Project profile — Improving Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Care in Burundi and the DRC

This project aims to help children, adolescent girls and boys, and women who are at risk of, or survivors of, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) access sexual and reproductive health care in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Burundi. Project activities include: (1) providing training to communities and raising awareness about sexual and reproductive health topics, particularly SGBV; (2) providing training to health care providers and facilities on sexual and reproductive health care, and particularly supporting them with relation to caring for those who are at risk of, or are survivors of, SGBV; and (3) advocating for policy which addresses SGBV, including preventative measures and also improving care and services for survivors, in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The project expects to benefit nearly 3 million people. The University of Montreal’s International Health Unit is implementing this project in partnership with the Hygeia Initiative, the Panzi Foundation and numerous local partners including women’s and youth rights groups.

The expected outcomes for this project include : (1) improved provision of gender responsive, inclusive and accountable holistic sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, particularly services to prevent and address SGBV, in the DRC and Burundi; (2) increased equitable use of holistic SRH services, particularly services to prevent and address SGBV, by diverse groups of women, adolescent girls and children who are rights holders in the DRC and Burundi; and (3) improved effectiveness of stakeholders in advocating for sustainable, evidence based, accountable and equitable SRHR policies, legal frameworks and services associated with preventing and addressing SGBV.

Results achieved as of March 2025 include: (1) improved delivery of holistic sexual and reproductive health and rights services (SRHR) by supporting 12,003 prenatal and postnatal care visits, 4,568 skilled-attended deliveries, and 10,704 visits for sexual health services and 4,598 visits for family planning (FP) services; (2) improved sociocultural accessibility to services for the prevention and management of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) by enabling 984 people to benefit from community-based FP and sexual health services; and (3) increased the effectiveness of stakeholders in promoting evidence-based, accountable, and equitable policies, legal frameworks, and sustainable SRHR services related to the prevention and response to SGBV by strengthening the capacity of organizations to conduct operational research. To date, 50% of participants trained in operational research participated in a research project.