Regional Civil Society Organisations have convened in Kigali for a two-day conference to discuss, share, and foster partnerships on access to safe abortion and sexual reproductive health.

The conference was organised by a coalition of Health Development Initiative (HDI), Great Lakes Initiative for Human Rights and Development (GLIHD), Ihorere Munyarwanda (IMRO) and Rwanda NGOs Forum on HIV/AIDS and Health Promotion (RNGOF on HIV/AIDS & HP).

Sponsored by Amplify, the conference took place on Thursday and Friday last week.

It was attended by members of the CSOs from Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, and DR Congo.

It comes at a time when the long awaited sexual and reproductive health bill, which has been with the regional parliament for years now, has been tabled. 

At the official opening of the conference, the Executive Director of HDI Dr. Aflodis Kagaba, stated that participants from different countries were converging to learn from each other and to share best practices, challenges and how best the countries in the region can form partnerships to advance reproductive health rights but more specifically, the provision of safe abortion.

"If we talk about safe abortion, it is obvious that all our countries are not at the same level. We have some countries where GBV is still high, where safe abortion is still treated as a taboo subject. We have to work together and ensure no one dies in our region due to lack of access to safe abortion,” he said.

A 2015 report released by the New York-based Guttmacher Institute in partnership with the University of Rwanda’s School of Public Health and the Ministry of Health indicates that about 18,000 women and girls in Rwanda require treatment annually from the effects of unsafe abortion.

According to the Ministry of Health, this number was estimated to have risen to about 24,000. 

The Guttmacher Institute report indicated that about 60,000 abortions are carried out in Rwanda annually sand that the government spends $1.7 million (Rwf1.1 billion) annually on treatment for complications resulting from unsafe abortion.

The report does not indicate the financial toll unsafe abortions and their consequences have on the women who seek them.

Kagaba encouraged the participants to share the knowledge and expertise that they have to advance the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in their countries.

"We have different sets of skills and ideas, and we want to exchange our experiences and scale up our partnership through common strategies, research and advocacy methodologies. Let us use this conference to learn what each one of us is doing in the areas of SRHR and access to safe abortion and how we can foster partnerships that can help us to do even better,” he added.

Commenting on the matter, Fortunate Kagumaho, the Communications Coordinator of Reproductive Health Uganda demonstrated some of the SRHR inequalities still present in his country more specifically in cases of access to safe abortion.

He recounted that in Uganda, 16 women die every day because of pregnancy related complications and of those deaths, eight percent are a result of unsafe abortion.

"If you put 16 women in a car every day and it crashes, that would be a national issue. So why is it happening in Uganda, and no one is saying anything?” he wondered.

He pointed out that the high number of unsafe abortions should be a matter of concern as this contradicts the commitments made when countries signed to deliver Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals that states that countries will ensure good health and wellbeing. 

Another participant, from Burundi, Pierre Claver Ndayizeye, the Executive Director of Alliance Burundaise Contre le SIDA et pour la promotion de la santé (ABS), admitted that his country is still lagging behind regarding the provision of safe abortion services to women who need them.

"If you look at other countries, we [Burundians] are still behind. A pregnant woman in our country is not allowed to abort unless the pregnancy gravely endangers the woman’s physical health. Abortion is punished by imprisonment and a fine. This applies to rape or anything else. If you abort, you are punished,” he recounted.

The participants discussed their countries abortion laws which mostly allow abortion to save a woman’s life, in cases of fatal anomaly, rape and incest, or in some like Uganda, where the woman is HIV-positive. 

However, the consensus as part of the discussions is that in most of the regional countries, there are still challenges of inconsistence in how the existing laws and policies on abortion are interpreted by the judicial systems making it difficult for women and the medical community to understand when abortion is permitted.

Pushing for the EAC Sexual and Reproductive Health bill

The conference takes place as the East African Legislative Assembly members of parliament prepare for the EAC Bill on sexual reproductive health rights. 

The Bill will oblige each partner state to include sexuality education in school curricula and outline the roles of religious and community leaders in providing SRHR information and services, among other provisions.

Mwikali Kivuvani, the Executive Director of the Sexual Reproductive Alliance in Kenya explained that the conference participants could agree on provisions of the Bill before it comes before parliament again.

"Looking at the EAC Sexual Reproductive Health Bill that is currently tabled at the EALA, this conference is crucial because if there are disagreements between member states. There is a chance that it will not be enacted. We have a chance here to ensure that we agree on each provision before it is enacted,” she noted.