* Action GEM is a
publication currently covering the Regional Consultation on Unsafe
Abortions, a first ever of its kind in Africa, currently underway in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia.

Putting safe abortion on the public's agenda
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By Rosemary Okello and Juliana Omale

Saving the lives of millions of African women who die from
complications related to unsafe abortions will come center stage
Wednesday at the first ever consultation held in Africa on providing
access to safe abortion for women.

The landmark consultation - 'Action to Reduce Maternal Mortality in
Africa: A Regional Consultation on Unsafe Abortion' - brings together,
medical professionals, legal experts, researchers, ministers of
health, youth leaders, parliamentarians, women's health activists and
journalists from 15 African countries.

Hosted by the Gender and Development Centre of the UN Economic
Commission for Africa in the Ethiopian capital, Addis, Ababa, the
consultation, which leads up to March 8, International Women's Day,
will explore the law, policy and international commitments that can
facilitate access to safe abortions; and review the systemic
challenges and opportunities for implementing safe abortion services
within Africa.

It also will identify specific strategies and approaches that can be
used to promote access to safe abortion services on the continent.

Abortion is legal in every African country, although the language of
the law is restricted or highly restricted in the majority of the
countries. South Africa, Tunisia and Cape Verde are the three
countries which provide for termination of pregnancy without
restrictions, upon request.

According to the most recent statistics from the World Health
Organisation, 4.2 million unsafe abortions occur each year in Africa,
and this is likely to be underestimated.

Ambassador Dr. Eunice Brookman-Amissah, Vice President of Ipas Africa
Alliance for Women's Reproductive Health and Rights, noted that while
the legal environment for abortion in the majority of African
countries is restrictive, many of these laws allow for post-abortion
care. "This is similar to bolting the barn door after the horse has
fled," she said.

Some 90 women die daily in Africa due to complications from unsafe
abortion. Khosi Xaba, Ipas Country Director for South Africa, says
that the silence around the issue of abortion continues to put women's
and girl's lives at risk.

"Look at how long it has taken for people to talk about something that
kills thousands of women and the fact that women have been dying and
we have not talked about it loud enough, for me, is a shame."

Joanna Foster of the Gender Centre based in Ghana echoes Xaba's
views. Abortion, she says, has been hidden on the back burner of
Africa's problems. And the fact that some governments want to retreat
from the language on abortion agreed at the 1994 International
Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) does not help efforts
to bring abortion to the fore as a public health issue, she added. At
the ICPD, 179 countries from around the globe, including 52 African
nations officially recognised that unsafe abortion is a serious public
health problem.

"That we are able to assess where we are now is a plus for many of
us," Foster said, adding that, "it is also time we look at the issue
of abortion from a human rights point of view, because in other
countries, it is perfectly all right to remove your womb or reduce
your breast size or enlarge your penis, but removing a fetus is
prohibited."

Martha Koome of the Federation of Women's Lawyers (FIDA) Kenya says
that three-day consultation opens the doors for people to begin to
negotiate with governments on laws that broadly address reproductive
health and rights, of which abortion is one aspect. "Whether or not a
country insists on restrictive laws, abortion will take place," she
says, calling on African governments to take a critical look at their
abortion laws.

Cosponsors for the three-day meeting include Amanitare African
Partnership for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women and
Girls; the Centre for Gender and Development of the Economic
Commission of Africa; the Commonwealth Regional Health Community
Secretariat; the Regional Prevention of Maternal Mortality Network;
UNFPA Country Support Team for East and Central Africa; and the Ipas
Africa Alliance for Women's Reproductive Health and Rights. (ENDS)