The continuing legacy of the Advocating for Safe Abortion Project in the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Côte d'Ivoire (SOGOCI)
Since 2019, the Advocating for Safe Abortion project has empowered many national societies of obstetrics and gynaecology to champion evidence-based safe abortion advocacy as national, regional and global leaders.
Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Côte d'Ivoire (SOGOCI) continues to coach, supervise and evaluate abortion advocacy activities in its regional sections. SOGOCI maintains their strong media presence using their platform to raise awareness and share evidence-based information abortion to the public.
The society obtained funding from AmplifyChange to continue advocacy for safe abortion in Cote d’Ivoire. SOGOCI continues to work with other NGOS and associations which are part of the network that they built during the ASA project. They are members of the FIGO-SAGO-ODAS Community of Practice through which they have worked on improving abortion curricula at universities by integrating comprehensive abortion care and self-managed abortion.
A major success of the society has been the participation of parliamentarians of the National Assembly in advocacy for safe abortion (since November 2023). The parliamentarians put in place an action plan and designated a focal point within them. This activity was carried out in partnership with the Association of Women Lawyers and the Médecins du Monde Organization. In addition, alongside the increasing enthusiasm for task-shifting to midwives and nurses for abortion care, SOGOCI celebrate the evolution of the penal code to now include provisions for abortion cases of rape.