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WCARO Annual Report 2023

UNFPA West and Central Africa Region

Annual Report 2023

Message from the Regional Director

In 2023, UNFPA achieved significant milestones in the West and Central Africa region to solidify progress towards our strategic plan, particularly in accelerating the achievement of three transformative results: ending the unmet need for family planning, ending preventable maternal deaths and ending gender-based violence (GBV) and harmful practices.

Significant progress towards fulfilling the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action was also made possible in large part by the crucial work and coordinated efforts of country offices. Our collective efforts in 2023 not only transformed lives, but also laid the foundations for a more just, inclusive and sustainable society. This report therefore provides an overview of our collective efforts to shape a brighter and more equitable future for all, as our region marches towards a better tomorrow in the areas of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), gender equality and women's empowerment, reduction of GBV, and youth empowerment.

As we approach the thirtieth anniversary of the ICPD, it is important to capitalize on all that has been achieved so far by documenting and learning from successful experiences. In doing so, we will be able to make a meaningful contribution to the various meetings and help build the future we want.

Mr. Sennen Hounton, UNFPA West and Central Africa Regional Director

2023 Highlights

Results Recommendations

More than 1200

maternal deaths were prevented

Results Recommendations

Around 3 million

unintended pregnancies were prevented

Results Recommendations

More than 8 million

modern contraceptive methods were used

Results Recommendations

16 countries

carried out census activities

Results Recommendations

20 WCARO countries

in phase III of the UNFPA Supplies Partnership programme committed $10 million for family planning products under the Compact initiative

Results Recommendations

23 countries

contributed to the AADPD+10 review in Lusaka, incorporating perspectives from women-led and youth-led civil society partners

Results Recommendations

Over 5 million people

benefited from various innovation projects in the region, including GBV awareness games in Mali, Burkina Faso's IMMI watch period tracker, and Benin's Self-care Challenge for youth SRH access

Ending unmet need for family planning

Financing for SRHR/family planning

In 20 countries, the Ministries of Health and Finance signed the Compact, with governments committing a total of $10,041,214. This will allow diversified sources of funding for the procurement of reproductive health commodities. It is part of the new vision to move from funding to financing. More than 44 per cent of government expenditure has been received and validated.

Strengthening public health supply chain management systems

Fourteen countries were supported in implementing in-country assessments to identify critical areas of improvement to maintain the quality of reproductive health supplies while ensuring traceability of UNFPA- procured supplies throughout the chain.

Strategic advocacy and policy dialogue for an enabling environment

UNFPA WCARO and WAHO were selected as Vice-Chair and Chair respectively of the Steering Committee for the Community of Practice for Integrated Post-partum Family Planning in Francophone West Africa. This will allow UNFPA WCARO to more strategically advance the family planning agenda in collaboration with other members of the steering committee (United States Agency for International Development [USAID], Jhpeigo, IntraHealth/INSPIRE Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, African Society for Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Family Planning 2030 [FP2030] and the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa [WHO AFRO])

Capacity-building for family planning programmes

Twenty UNFPA country offices from West and Central Africa strengthened their capacities in applying hu- man-rights-based and gender-transformative approaches to scaling up high-impact practices for family planning.

Evidence generation for family planning

Nine country offices were supported in generating evidence on the socioeconomic returns of investing in the transformative results, including family planning services. These packaged together different types of evidence, including situation analyses, budget analyses, costing exercises, cost-benefit analyses and fiscal space analyses. Most of the investment cases will be finalized in early 2024 and will drive UNFPA's advocacy efforts for more and better investment in family planning services.

It was never my intention to have three children by this age. I had my first at age 17, which was unplanned. The second and third were also unplanned. As a result, I have decided to use family planning [contraception] to prevent further unplanned pregnancies. Now, I am using the implant [long-acting reversible contraception], which I find comfortable.

Esther, 25, Liberia.

