Chair: Prof. Akanni Akinyemi, Professor of Demography and Social Statistics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria

Co-chair: Dr. Estelle Sidze, Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), Nairobi, Kenya

Panel Members: Prof. Carlos Arnaldo, Prof. Esther Dungumaro, Prof. Amouzou Agbessi, Dr Nurudeen Alhassan, Ms. Astrid Janice Flenon-Gankpe

A recent publication by the Population Reference Bureau (2022) suggests that there is remarkable increase in access to and use of family planning across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, there are wide variations in the levels of family planning uptake across the countries. According to the report, based on average annual percentage-point increase in modern contraceptive prevalence (mCPR) between the two most recent Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), 5 countries have been able to make rapid progress (Mozambique, Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Zambia); 5 countries made encouraging progress (Uganda, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Guinea); 7 countries recorded slow progress (Ghana, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Benin, Liberia, Togo); while 3 countries made little or no progress (Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Besides, there are other nuances across demographic, geographic and policy domains that are important for FP/SRHR across Africa. Adolescents and young people constitute a major sub-group that have unique needs and challenges to access high-quality sexual and reproductive health information and services. There is also a major concern for SRHR/FP needs of the growing urban centers across Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic also brought into perspective new challenges and opportunities to the FP/SRHR landscape in Africa, particularly on the need for innovation and digital technology for improving access to and delivery of services.

This panel provides a platform for advancing intellectual discourses on new ideas and perspectives SRH/FPR in Africa. The panel is particularly interested in generating new evidence at national and sub-national levels on SRH/FP levels; Health systems challenges and opportunities to delivering comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights, grounded in equity, equality and human rights, integration of comprehensive SRHR services in universal health coverage (UHC) reforms, and intersections between SRHR, maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH), mental health and climate change. The panel is also interested in providing mentorship support for early/mid-career researchers in Africa. The panel will host 2 conferences in year 2023 (one virtual and one physical) and produce a special volume of the Journal for African Population Study (JAPS).

We invite contributions/submissions from researchers across Africa.