The Sub-Saharan Africa subprogram of Population and Reproductive Health seeks to increase reproductive health access and options for women and girls, and advance political and financial support for family planning and reproductive health within Ethiopia. We also support selective demonstration projects and advocacy within the region.
Women and young people in Sub-Saharan Africa often bear the greatest health consequences when family planning information and services are not available. Social and economic pressures on women often lead to early marriage and childbearing, large family size, and poor health outcomes. The resulting high-population growth rates exacerbate poor reproductive health outcomes and weaken already overburdened systems. In addition, public policies and financial resources do not meet existing needs.
To address these issues, the Sub-Saharan Africa subprogram supports efforts that:
- Expand access to quality family planning and reproductive health services for young people,
- Empower women and girls to increase their ability to make informed family planning and reproductive health decisions, including selective efforts that improve educational attainment for vulnerable girls with the goal of delaying early marriage, and
- Mobilize policies, resources, and political will to advance and protect family planning and reproductive health and rights within the region.
We work in Ethiopia as a focus country and also have a regional portfolio that supports opportunities where there is the potential for high returns in a relatively short timeframe. This includes efforts that build on our community-based service expertise, promote the adoption and implementation of policies and practices that further the family planning agenda, and initiatives to engage new and existing leaders as family planning advocates.
Generally, we do not fund governmental institutions or infrastructure projects, such as schools. Our country program in Nigeria ended in 2010.
(Photo: Creative Commons image courtesy Rita Willaert, Flickr)
