Strengthening abortion care in West Africa: highlights from the 2025 SCAAO workshop

The Comprehensive Abortion Care in West Africa (SCAAO) programme recently held its annual workshop in the west African country of Senegal. The forum was an important moment for IPPF's Member Associations (MAs) implementing the programme to review progress, exchange best practices and shape priorities for the next phase. This year’s workshop, which marked the close of Phase 1 and set the stage for Phase 2, helped in deepening learning and strengthening MA activities for greater impact.

By Maryanne W. WAWERU

From 19 – 20 November 2025, Senegal played host to the annual ‘Strategic Planning and Best Practices Workshop’ by the Comprehensive Abortion Care in West Africa (SCAAO) programme.

Jointly funded by The Hewlett Foundation and the Foundation for a Just Society International, the SCAAO aims to expand access to person-centered abortion care for women and girls in Francophone West and Central Africa. Compared to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, Francophone West Africa scores very low against some of the most critical sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) indicators.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 22 million unsafe abortions are performed each year, resulting in the deaths of 47,000 women and causing long-term health consequences in another 5 million women worldwide. Unsafe abortion is a major public health issue in West and Central Africa, and constitutes a major cause of maternal death. Western Africa has one of the highest rates of unsafe abortion in the world, with 28 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years.

The sub-region has also struggled in a global context of limited funding resources and insufficient or unsustainable donor investments for SRHR. Where this investment has occurred, it has been plagued by siloed programming, limited sustainability mechanisms, and fallen short of ensuring a truly locally owned and gender transformative impact on women and girls. This challenge underscores the need for well-designed interventions like SCAAO that address these structural challenges through interventions. The SCAAO programme is being implemented by IPPF’s MAs in Niger, Togo, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.

Learning and exchange platforms

The annual SCAAO best practices workshops serve as important learning platforms where MAs exchange experiences, share innovations and reflect on challenges, successes and lessons learned. The sessions also provide opportunities for MAs to develop strategies aimed at strengthening implementation and improving overall programme outcomes.

This year’s annual workshop was timely, coming at the end of phase 1 of the programme. It presented an ideal opportunity to reflect on progress, launch Phase 2 (2025 – 2028), and engage in cross-learning with other regional initiatives. The second phase of the programme will build on the gains made in Phase 1 by strengthening the expertise and activities of MAs around person-centered care, advocacy and capacity sharing. This will contribute to the broader goal of harnessing the unique strengths and opportunities of each actor in the SRHR ecosystem from government agencies to CSOs, healthcare providers, activists, lawmakers, and funders towards expanding access to abortion care for more women and girls in the sub-region.

Cross-learning engagements

To enhance cross-programme learning and assure sustainability within IPPF MAs, the 2025 SCAAO annual workshop included select projects from other MAs, specifically EmpowHER, Stand-Up, and the Advocacy for SRHR Project in West Africa.

The EmpowHER project, being implemented in 13 countries (eight of them in the Africa region), endeavours to guarantee women and young girls’ access to quality reproductive healthcare. The Stand-UP project, being implemented by IPPF MAs in Uganda and Mozambique, contributes to the increased enjoyment of SRHR by adolescent girls and young women. The Advocacy for SRHR Project in West Africa focuses on advocacy and is aimed at strengthening access to SRHR services for adolescents and young people in Senegal and Cape Verde.

Participants at the 2025 SCAAO annual workshop were drawn from the SCAAO implementing countries, as well as those from EmpowHER, Stand-UP and the Advocacy for SRHR Project in West Africa.

Showcasing best practices  

Several notable best practices were highlighted during the sessions. In Togo, Association Togolaise pour le Bien-Etre Familial (ATBEF) has scaled up the use of telemedicine for abortion care while improving the abortion ecosystem by engaging in more open discussions with parliamentarians. This, with the support of the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Similarly, the Cameroon National Planning Association for Family Welfare (CAMNAFAW) has made notable progress in increasing access to self-managed abortion and collaborating with a civil society organization (CSO) network to align the country’s abortion law to the Maputo Protocol dispositions.

Both country interventions, which have been advanced through SCAAO, have led to more women and girls accessing abortion care services, thus fostering progress within an increasingly supportive environment.

