Spotlight
A selection of stories from across the Federation
France, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom, United States, Colombia, India, Tunisia
Abortion Rights: Latest Decisions and Developments around the World
The global landscape of abortion rights continues to evolve in 2024, with new legislation and feminist movements fighting for better access. Let's take a trip around the world to see the latest developments.
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France, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom, United States, Colombia, India, Tunisia
Abortion Rights: Latest Decisions and Developments around the World
Over the past 30 years, more than
Palestine
In their own words: The people providing sexual and reproductive health care under bombardment in Gaza
Week after week, heavy Israeli bombardment from air, land, and sea, has continued across most of the Gaza Strip.
Vanuatu
When getting to the hospital is difficult, Vanuatu mobile outreach can save lives
In the mountains of Kumera on Tanna Island, Vanuatu, the village women of Kamahaul normally spend over 10,000 Vatu ($83 USD) to travel to the nearest hospital.
Vanuatu
Sex: changing minds and winning hearts in Tanna, Vanuatu
“Very traditional.” These two words are often used to describe the people of Tanna in Vanuatu, one of the most populated islands in the small country in the Pacific.
Vanuatu
Vanuatu cyclone response: The mental health toll on humanitarian providers
Girls and women from nearby villages flock to mobile health clinics set up by the Vanuatu Family Health Association (VFHA).
Cook Islands
Trans & Proud: Being Transgender in the Cook Islands
It’s a scene like many others around the world: a loving family pour over childhood photos, giggling and reminiscing about the memories.
Cook Islands
In Pictures: The activists who helped win LGBTI+ rights in the Cook Islands
The Cook Islands has removed a law that criminalizes homosexuality, in a huge victory for the local LGBTI+ community.
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| 16 July 2020
"Before, there was no safe abortion"
Rewda Kedir works as a midwife in a rural area of the Oromia region in southwest Ethiopia. Only 14% of married women are using any method of contraception here. The government hospital Rewda works in is supported to provide a full range of sexual and reproductive healthcare, which includes providing free contraceptives and comprehensive abortion care. In January 2017, the maternal healthcare clinic faced shortages of contraceptives after the US administration reactivated and expanded the Global Gag Rule, which does not allow any funding to go to organizations associated with providing abortion care. Fortunately in this case, the shortages only lasted a month due to the government of the Netherlands stepping in and matching lost funding. “Before, we had a shortage of contraceptive pills and emergency contraceptives. We would have to give people prescriptions and they would go to private clinics and where they had to pay," Rewda tells us. "When I first came to this clinic, there was a real shortage of people trained in family planning. I was the only one. Now there are many people trained on family planning, and when I’m not here, people can help." "There used to be a shortage of choice and alternatives, and now there are many. And the implant procedures are better because there are newer products that are much smaller so putting them in is less invasive.” Opening a dialogue on contraception The hospital has been providing medical abortions for six years. “Before, there was no safe abortion," says Rewda. She explains how people would go to 'traditional' healers and then come to the clinic with complications like sepsis, bleeding, anaemia and toxic shock. If they had complications or infections above nine weeks, Rewda and her colleagues would send them to Jimma, the regional capital. "Before, it was very difficult to persuade them to use family planning, and we had to have a lot of conversations. Now, they come 45 days after delivery to speak to us about this and get their babies immunised," she explains. "They want contraceptives to space out their children. Sometimes their husbands don’t like them coming to get family planning so we have to lock their appointment cards away. Their husbands want more children and they think that women who do not keep having their children will go with other men." "More kids, more wealth" Rewda tells us that they've used family counselling to try and persuade men to reconsider their ideas about contraception, by explaining to them that continuously giving birth under unsafe circumstances can affect a woman's health and might lead to maternal death, damage the uterus and lead to long-term complications. "Here, people believe that more kids means more wealth, and religion restricts family planning services. Before, they did not have good training on family planning and abortion. Now, women that have abortions get proper care and the counseling and education has improved. There are still unsafe abortions but they have really reduced. We used to see about 40 a year and now it’s one or two." However, problems still exist. "There are some complications, like irregular bleeding from some contraceptives," Rewda says, and that "women still face conflict with their husbands over family planning and sometimes have to go to court to fight this or divorce them.”
