Dr. Deeb Shrestha Dango, a dedicated OB-GYN and head of health systems and policy for Ipas Nepal, has stood at the forefront of this transformation. Navigating a shifting landscape of abortion rights and stigma, she has fought to expand abortion access in Nepal for over twenty years.
Anu Kumar, President and CEO of Ipas, released the following statement in response to the U.S. House of Representatives’ State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee Appropriations Bill’s historic exclusion of the Helms Amendment and critical advances for reproductive justice globally:
As a brutal civil war in the Tigray region of Ethiopia continues, Ipas Ethiopia is taking action to ensure that sexual and reproductive health care services are a priority at more than 125 health facilities across the region—a move prompted by widespread reports that rape and sexual violence are being used against women and girls as a weapon of war.
Each year, thousands of young women from across Myanmar migrate to the sprawling Hlaingtharyar industrial zone in Yangon to take factory jobs. But the area has become a hot spot for unsafe abortion. Many of the young workers have little or no knowledge about sexual and reproductive health and rights, putting them on a pathway to unintended pregnancies and abortion by unsafe methods.