Pathfinder International

This program grant supports Pathfinder International’s program in Côte d’Ivoire, where Pathfinder has identified several areas for collaboration with the Ministry of Health to improve family planning service availability. This funding builds on three previous rounds of funding from the foundation that helped Pathfinder build a program in Côte d’Ivoire as its hub for operations in Francophone West Africa. Through national and local advocacy and provider training, Pathfinder aims to increase availability of contraceptive methods and improve access to safe abortion and postabortion care. This grant for Pathfinder’s program in Côte d’Ivoire is aligned with Global Reproductive Equity strategy goal that women and girls in Francophone West Africa are increasingly able to seek, access, and use comprehensive reproductive health care to further their health, well-being, and life aspirations.

Pathfinder International provides women, men, and adolescents with a range of quality health services—from family planning and maternal care services to HIV prevention and AIDS care and treatment. Continued unrestricted funding would sustain Pathfinder’s commitment to focus on strengthening health systems, community-based interventions, advocacy to increase financial and political support for family planning and reproductive health services, and strong data collection and monitoring activities.

Young women in Francophone West Africa have a higher risk of dying in childbirth and are less likely to use contraceptives than older women. Many young women in this region are also married—the median age of marriage in Guinea, for example, is sixteen. Because of cultural factors and gender roles, young married women face a number of barriers that prevent them from accessing family planning services, including restrictions on leaving the house or community. A grant to Pathfinder International would support a project in Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Niger to make these services available for young married women directly in the community. This project grant reflects the Global Development and Population Program’s new emphasis on increasing the use of family planning services in countries where the current rate of use is very low, such as the countries in Francophone West Africa.