By Liza Muringo Kimbo, Ipas Africa Alliance country director
At the end of January 2017, I, along with more than 70
representatives from governments, inter-governmental institutions,
national human rights institutions, civil society, medical associations,
law enforcement agencies, youth and academia, took part in the Africa
Leader’s Summit on Safe, Legal Abortion in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
During the conference, we committed to decriminalizing abortion in
Africa and to ensuring that every African woman or girl has the right to
make decisions about her body, her health and her future. We also
pledged to strengthen government’s and inter-governmental institutions’
capacity to promote and protect women’s and girls’ right to safe, legal
abortion.
We did this because each year, more than a million African women are
treated for complications for unsafe abortion. And right now, 90 percent
of African women live in countries where abortion is restricted. We
must continue to work with African governments to ensure every woman has
the right to safe and legal abortion.
In closing the 2017 summit, the delegates endorsed a conference declaration with the following recommendations:
- Remove all policy and administrative barriers to women’s and
girls’ access to safe abortion services and to support the African
Commission on Human and People’s Rights campaign to decriminalize abortion in Africa. - Review existing policies and adopt a plan of action on young
people’s sexuality and access to information, pregnancy prevention, and
safe abortion in line with the “Revised Maputo Plan of Action on Sexual
and Reproductive Health 2016-2030.” - Increase support and strengthened capacity for meaningful youth
participation at national, sub-regional and regional levels in line with
the African Union 2017 year of “Harnessing the Demographic dividend through investment in Youth and beyond.” - Advocate for increased budget allocation for national sexual,
reproductive and health rights programs, while rejecting policies and
funding that undermine efforts to combat unsafe abortion.
These recommendations among others, outline the importance of upholding important human rights treaties such as the Maputo protocol
as a path to cementing a brighter future for African women and girls.
They are guidelines for advocacy work at a regional, national and local
level to ensure women will be able to make choices about their
reproductive health.
The declaration is aligned with the African Union goals for 2063 that
call for “shared prosperity and well-being, for unity and integration,
for a continent of free citizens and expanded horizons, where the full
potential of women and youth, boys and girls are realized, and with
freedom from fear, disease and want.”
The African leaders summit was convened by Ipas Africa Alliance,
along with the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and
Femmes Africa Solidarite to set up a five-year agenda leading to a 2017 Declaration on Safe, Legal Abortion and Human Rights. The
summit was co-sponsored by the Centre for Reproductive Rights, Africa
Health Accountability Platform, Marie Stopes Kenya, Equality Now, Oxfam
and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The importance of this summit cannot be
underestimated, particularly in the current climate where the Global Gag
Rule will restrict organizations receiving U.S. global health funding
from using their own private funds to offer counselling, advocate for or
provide legal abortion services.
Trump’s Global Gag Rule threatens to put women’s
health and lives at risk by restricting access to reproductive health
care services, including safe abortion — African women deserve to make
their reproductive choices without the interference of U.S. foreign
policy.
This is the time for our governments to uphold their obligations to improve women’s health by providing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care, without jeopardizing women’s health and lives.
For more information, contact [email protected]