Global Reach
Benin
Benin is a small country in West Africa where more than two-thirds of the estimated population of 12.5 million live in the southern provinces of the country, near major port cities.
Benin’s population growth is among the highest in the world, according to the World Bank. The modern contraceptive prevalence rate for all women ages 15 to 49 is 12%. The maternal mortality ratio is 397 deaths per 100,000 live births. Of women ages 15 to 49, 30.5% have experienced physical or sexual violence.
Our Work in Benin
EngenderHealth’s work in Benin has been marked by strengthening the capacity of youth organizations for effective advocacy on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including collaboration with 20 feminist organizations and young activists.
Partnering to Advance SRHR and Eliminate GBV in West and Central Africa builds on the work of our previous program to advance Advocacy on Comprehensive Abortion Care in West Africa, which sought to improve comprehensive abortion care (CAC) in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Côte d’Ivoire. Building on these countries’ commitments to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), our work aims to build regional support for safe abortion among key stakeholders and to facilitate access to CAC by expanding information about their rights and access to services.
EngenderHealth provides support to local organizations to conduct values-clarification sessions on safe abortion care in accordance with national legislation and the Maputo Protocol ratified by Benin. In the fight against gender-based violence, EngenderHealth supported the medical, psychosocial, and legal care of 25 girls and women in partnership with the local organization Family Nutrition and Development.
Our Partners in Benin
- Beninese Scouting
- Ministry of Social Affairs and Microfinance (Ministère de la Microfinance et des Affaires Sociales)
- NGO Family Nutrition and Development
- West African Network of Young Women Leaders (Roajelf Benin)
- Young Volunteers for Health (JVS Benin)
- Observatory of the Family, the Woman and the Child of Benin (Observatoire de la Famille, de la Femme et de l’Enfant)
- Union of Media Professionals of Benin (Union des Professionels des Media du Bénin)
- Benin Feminists Network (Réseau des Féministes du Bénin)
- ONG Ya Tchégbo
- Ministry of Health (Ministère de la Santé)
- National Order of Pharmacists of Benin (Ordre National des Pharmaciens du Bénin)
- National College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Benin (Collège national des gynécologues obstétriciens du Bénin)
- Beninese Association for Family Welfare, Member of IPPF (Association Béninoise de Bien-être Familial)
- Medical Students For Choice (MSFC)
