Professional societies of obstetrics and gynecology as agents of change in sexual and reproductive health: FIGO's 10-country safe abortion advocacy project in Africa and Latin America

Abstract

In 2019, FIGO started implementing its abortion project focusing on advocacy. The Advocacy for Safe Abortion (ASA) Project was conducted in partnership with 10 national professional societies of obstetrics and gynecology in Latin America and Africa. The project aimed to strengthen national societies, support them to be leaders in sexual and reproductive health, and enable them to obtain context-specific advocacy goals that improve access to safe abortion. Innovative monitoring and evaluation methodology enabled tracking of outcomes, consideration of their contribution to success, and cross-country evaluation. The project saw success through some key strategies: institutional capacity strengthening; enhanced work through collaborations; training to increase knowledge and reduce abortion-related stigma with a broad array of stakeholders; and generation and use of evidence to influence decision-makers. This article describes the project and methodology used and provides tangible examples of how societies have been agents of change in their countries and of the need for such important work to continue.

Keywords: abortion; advocacy; healthcare professionals; maternal morbidity and mortality; professional associations; sexual and reproductive health and rights.