IPPF AT THE CASHEW FACTORY

Ghana, a West African nation of about 30 million people, has deep-rooted cultural norms, and structural barriers that perpetuate poor sexual and reproductive health. Access to sexual and reproductive health education and services are often a contentious issue. Ghana has high risks of maternal mortality, high numbers of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and low levels of contraceptive use. Factory workers at Mim Cashew, in a small town in rural Ghana, are taking their reproductive health choices into their own hands, thanks to a three-year project rolled out by Planned Parenthood Association Ghana (PPAG) along with the Danish Family Planning Association (DFPA). The project, supported by private funding, targets factory workers as well as residents in the township of about 30, 000, where the factory is located. Under the project, health clinic staff through Mim have been supported to provide comprehensive abortion care, a range of different contraception and STI treatments as well as information and education.