EC Afrique
African Forum on Emergency Contraception
Forum African Sur La Contraception D’Urgence
Population Council, PO Box 17643, 00500 Nairobi, Kenya
+254 (0) 20 271-3480 Tel
+254 (0) 271-3479 Fax
[email protected]
ECafrique is a bilingual, international network of health care and business processionals seeking to expand the availability of quality emergency contraception (EC) services in Africa. The network functions as a non-political, voluntary association, guided by consensus among members, and mindful of African’s broad ethnic, cultural, and political diversity. Its goals are to:
Serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas among professionals in the health care and pharmaceutical sectors, researchers, and development specialists, engaged in efforts to expand quality EC services in Africa.
Inspire interest and encourage new initiatives in the provision of EC services in countries where there is an unmet need for them.
Build collectively the knowledge and experience base needed to introduce, improve, and mainstream the delivery of quality EC services, with a specific focus on the needs and challenges of Africa.
Why ECafrique?
ECafrique was established to help health care professionals address the unique challenges associated with introducing, delivering, and mainstreaming quality EC services in Africa.
As in the rest of the world, history, culture, and economics have left their mark on the content and shape of EC services on this continent. Africa’s colonial legacy, for example, has forged a linguistic divide that, to this day, impedes the flow of knowledge between east and west. Africa’s religious diversity has also contributed, in no small part, to often divergent attitudes regarding contraception, reproductive rights, gender equity, and indeed sexuality itself. In the area of health care, the overwhelming dominance of the public sector continues to determine such factors as commodity provision and the allocation of resources for research and service delivery support. And finally, at a more basic level, the low prevalence of routine contraception and the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS have forced planners everywhere to think carefully about EC and its proper role within the service delivery system.
While it is true that many of the concerns associated with EC are common across all regions, many of them are not. And in those cases, researchers and practitioners have benefited enormously from sharing ideas and experiences with those confronting the same challenges. ECafrique was established to facilitate that sharing process.
Our Objectives
Foster dialogue within the health community on a broad range of issues relating to the introduction, delivery and mainstreaming of EC activities.
Facilitate intra-regional collaboration on behalf of efforts to develop and evaluate practical tools and research related to the delivery and mainstreaming of EC services.
Regularize the use of EC within national health care systems and promote its incorporation into relevant technical and service delivery guidelines.
Support commercial and/or social marketing initiatives to distribute EC wherever appropriate.
Serve as a resource registry of individuals and institutions, able to provide technical assistance in support of efforts to introduce or mainstream EC services in Africa.
Serve as a recognized and respected source of accurate, up-to-date information on all forms of EC.
Make more accessible, research findings and other information on EC, either from outside Africa or from sources published in languages not readily understood by anglophone or francophone audiences.
Link network partners and members with other EC networks and groups.
To realize these objectives, ECafrique publishes a quarterly newsletter on EC-related activities in Africa. It uses appropriate electronic media to foster dialogue on EC and, when requested by members, it prepares responses to the dissemination of inaccurate or biased information. Other activities include the dissemination of existing service delivery tools and the development of new resource materials for improving and expanding the delivery of quality EC services.
Our Members
ECafrique draws its membership from professionals in the governmental, non-governmental, and private sectors. Its members include interested individuals, as well as representatives of ministries of health, the pharmaceutical industry, and the international development community.
ECafrique and its activities are made possible by the generous financial support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.