the subregion seeks to train health care providers to provide abortion services safely and advocate for improvements in the policy environment for abortion availability. To improve the quality of abortion services available to women in Francophone countries, Ipas works in close partnership with ministries of health, regional health bodies like the West Africa Health Organization, and a diverse set of research and advocacy organizations. Strategically, this grant is aligned with the international reproductive health substrategy’s goal to reduce the incidence of unsafe abortion in Francophone West Africa, particularly in Ouagadougou Partnership member countries.