The project aims to increase women’s and girls’ bodily autonomy by expanding access to information and services related to sexual and reproductive health and rights, and to safe abortion care. Ipas DRC will work with government and community partners in the provinces of Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Haut Katanga, Tanganyika and Kinshasa to translate the enabling legal and policy framework into improved access to quality abortion care. The project aims to improve women’s ability to make safe reproductive choices that support their educational and career goals, which makes a significant contribution to greater gender equality in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This project’s vision is that a multi-sectoral group of stakeholders, including organizations working on broader socio-political issues, make sexual and reproductive health rights and safe abortion care a gender justice priority. Project activities include: (1) training and supporting over 200 public- and private-sector health care providers (clinics, integrated health centres, etc.) to provide comprehensive abortion care; (2) supporting 85 health care facilities to offer sexual and reproductive health care, including contraception, abortion, post-abortion care and support in response to gender-based sexual violence; (3) training and supporting 40 community organizations in terms of sexual and reproductive health care; and (4) strengthening the system that refers people to appropriate facilities for abortion and sexual and gender-based violence support, and improving community dialogue on women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive rights and on safe abortion among 24,000 people. The project’s main beneficiaries are women and girls in the provinces of Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Haut-Katanga, Tanganyika and Kinshasa. As a result of this initiative, some 500,000 young people, 50% of them women, will receive information on sexual and reproductive health and rights, and at least 8,000 safe abortion procedures will be provided.