In Niger, L'Association Nigérienne pour le Bien-être Familial (ANBEF) has strengthened advocacy for post-abortion care (PAC) through Values Clarification and Attitudes Transformation (VCAT) trainings targeting key stakeholders such as MoH officials, religious leaders, civil society organizations, lawyers and other influential figures.

Abortion remains a highly sensitive and taboo topic in Niger, and the country’s complex socio-cultural and political context only makes it harder to address. VCAT sessions encourage honest dialogues and reflections on sensitive reproductive health matters such as abortion, with the aim of deepening understanding and fostering support for the same.

Dr. Maimuna Saley, the SCAAO Coordinator at ANBEF, says the VCAT trainings have significantly increased stakeholders’ understanding of women’s reproductive health.

“We have noted a positive shift in attitudes among key stakeholders, many of whom are now collaborating with us to expand access to post-abortion care information and services for women and girls in Niger,” she said.

IPPF’s MA in Burkina Faso, L'Association Burkinabè pour le Bien-Être Familial (ABBEF), which is an established leader in abortion care, has played a central role in building ANBEF’s capacity to strengthen its advocacy and service delivery.

“Our team trained colleagues in Niger on VCAT. Afterward, with our guidance and support, the ANBEF trainers began delivering VCAT sessions to key stakeholders. The ANBEF team can now independently conduct these sessions, in activities that have helped to create a more supportive environment for abortion care and support in Niger,” said Dr. Mady Dera, the SCAAO Coordinator at ABBEF.

ABBEF’s role has also covered the coordination of regional advocacy campaigns with regional stakeholders and institutions such as the Organisation for Safe Abortion Dialogue (ODAS). Additionally, ABBEF has established a pool of experts across the region to address key priorities related to abortion.

Progress and impact

Mr. Kader Avonnon, IPPF Africa Region’s SCAAO Programme Coordinator says the programme has so far achieved significant success.

“Over 33,000 clients have received high-quality abortion care, including Post Abortion Care, with over 21,000 receiving support services for abortion self-care. Notably, 80% of the clients who received abortion care have been from poor and vulnerable backgrounds, which aligns with the programme’s commitment to equity.” he said.

According to Mr. Avonnon, SCAAO has also increased the pool of service providers, who include staff from partner organisations.

“We now have more healthcare workers who can offer abortion care. As a result, more girls and young women, including those in remote and marginalized areas where access was previously limited, are now receiving services from skilled providers. This has helped reduce unsafe abortion complications,” he explained.

SCAAO’s role in IPPF’s mission

During the workshop, Ms. Mallah Tabot, the IPPF Africa Region SRHR Lead emphasized the importance of the programme to IPPF’s broader mission.

“The SCAAO programme is helping us rebuild the foundations of abortion care in a region that has been overlooked for far too long. It allows us to strategically close the gap between our mandate and our delivery in one of the toughest regions for abortion care, and to support our MAs to grow their readiness, transform culture and champion reproductive justice for the continent,” she said during the workshop.

Ms. Tabot added that while many MAs were already providing abortion care, the SCAAO initiative has pushed their work to beyond service delivery.

“It has helped us confront values, strengthen governance, build systems that make services safer, and positioned MAs as consistent and resilient leaders over time.”

Participant perspectives

At the close of the forum, participants shared their reflections.

“The idea of person-centered abortion services stood out. This means considering the unique needs of each person seeking care and tailoring services to them. When it comes to abortion care, individual needs vary from person to person and therefore each case needs to be treated uniquely. The presentations from the different countries brought out this important aspect of abortion care very clearly,” said Ms. Yasmilatou Aboudoulaye from IPPF’s MA in Benin, Association Béninoise pour la Promotion de la Famille (ABPF).

Mr. Mohammed Ka from IPPF’s MA in Senegal, Action and Development (AcDev) similarly shared his reflections.

“The best practices showcased by the MAs gave me great insights into how the same programme can be adapted to different contexts and still deliver results. The experience of Niger was very interesting as it showed how ANBEF has made great strides in abortion advocacy, meaning that even in difficult contexts, success is still possible. I learnt so much and I’m keen to share these ideas with my colleagues at AcDev as there is a lot we can replicate to enhance our work,” he said.

At the end of the workshop, participants left very inspired and motivated to strengthen abortion care in their countries –a great momentum to the start of Phase 2 of the noteworthy SCAAO programme.