In March 2025, a broad spectrum of key stakeholders gathered in Mogadishu, Somalia, to discuss how to build a sustainable ecosystem for maternal and reproductive health care. A strategic roadmap emerged from the multi-day event, along with a shared commitment by stakeholders to implement the plan and transform the country’s maternal and reproductive health landscape.
Overlapping climate crises and armed conflicts in Somalia have resulted in a high percentage of women and girls with urgent reproductive health needs. Within this context, Somalia’s Federal Ministry of Health hosted this groundbreaking dialogue, which was facilitated by Ipas Africa Alliance and the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Attendees included government leaders, UN agencies, international and local NGOs, hospitals, academic institutions and media partners.
Together, these diverse attendees tackled pressing challenges such as policy gaps, stigma, misinformation, and supply chain constraints. By the end of the dialogue, participants had created a strategic road map with actionable steps to overcome these barriers and build a sustainable, inclusive health-care system that can deliver quality reproductive health services.
“Ensuring equitable access to high-quality reproductive and maternal health services is a priority for us,” said Dr. Abdulkadir Wehliye – Director Reproductive Health with the Federal Ministry of Health. “This initiative aligns with our commitment to eliminating barriers such as stigma and discrimination, allowing women and girls to receive the care they deserve.”
A comprehensive approach to tackling vast unmet need
With so many people in Somalia enduring humanitarian crises and displaced from their homes, women and girls face extremely high rates of gender-based violence, early and child marriage, and unintended pregnancy. More than 80% of women aged 15-49 have an unmet need for modern contraception, according to the Guttmacher Institute. And abortion is only legal to save a person’s life.
Addressing all these factors requires a multifaceted approach that engages all sectors of society. Ipas’s sustainable abortion ecosystem approach does exactly that, helping stakeholders develop a plan to work across the legal, health and civil society sectors—as well as directly with communities and individuals—to reduce barriers and stigma and expand access to reproductive health care.
“We know from decades of experience working in settings around the world that Ipas’s sustainable ecosystem approach can work in Somalia to build lasting access to reproductive health care—including improving access to contraceptives, comprehensive abortion care, and post-abortion care,” says Dr. JE Musoba Kitui, director of Ipas Africa Alliance.
Ipas Africa Alliance played a central role in driving consensus during the dialogue, leveraging its expertise in building sustainable abortion ecosystems as well as in community-led approaches and in advocacy for policy and law change.
Empowering diverse voices
Participants in the multi-day dialogue underscored the significance of the event in addressing reproductive health challenges in fragile settings like much of Somalia. And they voiced hope for change thanks to newly acquired skills and knowledge.
“This workshop has been an eye-opening experience,” said a Ministry of Health staff member “It has equipped us with the knowledge and skills to advocate for better reproductive and maternal health services in our communities. I now feel more empowered to support women and girls in accessing care without fear of stigma or discrimination.”
“This workshop has been an eye-opening experience”