This report by the Center for Reproductive Rights, the African Population and Health Research Center, and partners reveals that women and girls from low-income backgrounds in five African countries faced multiple barriers in accessing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. These barriers resulted in a spike of unintended pregnancies, increased sexual and gender-based violence, unsafe abortions and maternal and neonatal deaths. Additionally, members of the LGBTQI+ community and people with disabilities (PWDs) experienced increased challenges in accessing reproductive healthcare.

The study attributes poor reproductive health outcomes to government policies that failed to strike a balance between containing the spread of COVID-19 and addressing reproductive health needs and the priorities of women, girls, and members of the LGBTQI+ community.

Read the full report: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Uganda