Young Advocates, Political Will Drive Progress on Family Planning in Francophone West Africa

December 05, 2019Countries throughout francophone West Africa are celebrating progress in family planning this week at the Ouagadougou Partnership (OP)annual meeting in Cotonou, Benin, where the theme isWe Demand More: Youth and Social Behavior Change.In 2015, the nine OP countries—Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo—exceeded their initial goal of reaching one million additional individuals with modern contraception and then committed to reaching 2.2 million additional users by the end of 2020. So far, OP leaders announced Tuesday, the countries have achieved 87% of this goal.In the past year alone, OP countries have added450,000 users of modern contraception, surpassing their projected figure of 443,000. They estimate that this has prevented 162,000 unwanted pregnancies, 58,000 unsafe abortions, and 560 maternal deaths. The countries have achieved these results in part through social and behavior change approaches that have increased demand for family planning services in the region." We are finally seeing sustained momentum in this region. "The OP countries have among the highest maternal, neonatal, and child mortality rates in the world. They also have some of the highest fertility rates. Nigertops the list with an average of seven children per woman.But since the partnership began in 2011, the OP countries have reached3.4 million additional women and girls with modern contraception. Key f...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Benin Burkina Faso C ôte d’Ivoire Guinea Mali Mauritania Niger Senegal Togo Ouagadougou Partnership Coordination Unit Family Planning & Reproductive Health Community Engagement Leadership and Governance Policy Advocacy Source Type: news