Defending the defenders: Safeguarding abortion care providers through action and advocacy
Date: Thursday 21 August 2025
Time: 13:00-14:30 UTC
Description:
Healthcare workers providing life-saving abortion care often face attacks, intimidation and criminalisation simply for doing their jobs. Hostile environments persist even in countries with provision for legal abortion, creating a chilling, silencing and stigmatising effect on those defending access to abortion services.
This reality has led to the development of the recently launched Key principles and actions to safeguard abortion care providers as human rights defenders — a vital framework designed to recognise and protect these health workers, while guiding action and advocacy to ensure they can continue their essential work safely and without fear.
Hosted in collaboration with Amnesty International, this webinar delves into these principles, presenting concrete recommendations to safeguard frontline abortion care providers. Distinguished speakers from Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Nepal will share insights and personal experiences on the risks and realities healthcare professionals face providing essential care, as well as effective advocacy and policy strategies to foster safer, stigma-free environments.
Timely and vital in today's global climate, this session will encourage FIGO member societies to adopt these key principles and defend the defenders of safe abortion care. Join us as we foster a global dialogue on advancing reproductive justice through protection and collective action.
Language: Mixed language with live interpretation available in English, French and Spanish.
Moderator
Dr Laura Gil, Chair, FIGO Committee on Safe Abortion, Colombia
Welcome
Dr Edgar Iván Ortiz Lizcano, FIGO Vice President and Chair of the Education Communication and Advocacy Committee, Colombia
Speakers
Courage in care: Healthcare provider experiences in Cameroon
Mme Estelle Rose Ndeme Ongagna, CAMNAFAW, Cameroon
Abortion rights defenders: Recognition, protection and call for action
Ms Lisa Maracani, Advisor on Human Rights Defenders, Amnesty International, United Kingdom
Risks, realities and advocacy: Supporting abortion care providers in West Africa
Prof Charlemagne Marie Ouedraogo, President, Societé de Gynécologues et Obstétriciens du Burkina (SOGOB); Former Minister of Health, Burkina Faso
Nepal’s path: Abortion policy evolution and provider safety
Dr Saroja Pande, Chairman, PMWH Board; Immediate Past President, NESOG; Deputy General Secretary, SAFOG, Nepal