| 23 April 2024
"Before, there was no safe abortion"
Rewda Kedir works as a midwife in a rural area of the Oromia region in southwest Ethiopia. Only 14% of married women are using any method of contraception here. The government hospital Rewda works in is supported to provide a full range of sexual and reproductive healthcare, which includes providing free contraceptives and comprehensive abortion care. In January 2017, the maternal healthcare clinic faced shortages of contraceptives after the US administration reactivated and expanded the Global Gag Rule, which does not allow any funding to go to organizations associated with providing abortion care. Fortunately in this case, the shortages only lasted a month due to the government of the Netherlands stepping in and matching lost funding. “Before, we had a shortage of contraceptive pills and emergency contraceptives. We would have to give people prescriptions and they would go to private clinics and where they had to pay," Rewda tells us. "When I first came to this clinic, there was a real shortage of people trained in family planning. I was the only one. Now there are many people trained on family planning, and when I’m not here, people can help." "There used to be a shortage of choice and alternatives, and now there are many. And the implant procedures are better because there are newer products that are much smaller so putting them in is less invasive.” Opening a dialogue on contraception The hospital has been providing medical abortions for six years. “Before, there was no safe abortion," says Rewda. She explains how people would go to 'traditional' healers and then come to the clinic with complications like sepsis, bleeding, anaemia and toxic shock. If they had complications or infections above nine weeks, Rewda and her colleagues would send them to Jimma, the regional capital. "Before, it was very difficult to persuade them to use family planning, and we had to have a lot of conversations. Now, they come 45 days after delivery to speak to us about this and get their babies immunised," she explains. "They want contraceptives to space out their children. Sometimes their husbands don’t like them coming to get family planning so we have to lock their appointment cards away. Their husbands want more children and they think that women who do not keep having their children will go with other men." "More kids, more wealth" Rewda tells us that they've used family counselling to try and persuade men to reconsider their ideas about contraception, by explaining to them that continuously giving birth under unsafe circumstances can affect a woman's health and might lead to maternal death, damage the uterus and lead to long-term complications. "Here, people believe that more kids means more wealth, and religion restricts family planning services. Before, they did not have good training on family planning and abortion. Now, women that have abortions get proper care and the counseling and education has improved. There are still unsafe abortions but they have really reduced. We used to see about 40 a year and now it’s one or two." However, problems still exist. "There are some complications, like irregular bleeding from some contraceptives," Rewda says, and that "women still face conflict with their husbands over family planning and sometimes have to go to court to fight this or divorce them.”
| 19 March 2016
Overcoming barriers to family planning in Vanuatu: Julie's experience at IPPF-SPRINT
Julie was a midwife with the Ministry of Health for 20 years before she joined the Vanuatu Family Health Association (VFHA) as nurse and project manager for IPPF's SPRINT Initiative response in Vanuatu. When Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu, the SPRINT Initiative and VHFA started providing life-saving services to the Island, Tanna, which was the population worst affected by the typhoon. Many communities there live remotely, in grass huts, with no immediate access to medical care. Julie was there with the VFHA team. “When I first came here we used the kitchen to operate from. On my second trip, we created a clinic in our youth centre, and used the nearby health post for clinical procedures. Soon we saw more patients pouring in, which created a huge demand for space." Health conditions are very low. Even before the cyclone hit the island, it was reported that the average mother loses two pregnancies each, in her lifetime. Every person in the village knows at least one mother who has died during child birth. Access and knowledge to family planning is overlooked as traditional practices are used first. As Julie explains, advocating about family planning is a challenge in the area, also for language barriers. “Talking about birth-spacing and talking in the regional dialect of Tanna is a problem. Most of us in Vanuatu speak Bislama, but people here in Tanna aren’t well versed with it. However, we try our level best with all possible methods including sign language and demos to impart knowledge about family planning.” Family planning services are just a part of the IPPF-SPRINT Cyclone Pam response, that also included general health check-up, counselling and awareness about Sexual and Gender Based Violence, maternal care and awareness and prevention of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI).
