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Safe Abortion Action Fund Safe Abortion Action Fund Fifth Annual Report 2013 The Safe Abortion Action Fund is supported by the governments of Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom and an anonymous donor, and is administered by the International Planned Parenthood Federation Safe Abortion Action Fund • Annual report • 2013 Acronyms D&C Dilation & curettage IEC Information, education, and communication IPPF International Planned Parenthood Federation IWAC International Congress on Women’s Health and Unsafe Abortion MVA Manual vacuum aspiration NGO Non-government organisation SAAF Safe Abortion Action Fund UK United Kingdom This report was prepared by the SAAF Secretariat (Maïté Matos-Ichaso, Hanna Lindley-Jones, Judy Gold) and the chair of the SAAF board (Manuelle Hurwitz) in October 2013. The report covers the period October 2012 – September 2013. Please contact [email protected] for any questions or comments on the report Image on cover of flags corresponds to the locations of projects supported under SAAF Round Two funding - Page 2 of 42 - Safe Abortion Action Fund • Annual report • 2013 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... 4 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................. 5 ROUND TWO PROJECTS .................................................................................................... 6 Advocacy Achievements ..................................................................................................................... 8 Service Delivery Achievements ........................................................................................................... 9 Research Achievements .................................................................................................................... 11 Challenges ......................................................................................................................................... 12 ROUND THREE PROJECTS ................................................................................................ 13 Call for Applications .......................................................................................................................... 13 Selection Process .............................................................................................................................. 13 FUND MANAGEMENT ..................................................................................................... 15 Financial Status ................................................................................................................................. 16 Fund Strategy .................................................................................................................................... 16 Grantee Reporting ............................................................................................................................ 17 Grantee Support ............................................................................................................................... 18 Risk Management ............................................................................................................................. 20 FUND MONITORING AND EVALUATION .......................................................................... 22 Logframe ........................................................................................................................................... 22 Evaluation Framework ...................................................................................................................... 22 CONCLUSION & NEXT STEPS ........................................................................................... 23 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................... 24 Appendix One: SAAF Board Members .............................................................................................. 24 Appendix Two: Members of Technical Review Panel ....................................................................... 25 Appendix Three: SAAF Round Two Grantees .................................................................................... 26 Appendix Four: SAAF Logframe 2011-2014 ...................................................................................... 29 Appendix Five: SAAF Round Three Grantees (proposed) ................................................................. 35 - Page 3 of 42 - Safe Abortion Action Fund • Annual report • 2013 Executive Summary The Safe Abortion Action Fund (SAAF) was established in 2006 as a multi-donor mechanism to support global abortion-related programing. SAAF provides small grants to projects that promote safe abortion and prevent unsafe abortion through advocacy and awareness raising, service delivery and research activities. Since the fund’s inception, there have been three rounds of funding to non- government organisations, supporting projects of up to three years in length. SAAF is overseen by an independent governing board, with a small secretariat based in the London offices of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). This annual report details the activities of SAAF from October 2012 to September 2013. During this period, half of the projects funded under Round Two of funding completed, and a call for applications for Round Three launched. Under Round Two, 35 projects in 26 countries were supported, which is expected to grow to 113 projects in 56 countries in Round Three. The current projects have led to legislative and policy reform, expanded access to medical and surgical abortion, improved quality of care and responded to national and international gaps in evidence for service provision. Going forward, increased financial resources will widen the geographical reach and impact of SAAF. The call for Round Three proposals in March 2013 resulted in the submission of 176 concept notes. Following technical review, 113 were invited to submit full applications, with projects expected to commence between late 2013 and early 2014. In accordance with the new SAAF strategy, funding is focused on supporting local and national organisations, with the SAAF secretariat playing an increased role in the identification and coordination of technical support to grantees. The SAAF board and secretariat continue to support and oversee the Fund. In addition to ongoing monitoring of projects, key activities during the period of this annual report include increasing grantee learning through a grantees meeting and virtual community and the development of the new SAAF strategy. The development of the Round Three logframe and SAAF evaluation framework will strengthen the impact and monitoring of SAAF to ensure the Fund continues to be an effective instrument to improve abortion-related programming around the world. - Page 4 of 42 - Safe Abortion Action Fund • Annual report • 2013 Background The Safe Abortion Action Fund (SAAF) was created in 2006, at a time when the United States government was implementing the Mexico City Policy (known as the ‘Global Gag Rule’). This policy prevented any non-government organisation (NGOs) receiving United States government funds from performing or promoting abortion services. This result of this policy was to deprive many organisations of funding, particularly those committed to addressing unsafe abortion. In 2005, the Government of the United Kingdom asked the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) to document the evidence related to unsafe abortion1 and to put in place a fund specifically to support abortion-related work by NGOs. The initial donors to the Fund were the Governments of the United Kingdom (DFID), Norway (NORAD), Denmark (DANIDA), Sweden (SIDA) and Switzerland (SDC). Additional funding was provided for later phases by the Government of the Netherlands, Hewlett Foundation and an anonymous donor. The premise of SAAF is that funding NGOs is an effective way to increase access to safe abortion services as civil society is willing and able to take risks and focus on stigmatized issues. SAAF supports projects that promote safe abortion and prevent unsafe abortion through advocacy and awareness raising, service delivery and/or research activities. SAAF operates under the guidance of an independent governing board representing donors, activists and international NGOs (members listed in Appendix One). The Board is supported by the SAAF secretariat, based at the IPPF Central Office in London, and a Technical Review Panel (TRP) (members listed in Appendix Two), responsible for reviewing proposals for funding and providing recommendations to the Board. Since the inception of SAAF there have been three funding rounds: Round One (2007-2010): USD $15 million, supporting 50 projects in 30 countries Round Two (2011-2013): USD $9 million, supporting 35 projects in 26 countries Round Three (2013-2016): USD $19 million, will support 113 projects in 56 countries External evaluations of SAAF were conducted in 2009 and 2011, concluding that SAAF had made a significant contribution to promoting action on abortion globally. This report covers the activities of SAAF from October 2012 to September 2013, and includes results from projects supported under Round Two as well as progress for Round Three. It also contains details of overall Fund management, including support provided to grantees,
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