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The Director General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Dr Alvaro Bermejo, is in Australia this week for high level meetings with Australian Government Ministers and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). He is joined by Ms Tomoka Fukuda, Regional Director of IPPF’s East and Southeast Asia and Oceania Region (ESEAOR) and Ms Phoebe Ryan, IPPF’s Chief of the Australia and New Zealand Office. In Australia, Dr Bermejo has been privileged to meet with Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific, the Hon Pat Conroy. Together, they discussed how Australia can play a leadership role in advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights through Australia’s international development cooperation. Last week, Dr Bermejo and Ms Fukuda visited IPPF’s Member Association in Solomon Islands, the Solomon Islands Planned Parenthood Association (SIPPA). In Solomon Islands, they witnessed SIPPA’s life-saving and critical work delivering sexual and reproductive healthcare on the ground, including mobile outreach in remote communities of Malaita Province. Australia has been a long-standing and critical partner to IPPF, supporting programming to reach women, girls, and marginalized groups across the development–humanitarian continuum around the world, with a particular focus on the Asia Pacific. In December 2022, IPPF and DFAT signed a new four-year global funding agreement for 2023 to 2026, part of which includes dedicated support to programming across the Pacific. AUD 19 million is dedicated as global funding towards the delivery of IPPF’s Strategy 2028, along with a further AUD 5.7 million to support the delivery of IPPF’s Pacific Niu Vaka Strategy, Phase 2. This generous investment will enable IPPF to reach an anticipated 1.8 million people in the Pacific over the next six years with 4.2 million essential sexual and reproductive services. IPPF is proud to stand alongside our Pacific MAs as they continue to advocate for the health and rights of those most underserved and excluded, reaching communities with essential information and high quality, person-centred sexual and reproductive health care.     In 2021, IPPF reached over 72 million people around the world with more than 155 million sexual and reproductive health services and contributed to 121 policy and legislative changes in defence of SRHR. IPPF is grateful for Australia’s ongoing support in enabling this impact. IPPF’s Director General, Alvaro Bermejo shared: “IPPF are delighted to be working with the Australian Government to continue improving the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of women and girls across the globe. We are grateful to them for helping us deliver more services and support at a time when inequalities are deepening, the opposition is growing, and humanitarian crises continue to place the lives of millions, particularly women and girls, at risk. As we look to build the future with our new strategy, continued support from global partners is crucial to achieving a world where everyone has access to sexual and reproductive healthcare. We hope DFAT’s strong global commitment will inspire other global leaders to take action.” For media enquiries, please contact Karmen Ivey on [email protected] or Phoebe Ryan on [email protected]    About the International Planned Parenthood Federation The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is a global service provider and advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.  For 70 years, IPPF has delivered high-quality sexual and reproductive healthcare and helped advance sexual rights, especially for people with intersectional and diverse needs that are currently unmet. Our Member Associations and partners are independent organizations that are locally owned, which means the support and care they provide is informed by local expertise and context. We advocate for a world where people are provided with the information they need to make informed decisions about their sexual health and bodies. We stand up and fight for sexual and reproductive rights and against those who seek to deny people their human right to bodily autonomy and freedom. We deliver care that is rooted in rights, respect, and dignity - no matter what.

