Work Location: Africa
Africa Alliance
Ipas Malawi: 2019-2023 Strategic Plan
Ipas Malawi: 2019-2023 Strategic Plan
Comprehensive Abortion Care Needs and Opportunities in Francophone West Africa: Situational Assessment Results
This situational assessment, conducted by Ipas in collaboration with international and in-country agencies in March-May 2015, looks at comprehensive abortion care (CAC) needs and opportunities in francophone West Africa. It concludes there are clear and promising opportunities to expand CAC services to the women who need them and are entitled to them by law, despite the cultural, religious and political opposition to CAC that remains strong in some settings. It also offers specific recommendations in support of implementing CAC programs in francophone West Africa.
Conclusions de l’analyse situationnelle : besoins et opportunités pour une prise en charge des soins complets d’avortement en Afrique de l’Ouest francophone
L’analyse situationnelle, effectuée par Ipas en mars et mai 2015 en collaboration avec des agences internationales et des organisations nationales actives dans ce domaine a permis d’étudier les besoins et les opportunités de prise en charge des soins complets d’avortement en Afrique de l’Ouest francophone et a conclu qu’il existait des possibilités manifestes et prometteuses pour étendre les soins complets d’avortement et les rendre disponibles aux femmes qui les nécessitent et qui y ont droit en vertu de la loi malgré la persistance d’une forte opposition culturelle, religieuse et politique à ce type de soins dans certains secteurs.
Enhancing the quality of abortion care: Successful initiatives to improve clinical skills and facility services
This report looks at initiatives in four countries—Nigeria, Nepal, Ghana and Zambia—where Ipas is working with governments, communities and other partners to provide clinical and programmatic support to providers and health-care facilities.
Working in communities matters! Results from Postabortion clients in Zambia.
This two-page research brief looks at the results of client exit interviews conducted in 2014 with 616 Zambian women who sought a safe and legal pregnancy termination. The interviews explored issues of quality, service delivery and information dissemination as perceived by the women themselves—a perspective often neglected in reproductive health.
Abortion Law and Policy in Nigeria: Barriers to Women’s Access to Safe and Legal Care
This fact sheet looks at the policy implications of a national abortion incidence study showing that, even though abortion is heavily restricted throughout Nigeria, 1.25 million Nigerian women had an abortion in 2012. The study found that almost all of the abortions were performed clandestinely, many by unskilled providers or using unsafe methods or both.
An evaluation of postabortion contraceptive uptake following a youth-friendly services intervention in Ethiopia
This brief describes a study to evaluate the sustained uptake of postabortion LARC (IUDs and implants) among young women after a youth-friendly services (YFS) intervention by Ipas in Ethiopia.
Protecting abortion access in Kenya
Well before the coronavirus crisis hit Kenya, the Ipas Africa Alliance was using the online platform WhatsApp to stay in touch with health professionals who are trained to provide abortion care throughout the country. Now, that communication is more valuable than ever.
Ipas Mozambique works to secure access to reproductive rights in the face of climate change
When Ipas Mozambique Country Director Jorge Matine was in secondary school, his fellow students knew him as someone they could go to with questions about sexual and reproductive health. “Everyone has something to ask, something they want to know,” he says. He was a peer educator and close with his mother, who “was very open—I […]
Unsafe abortion deaths are preventable, and men have a huge role to play
Two young reproductive rights champions in Ghana speak out Samuel Lamptey grew up around women—he has 11 sisters. This experience has helped him understand and empathize with the issues women face, including unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion. “We cannot make progress if we don’t understand the issues of women,” he says. Lamptey and his colleague, Aku Dzifa Amenyedzi, are young reproductive rights champions in Ghana, and both have […]
In Ghana, a police officer and abortion rights advocate devotes himself to safe abortion access
As the head of the Ghana Police Public Health Department, Dr. Samuel Otu-Nyarko knows the consequences of unsafe abortion. “Every year,” he says, “you look at the statistics from the Ghana Health Service and you see a high proportion of women who are dying because of unsafe abortion.” Women and girls in Ghana have broad […]
Health intermediaries in Kenya support women in abortion self-care
After Fiona*, a university student in Kenya, learned she was unexpectedly pregnant, she became depressed. Her parents are strict, and she was nervous to visit them, afraid that her mother would find out. If she continued the pregnancy, Fiona would likely have to drop out of university. She would experience stigma from becoming pregnant before […]
‘Photos can speak, by virtue of telling a story’
What do photos of a pineapple, a canoe, and women herding goats have in common? Ipas staff who took part in a recent “Photovoice” project supported by the Abortion and Postabortion Care Consortium (APACC) say what unites the photos is that each sheds light on critical questions about safe abortion care: What prevents women and girls […]
Kenya restores standards and guidelines for comprehensive reproductive health, including abortion
Earlier this month, Kenya made progress toward advancing women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights: The High Court ruled to restore the standards and guidelines for comprehensive reproductive health, including abortion. The S&Gs were originally instated in 2012 but withdrawn the following year. The reinstatement will allow providers to offer safe abortion care […]
Benin strengthens reproductive health and rights for women and girls
The Benin Government has taken a major step towards advancing the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls. On January 31, the Ministry of Health hosted a national dissemination workshop on the results from the “Strategic Evaluation on unwanted pregnancy, Abortion & Contraception in Benin.” The evaluation was conducted under the leadership […]
Legal access to abortion expands in Democratic Republic of Congo
In an historic shift toward greater fulfillment of women’s sexual and reproductive rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), women can now legally access abortion under a broader range of conditions—including in cases of sexual assault, rape or incest, and when a continued pregnancy would endanger the mental and physical health of the woman […]
Midwives are making a difference in this Ghana community
Until just a few years ago, women and girls in the Hobor area of rural Greater Accra in Ghana had no local access to safe abortion care. The nearest services were more than 15 miles away, a distance especially challenging during rainy season. Today, a full range of comprehensive abortion and family planning services is […]
The crisis of reproductive care in humanitarian settings
An estimated 26 million women and girls of reproductive age live in refugee camps and other crisis settings around the world. They experience increased levels of exploitation, sexual violence and transactional sex, which can lead to unwanted pregnancy. But their access to contraception, safe abortion care and other reproductive health services is often minimal or […]