Health
THE Ouagadougou Partnership (OP), a regional cooperation platform promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and family planning (FP) in West Africa, has recorded significant gains over its 15-year history.
This is according to a statement by Speak Up Africa, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday.
It said the partnership had contributed to stronger national policies, increased mobilisation of domestic and external resources, improved service delivery and sustained advocacy for family planning across nine West African countries.
NAN reports that the Ouagadougou Partnership is a coalition of governments, civil society organisations and technical and financial partners working to reduce unmet needs for family planning and advance sexual and reproductive health and rights in the region
It was launched in February 2011 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and brings together Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
According to the statement, the partnership had contributed to the prevention of about 30.3 million unintended pregnancies and 8.9 million unsafe abortions over the past 15 years.
It also said that about 1.8 million maternal deaths had been averted, while an additional four million women had gained access to modern contraceptive methods.
The statement said the achievements reflected 15 years of collective efforts by governments, civil society organisations, young leaders, development partners, donors and researchers to improve access to information and quality reproductive health services.
Madam Marie Ba, Director, Ouagadougou Partnership Coordination Unit, said the achievements demonstrated what could be achieved when stakeholders worked together around a common goal.
“Fifteen years show what can be achieved when countries, civil society, young leaders, researchers and partners work hand in hand.
“Our responsibility today is to preserve these gains while accelerating our efforts so that the 2030 ambitions translate concretely into the lives of women and young people in West Africa,” Ba said.
The statement said all nine OP countries currently had national family planning action plans or broader reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent and older people health plans either being implemented or renewed.
It said the plans had helped to improve the integration and planning of family planning policies at national level.
According to the statement, family planning methods are provided free of charge nationwide in Niger, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire, while Guinea is considering adopting a similar approach.
It said access in the remaining member countries was available at relatively controlled costs.
The partnership has also placed greater emphasis on evidence generation and research to support national decision-making.
In 2022, the OP adopted a research agenda aimed at generating locally produced evidence to guide policymakers and development partners.
The statement said eight research projects led by West African institutions had, so far, been funded, with findings being used to inform family planning policies and programmes.
It said the approach was intended to ensure that policies, financing and programmes were increasingly informed by evidence rooted in the realities of West African communities.
The partnership also highlighted progress in domestic financing for family planning.
In 2023, at the OP Annual Meeting in Côte d’Ivoire, the country announced an increase in the national budget for the procurement of family planning commodities from 400 million CFA francs to 2.5 billion CFA francs.
The decision, according to the statement, demonstrated the growing recognition of domestic financing as critical to sustaining gains in family planning.
In Mali, an employers’ fund had also been established to support reproductive health and family planning.
The partnership said the challenge ahead was to translate political commitments into sustainable budgetary allocations and policies.
It said that the issue was particularly important as countries approached 2030 and sought to reduce their dependence on external financing.
The OP is now targeting 13 million users of modern contraceptive methods by 2030.
It said achieving the target would require stronger domestic resource mobilisation, continued access to services in all circumstances, and greater attention to the needs of young people.
It said that it would also require stronger support for civil society organisations and increased use of data and research in policymaking.
The OP said uthat family planning should not be viewed solely as a health intervention.
According to the partnership, access to reproductive health information and services affects women’s and girls’ education, economic participation and broader social wellbeing, while contributing to gender equality, poverty reduction, good governance and sustainable development.
It called on governments, civil society, implementing partners, donors, media organisations, young people and researchers to sustain collective efforts towards ensuring universal access to quality sexual and reproductive health and family planning services.
It said the next five years would be critical to consolidating the gains of the past 15 years while addressing persistent unmet needs for family planning across West Africa.(NAN)
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Tags: Ouagadougou Partnership