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Policy Advocacy

To sustain political support and leadership, there must be effective and reliable champions for abortion and contraceptives access at all levels of government and the public and private health sector, and an effective civil society movement mobilized around advocacy and political accountability for abortion access. In a sustainable abortion ecosystem, government stakeholders prioritize sexual and reproductive health and rights by respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights obligations. They commit to ensuring meaningful access to comprehensive abortion care and contraceptives for all who need it, informed by available health information and including funding of services. Therefore, we work for increased political support and leadership for comprehensive abortion care and contraceptives.

Educating policy makers

High turnover of government officials, health mangers and providers and/or lack of knowledge of decision makers require ongoing orientation on the intent of the abortion law as well as providing accurate information to dispel misconceptions about safe abortion services. Government officials also need to be educated on the reproductive rights of women and the cost associated with caring for the immediate complications of unsafe abortion and its aftermath to women and the health delivery system.

We regularly sensitize members of the House of Peoples Representative, representatives of regional councils and policy makers from federal and regional governments. We educate them on the intent of the abortion law, the indications for accessing abortion services, and the SRH gains from the revised abortion law. We use various approaches in reaching and educating policy/ decision makers ranging from face-to-face meeting, policy briefs, factsheets, workshops, to mainstreaming and social media outlets.

Engaging partners for greater voice and influence

We understand the benefits and power of partnership and networking for advocacy. We work with partner organizations and women groups to advocate and advance reproductive health and rights of women and other disadvantaged groups with compounded vulnerabilities. Since 2019, we have been coordinating and leading the Coalition for Comprehensive Abortion Care (CoCAC). CoCAC is a loose network of ten organizations from NGOs, CSOs, professional associations, women, and youth groups working in reproductive health and gender issues in Ethiopia. During its five-year journey the CoCAC has been engaged in advocacy endeavors with structured setup, clear objectives and scope of work. In collaboration with the CoCAC, we work towards sustaining gains in CAC and CC service delivery, addressing emerging issues in a changing political environment, and facilitating cross organizational alliance and partnership for advocacy.

Advocacy for abortion and reproductive health related guidelines

We are an active member of the different technical working groups that have been formed and led by MoH. We also participate in the regional RH taskforces for coordination and advocacy. We use these platforms as a good opportunity for advocacy and providing technical support to the health system. Through our participation in the technical working groups, the abortion technical and procedural guideline has been revised in 2014 and 2024. We have also actively advocated and participated in the development of National self-care guideline.

Advocacy for abortion and family planning financing

In Ethiopia abortion care and contraceptive programs are donor dependent. After COVID 19, donors’ priority and policy to support abortion care services is has been diminishing. Not to mention the government ownership and financing to ensure sustainability of CAC and CC programs not being at the required level.

To avail abortion and contraceptive services in a sustainable manner, all levels of government structure, including regional, zonal, woreda (district) and facility levels need to claim ownership. We advocate at all levels for inclusion of abortion in the woreda health sector plan and solicit support from the federal and regional governments to allocate budget from the government treasury. We provide training on commodity forecasting and costing. We also sensitize health mangers and policy makers on the economic benefits of investing on reproductive health.

Grassroots advocacy and building broad base support.

Researche done in Ethiopia show abortion stigma and negative attitudes are widespread among community members. This has a negative impact on women who seek abortion and decision makers who are deciding on resources and programs for abortion. In partnership with local CBOs, we do grassroots advocacy to shift attitudes and garner support and commitment at community levels. Through these efforts we reached various groups of the community mainly community gatekeepers and men to build support and public opinion around abortion and family planning.

Challenging antichoice groups

With the advent of COVID19 antichoice groups in Ethiopia have grown bold and loud, attacking the right to abortion at different times. These groups with a support from abroad are using different strategies and expanding their reach to misinform policy makers and the public at large. The group is working towards interruption of abortion care services being provided in the country and reversal of the abortion law.

To regulate the impact of the antichoice groups, we regularly scan the environment and work with partners to proactively challenge the groups. We have developed a comprehensive advocacy strategy to address threats from the opposition and advance reproductive health and rights in Ethiopia.