Ending Obstetric Fistula: ECOWAS To Provide Funding Support To Eight Member States
Princess-Ekwi Ajide
This year, 2024, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, is to provide funding support to eight member states towards the eradication of obstetric fistula from the region.
The countries are Nigeria, Togo, Bénin, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinee Bissau, Ghana, Liberia and the Gambia and the funds are meant for the four key components of the Fistula programme; surgical repair of women and girls suffering from obstetric Fistula, the socio-economic reintegration of Fistula survivors into their communities, sensitisation campaigns to raise awareness on the causes and prevention of obstetric fistula, and the rehabilitation of National Fistula Referral Centres.
Recently, the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre, EGDC, with support from USAID’s Strengthening Regional Peace and Stability (SRPS) in West Africa Programme, UNDP, and GIZ, launched the ECOWAS Gender Observatory, ECOGO, and the EGDC’s programmes in Accra Ghana .
The ECOWAS Gender Observatory is a regional digital platform for monitoring, evaluation and reporting of ECOWAS gender programmes, projects and activities in member States as well as a gender statistics database on the state of gender equality and women’s empowerment in ECOWAS member State.
As part of the EGDC’s Gender programmes, a cheque of $245,000 was presented to the Republic of Ghana for the Obstetric Fistula programme.
