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In 2006, Ipas and several partner organizations formed the Consortium for Research on Unsafe Abortion in Africa. Today, the group includes five member organizations, all with a broad mission to turn the attention of scholars, practitioners and stakeholders to the research on unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion in Africa. The consortium’s work thus far has helped to increase knowledge and prompt changes in policies and programs. It has also shed light on major knowledge gaps and policy needs in Africa.
The consortium — the African Population and Health Research Center, Ethiopian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecologists, the Guttmacher Institute, Ipas and the Women’s Health and Action Research Centre — have three main goals:
- Facilitate innovative research in Africa on unsafe abortion;
- Foster collaboration and technical exchange among organizations to build capacity. Each research project must involve two organizations working as partners. The consortium plans to provide skill-building opportunities and workshops for partners.
- Communicate existing and new research through the group’s e-newsletter, Web site and conferences.
Consortium members are currently working on several projects, including a study which intends to capture the incidence of abortion in Ethiopia; a scale-up of access to medical abortion in South Africa; and a study designed to determine the effects of HIV/AIDS on pregnancy intendedness in Nigeria and Zambia. The consortium also plans to upgrade the African Journal of Reproductive Health and is currently seeking reviewers of submitted manuscripts. For more information, visit www.ajrh.info.
“Roughly 13 percent of maternal deaths around the world are attributed to unsafe abortion. But in Africa, unsafe abortion accounts for nearly 30 to 40 percent of these deaths,” says Brooke Levandowski, senior research associate for Ipas.
“We want to use research to tackle this tragedy. Abortion isn’t discussed enough. This group brings people together to talk about research and methodology and truly move research forward to help women,” she adds.
To receive electronic updates on the program, send an email abortionconsortium@ipas.org.
For more information, contact media@ipas.org