Ending preventable maternal deaths

Main achievements

  • Capacity-building to deliver high-quality maternal health services. Technical guidance and tools were provided on establishing accreditation for midwifery education (in Cameroon) and establishing a centre of excellence for midwifery education (in Ghana).
  • Sixty-three midwife mentors received training using an online interactive, objective-based approach, tailored for remote learning in rural, hard-to-reach areas. These midwives will now share their <nowledge with colleagues, with the support of the project team, throughout 2024. This training intended to strengthen the mentoring system and enable mentors to provide remote support for midwives, ensuring consistent training to improve quality of care for patients.

Gender-based violence

Main achievements

  • Gender-responsive legislations and policies: UNFPA supported the development of legal frameworks and policies on GBV and the integration of gender equality into government plans: (i) Sierra Leone implemented a law granting women 14 weeks of maternity leave, equal pay and other rights. (ii) In Sao Tome and Principe, the minimum package of reproductive health services and GBV services was updated.
  • Increased access to high-quality health services for survivors: In the Central African Republic, UNFPA advocacy led to the Head of State allocating 20 million CFA from national resources to address GBV. The number of reported cases receiving timely medical attention rose from 25 per cent to 28 per cent in 2023.
  • Enhanced data collection: The Gambia established the GBV Information Management System, a tool to safely collect, analyse and share data on reported incidents of GBV, allowing for better GBV response, data collection, reporting and coordination of referrals.

 

Unlocking potential of youth

Across 13 countries, 4.9 million youth who are out of school received access to comprehensive sexuality education and essential life skills.

Unlocking potential of youth

Population Data

To support countries with their respective civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems, UNFPA WCARO and ECA carried out capacity-building on the collection, cleaning, analysis, compilation and dissemination of vital events data.

Population Data

Humanitarian preparedness response

In 2023, UNFPA's humanitarian interventions in West and Central Africa were strategically designed to address the multifaceted challenges faced by communities in crisis situations.

Humanitarian preparedness response

Resource Mobilization & Strategic Partnerships

In 2023, UNFPA in the West and Central Africa region achieved noteworthy progress. Total funds raised amounted to $92.92 million, marking the highest figure recorded since 2021.

Resource Mobilization & Strategic Partnerships

Innovation

WCARO continues to invest in innovative SRH solutions, and in 2023 we positively impacted over 5 million individuals through our wide range of innovation projects.

Innovation

Swedd

Main achievements

  • Communication for social and behavioural change to reinforce social transformations
  • The Stronger Together campaign to promote girls' education and women's leadership reached 86 million young people through several social and traditional media channels.
  • 3.5 million people were reached through social and behavioural change communication activities (to empower women, keep girls in school, and so on) such as awareness-raising caravans.

High contribution to regional capacity-building and availability of reproductive, maternal, neonatal, infant and nutritional health products and health personnel

  • Conducted five last-mile distribution pilot projects (Benin, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania). Identified seven best practices on health products last-mile distribution and developed country road maps for scaling up last-mile distribution.
  • There were 996,679 new users of modern contraceptive methods
  • Clinical mentoring was used to upgrade the skills of 13,000 midwives.

Strong contribution to strengthening national policies and advocacy

  • 17,601 community and religious leaders were engaged to promote gender equality.
  • The legal teams' platform for advocacy in nine SWEDD countries was revitalized, enabling them to share experiences and develop action plans to promote women's rights.
  • Two national observatories on the demographic dividend were set up in Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire to inform development of public policies for decision-making to capture the demographic dividend.

SWEDD website

As a young girl, it's not at all easy to raise awareness about sexuality. But with the training I've received, I'm able to express myself better with my peers. Boys and girls alike, there are no taboos, and I feel at ease on the subject of sexuality. I hold three to four awareness-raising sessions a month in secondary schools and tea bars in the town of Sabou. It's my contribution to raising young people's awareness of the risks of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the crossroads town of Sabou.

Foussenatou, 18, student, Burkina Faso

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