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© Farzana Hossen In refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where there is an acute need for reproductive health care, Ipas has trained midwives and other health professionals on how to provide safe abortion and treatment for complications of unsafe …
In a letter submitted to the U.S. State Department, Ipas urges the Commission on Unalienable Rights to uphold international human rights commitments and not misuse the right to freedom of religion to violate the right to safe abortion care and the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ people. The Commission on Unalienable Rights was formed by […]
Along with other members of the Pakistan Alliance for Postabortion Care, a national alliance of more than 40 organizations, Ipas Pakistan has called for federal, provincial and private facilities providing sexual and reproductive health care to remain open and continue providing outpatient services and counseling during the pandemic.
En español abajo President Trump’s plan to halt U.S. funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) is a dangerous move that will hinder efforts to coordinate the global public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic—and the efforts to strengthen health systems and promote all people’s health, as we collectively build back after this crisis. As […]
In Nepal, it’s been illegal to discriminate based on caste since 1962. But a person’s caste still determines their quality of life—from if they have access to education and health care, to what kind of job they can get, to where they can travel. The Musahar community—part of Nepal’s lowest caste, the Sudra—are among the […]
In Nepal, “basic reproductive health information is usually not shared or even spoken about in our communities,” says Radhika Nayaju, program officer for Ipas Nepal. And visually impaired people face additional barriers to accessing information. So Ipas Nepal has been working with the Nepal Health Education, Information and Communication Centre, the Ministry of Health and Population, and […]
Grace Tambatamba-Chiyaba, Ipas Zambia director, knows that anybody can be a leader. Tambatamba-Chiyaba is an enthusiastic mentor for both the women on her staff and women in her community. “The greatest opportunity I’ve had is to work with young women—and not so young women—on finding themselves,” she says. In Ipas Zambia’s office, Tambatamba-Chiyaba runs The […]
In India, 10 women die each day as a result of unsafe abortion. While abortion has been legal in the country since the 1971 passage of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, much has changed since then in terms of societal shifts and the advancement of abortion technology. For 10 years, Ipas Development Foundation (IDF) and other stakeholders have been working with the […]
When Mozambique’s abortion law was liberalized in 2014, it was hailed as a major step forward for expanding access to safe abortion care. The reform allowed legal abortions on request during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. But the country’s penal code—dating back to the 1800s—remained an obstacle to women’s ability to determine their sexuality […]
By Anu Kumar, Ipas president and CEO, and Tanvi Monga, Ipas senior technical manager for community engagement The news is inescapable. Climate change is not coming soon, it is here. Each day brings more evidence: massive wildfires, rising sea levels, toxic smog, scientists sounding the alarm that “the precious Amazon is teetering on the edge […]
An abortion provider in Mexico on why everyone deserves access to comprehensive services Dr. Georgina Díaz Orozco is a doctor and Ipas-trained abortion provider in Guadalajara, Mexico. She is also one of the few providers in the state of Jalisco to offer abortion care after the first trimester—due to stigma, most doctors will not perform […]
Ipas South Africa’s director puts women and girls first When a young woman started working as a cleaner at Ipas South Africa’s office in January, her responsibilities included cleaning the office, tidying up workspaces and watering the plants. But she was eager to learn more and expressed interest in helping with administrative tasks. Caroline Mbi-Njifor, […]
Pictured above: Deepika Boipay is a nurse midwife at Pompara Health Center, Uttar Pradesh, India. How task-sharing increases abortion access for women and girls People around the world experience barriers when trying to access abortion care: stigma, cost, limited knowledge or a lack of providers. These barriers can force them to have unsafe abortions, which […]
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 […]
By Anu Kumar We’re a month into a new decade, but as I reflect on the last few months of 2019 and consider the changes of the last few years, I am struck by how some things stay the same—like Ipas’s vision for a future where every woman and girl can determine her own future—and […]
Reproductive rights, including abortion rights, are human rights. That’s why Ipas advocates with UN human rights treaty bodies—committees of field experts who monitor the implementation of core international human rights provisions—to influence policies and ensure that the rights of women and girls are upheld. “The information that Ipas shares with human rights treaty monitoring bodies […]
Abortion is health care, and health care is a human right. That’s why efforts to advance universal health coverage (UHC)—an international effort to guarantee that all people, regardless of where they live, have access to essential, quality health services without financial hardship—must include strong language defining sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion care, as […]
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.
As the largest government funder of family planning and reproductive health services, the United States plays a vital role in improving public health around the world. But U.S. foreign policies like the Global Gag Rule—also known as the Mexico City Policy— and the Helms Amendment are actually harming health and rights by restricting women and […]
In rural villages in Jharkhand State, India, men tend to make decisions about family matters. But youth leaders—trained by Ipas Development Foundation (IDF)—are sharing sexual and reproductive health information and, ultimately, chipping away at traditional gender roles.