| 23 April 2024
Overcoming barriers to family planning in Vanuatu: Julie's experience at IPPF-SPRINT
Julie was a midwife with the Ministry of Health for 20 years before she joined the Vanuatu Family Health Association (VFHA) as nurse and project manager for IPPF's SPRINT Initiative response in Vanuatu. When Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu, the SPRINT Initiative and VHFA started providing life-saving services to the Island, Tanna, which was the population worst affected by the typhoon. Many communities there live remotely, in grass huts, with no immediate access to medical care. Julie was there with the VFHA team. “When I first came here we used the kitchen to operate from. On my second trip, we created a clinic in our youth centre, and used the nearby health post for clinical procedures. Soon we saw more patients pouring in, which created a huge demand for space." Health conditions are very low. Even before the cyclone hit the island, it was reported that the average mother loses two pregnancies each, in her lifetime. Every person in the village knows at least one mother who has died during child birth. Access and knowledge to family planning is overlooked as traditional practices are used first. As Julie explains, advocating about family planning is a challenge in the area, also for language barriers. “Talking about birth-spacing and talking in the regional dialect of Tanna is a problem. Most of us in Vanuatu speak Bislama, but people here in Tanna aren’t well versed with it. However, we try our level best with all possible methods including sign language and demos to impart knowledge about family planning.” Family planning services are just a part of the IPPF-SPRINT Cyclone Pam response, that also included general health check-up, counselling and awareness about Sexual and Gender Based Violence, maternal care and awareness and prevention of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI).
| 16 July 2020
"Before, there was no safe abortion"
Rewda Kedir works as a midwife in a rural area of the Oromia region in southwest Ethiopia. Only 14% of married women are using any method of contraception here. The government hospital Rewda works in is supported to provide a full range of sexual and reproductive healthcare, which includes providing free contraceptives and comprehensive abortion care. In January 2017, the maternal healthcare clinic faced shortages of contraceptives after the US administration reactivated and expanded the Global Gag Rule, which does not allow any funding to go to organizations associated with providing abortion care. Fortunately in this case, the shortages only lasted a month due to the government of the Netherlands stepping in and matching lost funding. “Before, we had a shortage of contraceptive pills and emergency contraceptives. We would have to give people prescriptions and they would go to private clinics and where they had to pay," Rewda tells us. "When I first came to this clinic, there was a real shortage of people trained in family planning. I was the only one. Now there are many people trained on family planning, and when I’m not here, people can help." "There used to be a shortage of choice and alternatives, and now there are many. And the implant procedures are better because there are newer products that are much smaller so putting them in is less invasive.” Opening a dialogue on contraception The hospital has been providing medical abortions for six years. “Before, there was no safe abortion," says Rewda. She explains how people would go to 'traditional' healers and then come to the clinic with complications like sepsis, bleeding, anaemia and toxic shock. If they had complications or infections above nine weeks, Rewda and her colleagues would send them to Jimma, the regional capital. "Before, it was very difficult to persuade them to use family planning, and we had to have a lot of conversations. Now, they come 45 days after delivery to speak to us about this and get their babies immunised," she explains. "They want contraceptives to space out their children. Sometimes their husbands don’t like them coming to get family planning so we have to lock their appointment cards away. Their husbands want more children and they think that women who do not keep having their children will go with other men." "More kids, more wealth" Rewda tells us that they've used family counselling to try and persuade men to reconsider their ideas about contraception, by explaining to them that continuously giving birth under unsafe circumstances can affect a woman's health and might lead to maternal death, damage the uterus and lead to long-term complications. "Here, people believe that more kids means more wealth, and religion restricts family planning services. Before, they did not have good training on family planning and abortion. Now, women that have abortions get proper care and the counseling and education has improved. There are still unsafe abortions but they have really reduced. We used to see about 40 a year and now it’s one or two." However, problems still exist. "There are some complications, like irregular bleeding from some contraceptives," Rewda says, and that "women still face conflict with their husbands over family planning and sometimes have to go to court to fight this or divorce them.”