In a landmark verdict today, the High Court of Malindi has ruled that safe abortion care is a fundamental right under the Constitution of Kenya and that arbitrary arrests and prosecution of patients and healthcare providers, for seeking or offering such services, is completely illegal. Specifically, the Court ruled that: Abortion care is a fundamental right under the Constitution of Kenya and that arbitrary arrests and prosecution of patients and healthcare providers seeking or offering such services is illegal. Protecting access to abortion impacts vital Constitutional values, including dignity, autonomy, equality, and bodily integrity. Criminalizing abortion under Penal Code without Constitutional statutory framework is an impairment to the enjoyment of women’s reproductive right. For years, women and girls in Kenya have faced sustained and pervasive discrimination hampering their access to seeking reproductive healthcare services; the 1963 Penal Code criminalizes all abortion care, including those allowed under the Constitution 2010, which guarantees the right to healthcare, including access to reproductive health services. The Constitution only permits safe abortion if in the opinion of a trained health professional, there is need for emergency treatment, or the life or health of the mother is at risk/in danger. The court case in question, filed in November 2020, involved PAK, a minor 16 years of age from Kilifi County. PAK experienced complications during pregnancy and immediately sought medical care at a nearby clinic where a trained clinical officer attended to her. Upon examining her, the clinical officer determined that she had lost the pregnancy and proceeded to provide her with essential and life-saving post-abortion care. Policy officers stormed the clinic, in the midst of the treatment, stopping the medical procedure and confiscating PAK’s treatment records. They then proceeded to illegally arrest both PAK and the clinical officer. Both were taken to Ganze Police Patrol Base where PAK was not allowed to access further medical care for the next two days and was forced to sign a statement which was contrary to PAK’s description of the events. The police also forced PAK to undergo another detailed medical examination at Kilifi County Hospital to obtain evidence to prove the alleged offence of abortion. The clinical officer was detained for one week while PAK was remanded to a juvenile remand for more than a month, whilst she and her family sought to secure the cash bail for her release. The Malindi High Court has further directed the Parliament to enact an abortion law and public policy framework that aligns with the Kenyan Constitution. Additionally, the Court has confirmed that communication between a patient and the healthcare provider is confidential, which is guaranteed and protected under the Constitution and other enabling laws, save for where the disclosure is consented to by the patient or is in the public interest in line with the limitations as provided for in the Constitution. In its decision, the Court also ruled that PAK was recovering from medical procedure and police did not have the medical qualifications to determine and confirm that she was medically-fit to leave the clinic, regardless of her admission status at the clinic. Additionally, the Court found that PAK’s arrest was inhuman and degrading, and being a minor, she ought not to have been interrogated without legal representation. Marie-Evelyne Petrus-Barry, Africa Regional Director from the International Planned Parenthood Federation, said: “We are absolutely delighted to hear this news and applaud the High Court of Malindi's ruling confirming that abortion care is a fundamental right under the Constitution of Kenya and that arbitrary arrests and prosecution of patients and healthcare providers for seeking or offering such services is illegal. We are also very pleased to hear that the Court has directed Parliament to enact an abortion law and public policy framework that aligns with the Constitution. This is a victory for women and girls not only in Kenya, but across Africa! Access to quality abortion is essential to guarantee the health and reproductive rights of women and girls everywhere. At IPPF, we are committed to reducing the number of deaths of women and girls who are forced to turn to unsafe abortion methods for fear of arrests and harassment. We will continue to supply and support safe and legal abortion services and care for women and girls everywhere.” The petitioners were represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights a network of reproductive health providers whose member was the second petitioner in this case and a collaborative partner of IPPF. The advocates were Martin Onyango, Head of Legal Strategies for Africa, and Prudence Mutiso, Legal Advisor for Africa. Nelly Munyasia, Executive Director of Reproductive Health Network Kenya (RHNK), , welcomed the court’s decision: “Many qualified reproductive healthcare practitioners continue to be arrested, detained, and prosecuted for providing legal medical care. The court’s decision confirms that prosecution against health providers cannot hold where the prosecution has not established that; the health professional in question was unqualified to conduct the procedure; the life or health of the woman was not in danger or the woman was not in need of emergency treatment,” Ms. Munyasia said. Evelyne Opondo, Senior Regional Director for Africa at Center for Reproductive Rights said: “Today’s victory is for all women, girls, and healthcare providers who have been treated as criminals for seeking and providing abortion care. The court has vindicated our position by affirming that forcing a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term or to seek out an unsafe abortion is a gross violation of her rights to privacy and bodily autonomy. Further, the continued restrictive abortion laws inhibit quality improvement possible to protect women with unintended pregnancies.” Center fact sheet: “The Impact of the Misalignment Between Kenya’s Constitution and the Penal Code on Access to Reproductive Health Care”