Ipas is an international, non-governmental organization that seeks to increase access to safe abortions and contraception. To this end the organization informs women how to obtain safe and legal abortions and trains relevant partners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America on how to provide and advocate for these.

History

Ipas's work began in 1973, with the provision of life-saving reproductive health technologies for health systems in several countries. Today Ipas works on five continents with a comprehensive approach that centers the needs of those who seek abortion care. Ipas aims to build sustainable abortion ecosystems that address all factors impacting a person's ability to access abortion—from individual health knowledge, to social and community support, to a trained health workforce, to political leadership and supportive laws. To that end, Ipas trains providers and work with health systems to ensure accessible, high-quality abortion services—including the right and ability to self-manage an abortion with pills. Ipas conducts research with the goal of turning policy into practice. They also partner with local organizations to educate communities on reproductive health and rights, to advocate for legal abortion, and to support local champions for reproductive justice.

Scope of work

Ipas works to improve women's access and right to safe abortion care and reproductive health services by: To aid these tactics, together with other similar bodies, Ipas issued a joint declaration on abortion during the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 in 2019, where the strategy of these organizations is to:

Areas of focus

Affiliated organizations