EVERY year on International Women’s Day (IWD), the world pauses to reflect on the progress made in advancing gender equality and the work that remains.
This year’s global theme: ‘Rights. Justice. Action. For All Women and Girls,’ calls for urgent efforts to dismantle barriers to equal justice, including discriminatory laws, weak legal protections, harmful practices, and social norms that undermine the rights of women and girls.
In Ghana, the journey toward gender equality has recorded notable milestones; from increasing girls’ education to growing representation of women in leadership through landmark global commitments such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and recent national reforms including the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Act.
Yet one critical area remains underfunded and often overlooked: women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).
Experts say these fundamental rights are essential for achieving gender equality, bodily autonomy and sustainable development. They enable women to make informed decisions about their bodies, health and future while helping reduce maternal deaths, unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.
Ghana’s gender progress
Ghana has long been recognised as one of Africa’s countries making steady progress toward gender equality.
Government policies promoting girls’ education, maternal health programmes and community health initiatives have helped improve the wellbeing of women and girls across the country.
For instance, data from the Ghana Health Service shows that most pregnant women in Ghana now receive some level of maternal care. About 89 per cent attend at least four antenatal visits, while 79 per cent deliver with the support of a skilled birth attendant.
Similarly, findings from the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey 2022 indicate that knowledge of contraception in the country is almost universal.
The survey also shows that unmet need for family planning has declined significantly from about 35 to 37 per cent in the 1990s to 23 per cent in 2022, while modern contraceptive use has increased from about 22 per cent to 28 per cent over the past eight years.
Despite these gains, maternal deaths remain a major concern. Ghana’s maternal mortality ratio stands at about 308 deaths per 100,000 live births, far above the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of fewer than 70 deaths per 100,000 births by 2030.
Public health experts say many of these deaths are preventable with better access to family planning, safe pregnancy care and reproductive health services.
Access to contraception and reproductive health information also remains uneven across the country, while contraceptive usage remains relatively low across rural and urban areas as well as among both highly educated and less educated women.
The consequences are evident in Ghana’s high rates of teenage pregnancy and unsafe abortion.
Between 2016 and 2020, Ghana recorded more than 542,000 pregnancies among girls aged 15–19, according to research by Afrobarometer.
The study further found that unsafe abortions contribute significantly to maternal deaths, accounting for 15 to 30 per cent of maternal mortality cases.
These figures highlight why reproductive health services are essential not only for women’s health but also for national social and economic development.
A system heavily dependent on donors
Currently, much of Ghana’s reproductive health programmes rely heavily on international donor support.
For example, the United Nations Population Fund supplies about 40 per cent of Ghana’s annual contraceptive commodities, supporting the government’s family planning programmes.
Such support has been crucial in preventing unintended pregnancies and maternal deaths.
In 2024 alone, contraceptive supplies supported by international partners were projected to prevent about 64,000 unsafe abortions and 270 maternal deaths in Ghana.
However, this heavy dependence on external funding makes reproductive health services vulnerable when donor priorities change.
Why domestic funding matters
At a high-level roundtable discussion organised by Marie Stopes Ghana last Friday to mark International Women’s Day, health experts stressed the urgent need for Ghana to take greater ownership of its reproductive health programmes through stronger domestic financing.
They warned that declining donor funding and global aid cuts could disrupt the supply of contraceptives and other essential reproductive health commodities.
Without sustainable funding, many women could lose access to critical services.
“The time has come for us as a nation to put our money where our mouth is,” said Grace Naa Ardua Nelson.
According to her, Ghana must invest in research and data generation to support home-grown interventions that can be scaled up across the country.
She also called for stronger private sector participation in reproductive health interventions, particularly in the local manufacturing of contraceptive commodities to ensure consistent supply.
The Country Director of Marie Stopes Ghana, Demi Priscilla Letsa, also highlighted persistent challenges women face in accessing quality reproductive health services.
She stressed that reproductive healthcare must be prioritised at every stage of a woman’s life.
“Sexual and reproductive health is a subset of women’s overall health that is often neglected. We must work collaboratively to develop strategies to address SRHR challenges in the country,” she emphasised.
Similarly, the Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Caroline Reindorf Amissah, underscored the need for sustained government investment in free maternal healthcare, workforce training and service delivery.
Lessons from other countries
Several countries have demonstrated how sustained domestic investment in reproductive health can yield measurable results.
For example, Rwanda significantly increased funding for community-based family planning programmes over the past two decades.
As a result, contraceptive use among married women rose sharply while maternal mortality dropped considerably.
Moreover, Ethiopia expanded access to reproductive health services through community health workers and increased government spending on primary healthcare, contributing to major reductions in maternal deaths.
These examples demonstrate how strong political commitment and domestic investment can transform women’s health outcomes.
What Ghana stands to gain
For Ghana, increasing domestic funding for reproductive health could strengthen the entire health system.
First, it would help secure a stable supply of essential commodities such as contraceptives, reducing reliance on unpredictable external funding.
It would also support the expansion of reproductive health services in underserved communities where access remains limited.
Stronger investment could accelerate Ghana’s progress toward achieving global health targets, including reducing maternal mortality and improving adolescent health outcomes.
The road ahead
As Ghana joins the global community to mark International Women’s Day, experts say the conversation must move beyond celebration to concrete action.
Ensuring that women can safely decide when and how to have children is not only a health issue but also a matter of rights, equality and national development.
Strengthening domestic financing for reproductive health programmes may, therefore, be one of the most important steps Ghana can take toward achieving gender equality and protecting the health and dignity of its women.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
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