Archives: Resources

Domestic and International Anti-Rights Activity 2023-2025

Resource downloads: Violences scolaires au Mali : prévalence, formes et impacts sur le bien-être et la réussite des élèves à Bamako Policy briefs: Violence en milieu scolaire en Côte d’Ivoire Violence en milieu scolaire au Mali Quand l’école devi …

As the United States  approaches its rescheduled 4th Universal Periodic Review (UPR), individuals’ sexual and reproductive health and rights continue to deteriorate across the country. Since our previous submission, there has been an increase in both restrictions on reproductive health-care access (in particular abortion care), and in targeted, state-sanctioned violence, intimidation, discrimination, and harassment of communities by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Based on IDRC‑supported qualitative research conducted in Kinshasa, this policy brief examines how school environments shape the educational pathways of pregnant adolescent girls and unmarried young mothers. Despite recent policy reforms prohibiting their exclusion from schools, the findings reveal persistent stigma and systemic barriers. The brief calls for coordinated evidence‑informed action across education, health, and community systems to uphold girls’ right to education and advance gender equality. 

Ensuring bright futures: Together, we’re making lasting change and building a world where every woman and girl can control her own body and future. In this report, we’re proud to share some of the key impacts of our work in 2025.

To address these gaps, the Thriving Pharmacies: Smart Business for Better Care training package was developed to strengthen the business acumen of community pharmacists and position family planning (FP), including post–MA FP, as both a vital health service and a sustainable business opportunity. The training package integrates entrepreneurship, financial management, and operational planning through practical, applied learning.

Presentation deck: Scaling medication abortion (MA) and post-MA contraception, meeting women where they are.

The report, Future-Proofing: The Professionalization of an Anti-Rights Youth Generation, examines the recruitment, funding, coordination, and mobilization of young people within anti-rights movements.

This PMAC learning brief examines the pharmacy training and support aspects of a pilot study in two peri-urban union councils in Islamabad Capital Territory. It highlights how frontline pharmacy staff are trained to provide informed, client-centered post-pregnancy family planning care. Drawing on data from the first six months of the study, the brief showcases how the intervention aligns with High Impact Practices (HIPs), offering insights into client profiles, training effectiveness, and family planning uptake.

Findings from literature reviews in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mali A three-year project by Ipas and partners aims to deepen understanding and evaluate solutions to reduce gender-based violence (GBV) and discrimination in secondary schools in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Mali.

In a world with increasing threats to people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, Ipas’s work is more vital than ever. We’re no stranger to today’s challenges, and our 50+ years of experience have prepared us well for this critical moment. 

The PMAC model has demonstrated clear wins for clients (through personalized care) and the health system (by positioning pharmacies as accessible contraceptive outlets). But the third leg of the triangle – the provider – remains less understood: Can pharmacies profit while delivering these services?

This brief highlights how international, more open, gender-inclusive trade can boost women’s role in the economy, can reduce gender equality gaps, and can expand women’s empower, health and education—and how trade, women’s empowerment and sexual and reproductive health and rights are mutually reinforcing.

Abortion restrictions are incompatible with international human rights law. The U.S. government’s failure to ensure the provision of safe, legal, and accessible health care, including abortion, violates its obligations to protect and fulfill many human rights. In facilitating an increasingly restrictive landscape around abortion access, the U.S. has breached its international human rights obligations.

The PMAC project in Pakistan takes a phased approach to gathering insights, developing and testing solutions, and refining interventions as needed to ensure we are addressing the challenges women face in accessing post medication abortion (MA) family planning (FP). This learning brief outlines key insights from developing, testing and refining prototypes (also referred to as the Medium-Fidelity Phase) aimed at increasing women’s access to post MA FP in Islamabad Capital Territory.

In Ethiopia, a pilot study on SMA through private pharmacies demonstrates high demand from women and interest from pharmacies in providing women with medication abortion, but Ethiopia’s legal framework presents challenges to a pharmacy-based model.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, research shows that misoprostol was available in less than 50% of pharmacies and mifepristone and misoprostol in less than 2% of surveyed sites. Mystery client interactions reveal that most pharmacists need training on medication abortion counseling and regimens.

In India, a trend analysis shows a substantial increase in self-managed abortion (SMA) with pills between 2014 and 2021 and demonstrates the transformative power of SMA in increasing access to safe and effective abortion.

For over 50 years, Ipas has worked to ensure that reproductive health care, including abortion and contraception, are available and accessible to all. In this report, we’re proud to share some of the key impacts of our work in 2024.

In Cambodia, an exploration of women’s SMA experiences reveals that young women’s success rates were comparable to those of adult women, and they generally had better experiences than their older counterparts. Young women were more likely to seek support from family and friends, highlighting the important role of social support and the need for accurate information on abortion to be disseminated at the community level.