In a unified call for improved sexual and reproductive health across Africa, the African Women Leaders Network for Reproductive Health and Family Planning was launched in Uganda in July 2010.
At the core of the Network are 34 African women leaders from government, civil society, and the arts, who have committed to advocate for greater support for family planning and reproductive health by governments, donors and international agencies. Network members believe that sexual and reproductive health is a fundamental human right, that women should be able to control their decisions regarding sexual relations, family planning and pregnancy, and that preventable maternal deaths in Africa are unacceptable and must be curbed.
By mobilizing African women leaders, the Network expects to highlight family planning as a simple method of preventing maternal deaths and empowering women, and influence law and policy reform in the region.
Over the next two years, the Network will advocate for:
- Increased funding for family planning and reproductive health programs;
- Improved reproductive health programs and services for adolescents;
- Enhanced services that meet women’s sexual and reproductive health needs;
- Implementation of international agreements surrounding women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.
CCP works with the African Women Leaders Network through the Advance Family Planning (AFP) project. A three-year project supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, AFP’s goal is to increase funding and improve policy commitments for family planning, and thereby support efforts to achieve universal access to reproductive health (MDG 5b).
Learn more about Advance Family Planning (AFP).