| 23 April 2024
"Before, there was no safe abortion"
Rewda Kedir works as a midwife in a rural area of the Oromia region in southwest Ethiopia. Only 14% of married women are using any method of contraception here. The government hospital Rewda works in is supported to provide a full range of sexual and reproductive healthcare, which includes providing free contraceptives and comprehensive abortion care. In January 2017, the maternal healthcare clinic faced shortages of contraceptives after the US administration reactivated and expanded the Global Gag Rule, which does not allow any funding to go to organizations associated with providing abortion care. Fortunately in this case, the shortages only lasted a month due to the government of the Netherlands stepping in and matching lost funding. “Before, we had a shortage of contraceptive pills and emergency contraceptives. We would have to give people prescriptions and they would go to private clinics and where they had to pay," Rewda tells us. "When I first came to this clinic, there was a real shortage of people trained in family planning. I was the only one. Now there are many people trained on family planning, and when I’m not here, people can help." "There used to be a shortage of choice and alternatives, and now there are many. And the implant procedures are better because there are newer products that are much smaller so putting them in is less invasive.” Opening a dialogue on contraception The hospital has been providing medical abortions for six years. “Before, there was no safe abortion," says Rewda. She explains how people would go to 'traditional' healers and then come to the clinic with complications like sepsis, bleeding, anaemia and toxic shock. If they had complications or infections above nine weeks, Rewda and her colleagues would send them to Jimma, the regional capital. "Before, it was very difficult to persuade them to use family planning, and we had to have a lot of conversations. Now, they come 45 days after delivery to speak to us about this and get their babies immunised," she explains. "They want contraceptives to space out their children. Sometimes their husbands don’t like them coming to get family planning so we have to lock their appointment cards away. Their husbands want more children and they think that women who do not keep having their children will go with other men." "More kids, more wealth" Rewda tells us that they've used family counselling to try and persuade men to reconsider their ideas about contraception, by explaining to them that continuously giving birth under unsafe circumstances can affect a woman's health and might lead to maternal death, damage the uterus and lead to long-term complications. "Here, people believe that more kids means more wealth, and religion restricts family planning services. Before, they did not have good training on family planning and abortion. Now, women that have abortions get proper care and the counseling and education has improved. There are still unsafe abortions but they have really reduced. We used to see about 40 a year and now it’s one or two." However, problems still exist. "There are some complications, like irregular bleeding from some contraceptives," Rewda says, and that "women still face conflict with their husbands over family planning and sometimes have to go to court to fight this or divorce them.”
| 19 March 2016
Overcoming barriers to family planning in Vanuatu: Julie's experience at IPPF-SPRINT
Julie was a midwife with the Ministry of Health for 20 years before she joined the Vanuatu Family Health Association (VFHA) as nurse and project manager for IPPF's SPRINT Initiative response in Vanuatu. When Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu, the SPRINT Initiative and VHFA started providing life-saving services to the Island, Tanna, which was the population worst affected by the typhoon. Many communities there live remotely, in grass huts, with no immediate access to medical care. Julie was there with the VFHA team. “When I first came here we used the kitchen to operate from. On my second trip, we created a clinic in our youth centre, and used the nearby health post for clinical procedures. Soon we saw more patients pouring in, which created a huge demand for space." Health conditions are very low. Even before the cyclone hit the island, it was reported that the average mother loses two pregnancies each, in her lifetime. Every person in the village knows at least one mother who has died during child birth. Access and knowledge to family planning is overlooked as traditional practices are used first. As Julie explains, advocating about family planning is a challenge in the area, also for language barriers. “Talking about birth-spacing and talking in the regional dialect of Tanna is a problem. Most of us in Vanuatu speak Bislama, but people here in Tanna aren’t well versed with it. However, we try our level best with all possible methods including sign language and demos to impart knowledge about family planning.” Family planning services are just a part of the IPPF-SPRINT Cyclone Pam response, that also included general health check-up, counselling and awareness about Sexual and Gender Based Violence, maternal care and awareness and prevention of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI).
| 23 April 2024
Overcoming barriers to family planning in Vanuatu: Julie's experience at IPPF-SPRINT
Julie was a midwife with the Ministry of Health for 20 years before she joined the Vanuatu Family Health Association (VFHA) as nurse and project manager for IPPF's SPRINT Initiative response in Vanuatu. When Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu, the SPRINT Initiative and VHFA started providing life-saving services to the Island, Tanna, which was the population worst affected by the typhoon. Many communities there live remotely, in grass huts, with no immediate access to medical care. Julie was there with the VFHA team. “When I first came here we used the kitchen to operate from. On my second trip, we created a clinic in our youth centre, and used the nearby health post for clinical procedures. Soon we saw more patients pouring in, which created a huge demand for space." Health conditions are very low. Even before the cyclone hit the island, it was reported that the average mother loses two pregnancies each, in her lifetime. Every person in the village knows at least one mother who has died during child birth. Access and knowledge to family planning is overlooked as traditional practices are used first. As Julie explains, advocating about family planning is a challenge in the area, also for language barriers. “Talking about birth-spacing and talking in the regional dialect of Tanna is a problem. Most of us in Vanuatu speak Bislama, but people here in Tanna aren’t well versed with it. However, we try our level best with all possible methods including sign language and demos to impart knowledge about family planning.” Family planning services are just a part of the IPPF-SPRINT Cyclone Pam response, that also included general health check-up, counselling and awareness about Sexual and Gender Based Violence, maternal care and awareness and prevention of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI).