Sweden ends aid to Liberia in a hammer blow to women’s rights and healthcare

Sexual and reproductive services face an uncertain future as the country’s second-largest donor halts support worth hundreds of millions of pounds

Isabel Choat, in Monrovia
Mon 31 Aug 2026

The Swedish flag is still flying above the pale blue building overlooking the Atlantic in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, but the doors of the embassy are now closed to visitors. On 31 August, the Swedish embassy in Liberia ends a presence in the country that dates back to 1961.

The billions of kronor of aid that Sweden pipes into the west African country will end on the same day, as sweeping cuts to Swedish development funding come into effect.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/aug/31/sweden-ends-aid-liberia-hammer-blow-womens-healthcare

Women are dying in Africa as US ramps up its global battle against abortion

Monika Pronczuk And Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press
Jul 18, 2026

KISUMU, Kenya (AP) — For decades, U.S. anti-abortion groups have lobbied domestically and abroad for restricting access to abortion. In the U.S., their biggest success was the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Now, the Trump administration is delivering new momentum to the movement exporting “family values” to nations overseas.

At anti-abortion activists’ annual March for Life demonstration in Washington, Vice President JD Vance announced sweeping new restrictions on U.S. funding for nongovernmental organizations, foreign governments and U.N. agencies that promote access to abortion, gender-affirming care and diversity initiatives overseas.

“We’re going to start blocking every international NGO that performs or promotes abortion abroad from receiving a dollar of U.S. money,” Vance told the crowd in January.

Continued: https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/health/women-are-dying-in-africa-as-us-ramps-up-its-global-battle-against-abortion/article_2bee500d-1033-50c6-a64b-1a73a1f4779c.html

18.07.2026

Commentary

Research

African Christian Professionals Forum

African Population and Health Research Center

Charles Kanjama

Dominic Omollo

E.R. Donnelly

Family Research Council

Family Watch International

Focus on the Family

Hannah Ruguru

Institute for Journalism and Social Change

Marie Stopes International

Promoting and Protecting Family Values in Challenging Times

Sharon Slater

Thalia Beaty

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Takeaways from AP’s report on the impact of US aid restrictions on reproductive rights in Africa

Monika Pronczuk, The Associated Press
Jul 18, 2026

KISUMU, Kenya (AP) — The abortion debate in America is putting lives of women thousands of miles away at risk, particularly in Africa.

For decades, U.S. anti-abortion groups have lobbied for more restrictions on abortion at home and abroad. This year, the Trump administration delivered new momentum to the movement exporting “family values” overseas. It announced sweeping restrictions on U.S. funding for organizations that work on abortion-related issues overseas, which can impact up to $30 billion in aid.

These new restrictions build on the work that U.S. anti-abortion groups have been doing for years in Africa, where healthcare systems are highly dependent on foreign funding.

Continued: https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/health/takeaways-from-aps-report-on-the-impact-of-us-aid-restrictions-on-reproductive-rights-in/article_87b5e6cc-67a5-56ad-8310-15c469e2b03f.html

Liberia’s abortion law reform: A new front in the global culture wars

“Liberia is very low-income, it’s cheap to get political influence here.”

2 July 2026
Obi Anyadike, Tina Mehnpaine

MONROVIA, Liberia — At aged 14, Martha Bridges* was being raped every weekend by an older nephew in her aunt’s house. She didn’t know she had fallen pregnant until she visited a clinic in Paynesville, a Monrovia suburb, confused by the extreme cramps she was suffering.

When she was told, her terrified reaction was to ask the nurse to “take it out!”. But abortions in Liberia are illegal except under specific conditions: doctors need to certify there is a medical necessity, or there is official documentation proving the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.

Continued: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2026/07/02/liberia-abortion-law-reform-new-front-global-culture-wars

African Women’s Rights Charter Faces Challenge from Conservatives

26/06/2026
Kerry Cullinan

Human rights and legal experts have urged African governments not to buy into a draft charter being incubated by conservatives that will undermine the rights of women and girls.

Conflict, repressive laws and harmful cultural and religious practices conspire to undermine the health and safety of African women, girls and sexual minorities.

Now, one of the few continental treaties that protects women’s rights and promotes gender equality – known as the Maputo Protocol – is under threat from a conservative alliance with its roots in the Christian right-wing in the United States.

Continued: https://healthpolicy-watch.news/african-womens-rights-charter-faces-challenge-from-conservatives/

‘Family values’ African charter condemned by rights groups as regressive and dangerous

Draft treaty claims sexual and reproductive health and rights are an existential threat to the African family

Isabel Choat
Fri 5 Jun 2026

An African treaty that rejects longstanding international human rights obligations moved a step closer to becoming policy this week as governments across the continent met in Ghana.

The draft African charter on family, sovereignty and values, seen by the Guardian, asserts that African values and culture are under attack from “foreign ideologies” and urges states to withdraw from any agreements that do not align with the principles of the charter, including the 2003 Maputo protocol, which promotes gender equality and protects the reproductive and health rights of women and girls.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/05/ghana-african-charter-family-values-gender-women-sex-lgbtq-reproductive-rights

Through the looking glass: how pro-family discourse weaponises anti-colonialism to restrict women’s rights

27 May 2026
Ayesha Khan, Claire Carson

This year the United Nations (UN) hosted the 70th Commission on the Status of Women conference, a gathering of dignitaries, diplomats and civil society leaders who annually take stock of progress towards gender equality.

Its successes have been praised by women leaders, notably the vote for the agreed conclusions despite opposition from the United States (US), and the fact that thousands of civil society representatives from all over the world overcame visa, travel and funding restrictions to participate in person. Traditionally, the civil society organisations that participate are progressive, setting a feminist agenda that expands gender equality.

But now, an alternative civil society gathering is attempting something altogether different.

Continued: https://odi.org/en/insights/through-the-looking-glass-how-pro-family-discourse-weaponises-anti-colonialism-to-restrict-womens-rights/

A draft African charter on ‘family values’ is on the cards: why it’s flawed and dangerous

May 21, 2026
Catriona Macleod, Godfrey Kangaude, Nicola Jearey-Graham

A series of conferences held in Entebbe, Uganda, between 2023 and 2025 have resulted in a draft African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values. The meetings were organised by the Inter-parliamentary Network on African Sovereignty and Values, which organises continental conferences for African legislators and faith-based advocates. Supported by international conservative groups like Family Watch International and heavily promoted by Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, the aim of the drafters of the charter is to convince African governments to sign on to it.

The draft charter is situated within the current global movement to the right, which prioritises nationalism, tougher immigration policies and an erosion of social values like gender equity. Framed as an effort to “protect” the family, it urges governments to adopt a series of regressive measures.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/a-draft-african-charter-on-family-values-is-on-the-cards-why-its-flawed-and-dangerous-282423

Special edition: A tale of two movements — all at the same time

At the Commission on the Status of Women, the tangle over money, policy, and influence is shaping the future of women’s rights.

By Elissa Miolene
13 March 2026

The 70th Commission on the Status of Women has hit its halfway mark, with a historic vote on Monday foreshadowing a division that only grew throughout the week.

On one side, there’s the United Nations, large international aid agencies, and a collection of countries — from Sweden to Spain — that are pushing for more progressive women’s rights. On the other hand, there’s a constellation of nations, faith-based groups, and anti-abortion activists that are advocating for family values, while accusing the U.N. of indoctrinating developing nations when it comes to sex, abortion, and gender identity.

Continued: https://www.devex.com/news/special-edition-a-tale-of-two-movements-all-at-the-same-time-112072

Ethiopia’s Fight Against Anti-Abortion Propaganda

How Ethiopians are resisting U.S.-backed disinformation on abortions.

By Maya Misikir, a reporter and editor based in Ethiopia.
November 13, 2025

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—It’s the faces of the women and girls receiving treatment for botched abortions that still haunt nurse Hanna, 47 years into her nursing career.

“They had a look in their eyes. It was a plea to be saved from their misery,” she said in Amharic, during an interview last month.

Continued: https://archive.is/RQ7rE
(https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/13/ethiopia-abortion-fight-propaganda-america-trump-pro-life/)