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June 24, 2005
Workshop participant
Dr. Julia Ahmed said of the workshop, "This workshop has really opened an area I was longing to get more information on, and it came in a comprehensive way."
The 2003 release of the World Health Organization's (WHO) landmark publication, Safe Abortion: Technical and Policy Guidelines for Health-Care Systems , represented an important step in global efforts to combat the problem of unsafe abortion. Since then, Ipas has been committed to ensuring that health-care systems and providers, political and community leaders, and reproductive-health advocates are provided with the knowledge, tools and resources needed to implement that guidance and truly make a difference in women's health and lives.

Toward that end, Ipas and WHO recently convened the Biregional Workshop on Reducing Unsafe Abortion —the latest in a series of regional workshops on implementing the guidance—in Bangkok, Thailand, for participants from countries in WHO's South East Asia and Western Pacific regions. Specially designed to address the current legal and clinical environments related to abortion in the countries represented, the participatory workshop inspired all participants to become more involved in addressing the problem of unsafe abortion in the region.

The workshop began with presentations by each country team on the status of abortion in their country. Broadly, the goals of the workshop were to:

This comprehensive approach was well-received by workshop participants.

“ Bangladesh has done a lot in our menstrual regulation (MR) program, but we need to move further, bringing in new technologies and learning from international best practices,” said Dr. Julia Ahmed, Deputy Executive Director of the Bangladesh Women's Health Coalition. “We want to keep Bangladesh as a leader in the field of addressing unwanted pregnancy.

“This workshop has really opened an area I was longing to get more information on, and it came in a comprehensive way—including policy, law, service delivery, women's perspectives, capacity building,” Ahmed continued. “And it exposed us to all the other South East Asian countries. The learning tools [that were provided] are fabulous.”

As a leading expert in the region, Ipas was a natural choice to partner with WHO in presenting this workshop. Presenters from the region included Ipas Vietnam 's Training and Services Advisor Dr. Phan Bich Thuy, Ipas's Senior Research and Policy Advisor for Asia Dr. Bela Ganatra, as well as colleagues from India , Vietnam and Mongolia.

Countries represented in the workshop were India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the Maldives, Cambodia, Mongolia, the Philippines and Vietnam — a diverse group of countries representing the full spectrum of abortion laws in the region. Each country sent a team of one to five people representing Ministries of Health, national obstetrics and gynecology societies and nongovernmental organizations.

In addition to the workshop with WHO, Ipas also recently organized a workshop on safe abortion care in Kathmandu, Nepal, at the request of the South Asian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (SAFOG). The workshop was cohosted by Ipas, SAFOG and the Nepal Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists , following SAFOG's annual regional meeting.

The workshop addressed:

One hundred SAFOG members attended the one-day workshop.

“The large number of participants reflects real interest in addressing the problem of unsafe abortion in the region,” said Wendy Darby, Ipas's incoming Asia Regional Director. “These participants chose to attend the workshop—on a Sunday, for no financial compensation—purely because they were motivated to learn more about increasing women's access to safe abortion.”

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258