Welcome to our annual report!
Throughout 2023, we continued to promote reproductive justice in Latin America and the Caribbean in close collaboration with those who share our vision. It was a very special year as we celebrated our 50th anniversary as a global organization and began a new institutional phase with the renewal of our governing body, the Ipas LAC Assembly, which will serve as the organization's decision-making mechanism to ensure that all women and people of childbearing capacity can make informed, evidence-based reproductive decisions. The establishment of the Ipas LAC Assembly Assembly reinforces our position as an organization and reaffirms our ongoing commitment to strengthening our governance, transparency and accountability mechanisms.
2023 was a pivotal year for advancing the reproductive agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean; however, access to safe and legal abortion continues to be a challenge in other countries in the region. This fact motivates us to redouble our efforts and continue working in partnership with organizations, institutions and individuals to prevent unwanted pregnancies and ensure access to contraception and safe abortion.
Therefore, this year a total of 66,853 people exercised their right to safe abortion through the different access routes that we promote from Ipas LAC. Likewise, 104,766 people received contraceptive services in public health facilities and civil society organizations supported by Ipas LAC. We also provided information about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and abortion in a reliable and evidence-based manner to 100,913 people through civil society organizations and support networks supported by Ipas LAC.
It should be noted that we also actively participate in 13 advocacy spaces in defense of women's human and reproductive rights at the regional and global levels, in collaboration with national and international organizations, government agencies and civil society networks, to promote inclusive policies and concrete actions that guarantee access to sexual and reproductive health, the right to safe abortion and the elimination of legal and social barriers that hinder the full exercise of women's rights in Latin America and the Caribbean.
I would like to highlight the network of support that surrounds us and express my gratitude, in particular, to the Ipas LAC team for the exceptional work and dedication demonstrated throughout 2023. Your commitment, collaboration and effort have been essential in driving our impact and expanding our reach. Thank you to our donors for their ongoing commitment to mobilizing resources, ensuring access to safe abortion and reproductive justice. To our partners: organizations, networks and collectives, thank you for your daily work in building a world where all people have the right and ability to determine their sexuality and reproductive health in freedom and enjoyment. Our recognition and admiration always.
Thank you for being a fundamental part of our journey!
In solidarity,
María Antonieta Alcalde Castro
Director, Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean
Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean (Ipas LAC) is a regional organization that is part of an international nonprofit network working in the Americas, Africa and Asia to ensure that all women and people of childbearing capacity have the freedom and enjoyment of reproductive choice.
We work in Latin America and the Caribbean joining efforts with organizations, institutions and individuals to prevent unwanted pregnancies and ensure access to contraception and safe abortion.
MISSION
Ipas creates resilient ecosystems
The program is based on a comprehensive approach that encompasses all sectors, institutions, and communities.
PURPOSE
Transforming the world so that all
women and people with childbearing capacity make reproductive decisions
in freedom and enjoyment.
VISION
We believe in a world in which all
people have the right to have the right
and the ability to determine
their sexuality and reproductive health.
Better policies, laws and financing
We work to ensure that decision-makers design, enact and enforce laws, policies and budgets that guarantee access to contraception and abortion for all women and women of childbearing capacity. We promote access to abortion as part of a sustainable ecosystem
in which stakeholders
- women and women of childbearing capacity, government actors,
health workers, civil society organizations, activists and funders - work in an interrelated and committed way for reproductive rights.
Improved social norms and agency
We seek to ensure that women and people of childbearing capacity in Latin America and the Caribbean have access to information and social support that allows them to exercise their autonomy and agency in making decisions regarding their sexuality and reproductive life, free from stigma and discrimination, especially with regard to the prevention of unwanted pregnancies and access to abortion services.
Improved access, availability and accessibility
We encourage the strengthening of access to abortion and contraceptive services in the region, guaranteeing reproductive autonomy and providing quality, accessible, acceptable, timely and affordable care.
Our approach begins by focusing on the individual, with the goal of better understanding the complexity of the environment in which abortion decisions are made, an environment we call the abortion ecosystem.
We define a sustainable abortion ecosystem as "a dynamic condition in which resilient local stakeholders and systems are accountable and actively engaged in upholding abortion rights and being responsive to the abortion needs of all people."
In order to strike a balance and ensure a responsive and committed system for abortion services, we have identified eight key program components for action and evaluation. Each component is derived from the abortion ecosystem that exists around each individual and is mapped to that ecosystem. We believe that understanding and addressing the abortion ecosystem, through this approach, will help program designers better understand and enrich the enabling environment where the individual makes abortion decisions.
Understood in this way, the programs implemented can be more effective and responsive in ensuring national ownership and sustainable access to high-quality, people-centered abortion services.
Knowledge
and agency of each person
Social norms
and community support
Support
and political leadership
Policies
and legislation
Financing
Inputs
Workforce and health care delivery
Health information
In addition, through strategic alliances, we have carried out actions and interventions in other countries in the region, expanding our impact and collaborating to guarantee the reproductive rights of women and people with reproductive capacity in Latin America and the Caribbean. These actions include awareness-raising, training, technical support and policy strengthening activities that contribute to the creation of favorable environments for SRH.
Throughout this year, we faced many obstacles, but we also celebrated significant achievements thanks to the tireless efforts of everyone involved.
Together, we overcame barriers and established strategic alliances that have allowed us to move towards a better future in reproductive justice for women, girls and people with reproductive capacity in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In 2024, we reaffirm our purpose: to transform the world so that all women and people of childbearing capacity make reproductive decisions in freedom and enjoyment. We will continue to carry out our advocacy, training, empowerment and accompaniment work, as we move forward together to eradicate unsafe abortion.
We thank each of you for your dedication and unwavering commitment to this cause.
Let us move forward with hope, knowing that our efforts are making a significant difference in the lives of many women, girls and pregnant women throughout the region.
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