Activists proclaim ‘Safe Abortion is Healthcare’ on Sept 28th, 2019.

October 4, 2019

28 September is International Safe Abortion Day. The day was first celebrated as a day of action for the decriminalization of abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean in 1990. In 2011 it was declared as an international day. September 28th, 2016 was the biggest International Safe Abortion Day ever celebrated. Many groups took action. September 2016 also marks the birth of the MAMA Network.

Community outreach by a network member engaging in dialogues to advocate for women and girls’ access to comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.

September 28th, 2019 the MAMA Network records a total of 35 member organizations from 16 Sub-Saharan African Countries, including partners in the Netherlands and in the United States. Implemented activities on this day unified reproductive health and rights activists and saw ‘access to safe abortion’ trending across the globe.

Regional Conference held to disseminate findings of the Global Gag Rule Year 2 findings and strategize on a way forward to ensure that women and girls access safe abortion.

The global gag rule (GGR) is the silencing of organizations on abortion advocacy. It has been proven by IWHC and IPPF that silencing abortion only reduces safe abortion for women and girls and not the cases of abortion. In addition to this, there is a misunderstanding surrounding the global gag rule (GGR) which further creates a gap for women and girls in need of accessing safe abortion care.

MAMA Member COHERINET joined health service providers and the community people to showcase the need to bridge the gap between the community people and the health facilities due to high levels of stigma associated with abortion care.

In DRC articles 165, 166 supports safe abortion to save the life of the woman but factors such as stigma and misinformation lead women to not accessing the service. A conference was held to bring clarity among women in the community and educate women on the use of misoprostol to save women’s lives against postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). Maternal mortality and morbidity is a global issue that needs to be handled with urgency.

International day of safe abortion themed ‘Abortion is Healthcare’ by MAMA network member organization. September 28th, 2019.

The MAMA Network also held a twitter chat to disseminate a desk review report that acted as the basis for onground research on women’s access to abortion and to evaluate the effectiveness of onground implemented activities. The twitter chat held on September 27th and September 28th reached an audience of 4,481 people and grew it’s following by 50%.