Key Issues for Political Advocacy in Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Africa

This booklet shares information about how to use data in the fight for women’s sexual and reproductive rights. Published by Women’s Network for a Better World, as part of their Map of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in Africa and Spain, the publishers say that information is power and when deployed strategically, data can become the best ally in advancing the agenda of women's rights. Intended to be used alongside the online and interactive Map of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in Africa and Spain website, the publication offers statistics and information on issues such as maternal mortality and gender violence in 11 African countries, as well as information on public expenditure on health in the same country. These countries are Cape Verde, Niger, Senegal, Mali and Gambia (in West Africa), Namibia, Angola and Mozambique (in South Africa), Ethiopia and Kenya in the Horn of Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa. This is designed to allow activists to combine indicators and use the information to create clear political claims and political advocacy messages to influence governments and advance women's sexual and reproductive rights.

The booklet provides a series of fact sheets, offering examples of types of analysis that can be made using the data collected in the Database of the Map of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Africa and Spain. Each fact sheet shows what is the issue in question and what is happening regarding that issue in the 11 countries, what governments are doing about it, and what civil society can do through political advocacy in that area.

Click here to download the booklet in English, French, and Spanish, and access the Map of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Africa and Spain.