The SOS Jeunesse et Défis Association organized a meeting on Wednesday to share knowledge on the safe termination of pregnancy with civil society organizations (CSOs) and national and international NGOs .
‘Our meeting aims to share experiences and certain information relating to the safe termination of pregnancy according to the law in Burkina Faso,’ declared the executive director of the SOS Jeunesse et Défis association, Harouna Ouédraogo.
According to him, exchanges with the community of practice, which brings together civil society organizations (CSOs) and national and international non-governmental organizations, research structures and technical and financial partners, will contribute to popularizing the texts, the challenges and the prospects for safe abortion.
Mr. Ouédraogo, who spoke on Wednesday in Ouagadougou during a meeting, specified that the safe termination of pregnancy according to the law respects four conditions in Burkina Faso.
According to him, voluntary termination of pregnancy is au
thorized in cases of rape, incest, fetal malformation or to save the life or preserve the health of the woman.
‘Currently, we can say that there is a lot of progress on the issue, with regard to the multiple international conventions which allow women to access medical abortion, according to the conditions provided for by law in our country’ , he continued.
The first head of the association explained that there are, among others, the Maputo protocol, the law on reproductive health and the penal code which regulate this practice.
For Harouna Ouédraogo, clandestine abortion is prohibited in Burkina Faso but safe abortion is authorized in public and private health centers.
To listen to him, induced or unsafe abortions are often legion in health structures and we must therefore raise awareness among the Burkinabè on the promotion of mother and child health.
The executive director of the SOS Jeunesse et Défis association invited the authorities and sister associations to work to promote texts on the safe term
ination of pregnancy, with a view to preserving the lives of women.
The representative of the Director of Family Health (DSF), Dr Mathieu Bougouma, welcomed the involvement of all stakeholders in the implementation of this strategy, through the Chare-Net Burkina platform which makes equitable access of women to SRH its main priority.
In his opinion, Chare-Net, funded by the Ministry of Affairs of the Netherlands and responsible for knowledge management on sexual and reproductive health (SRH), is present in 7 countries around the world, including Burkina Faso since 2011.
‘During the exchanges, it is about imbibing together the practices and behaviors favorable to promoting SRH in our country,’ added Dr Bougouma.
Created in 2001, the SOS Jeunesse et Défis association is a Burkinabé NGO which works to promote sexual and reproductive health among young people.
Source: Burkina Information Agency