Hello and welcome to the first quarterly update on the Safe Abortion Action Fund. In each newsletter we’ll be featuring news, updates and showcasing the inspiring work of SAAF grantee partners around the world.
You can contact us here for any further information.
Thanks for reading!
The SAAF Team
The effect of COVID-19 on safe abortion access

As the world comes to terms with the impact of COVID-19 we are communicating with all SAAF grantee partners to adjust to new ways of working during this health crisis. We know that the majority of organisations we fund have been affected but they are working hard to keep communities safe and ensure access to reproductive health care can continue.
To find out more about how access to safe abortion around the world is being affected by the pandemic, check out our recent blogpost here.
SAAF welcomes 19 new grantee partners

Thanks to new funding from the UK government SAAF has been able to provide grants to 19 new organisations in 17 countries. Projects started in January. You can read more about all the projects we fund here.
SAAF at the Inroads Global Gathering

Inroads is a global network of people working to tackle abortion related stigma. In February, 22 SAAF staff, board members, and grantee partners were able to get together and share good practice at the Global Member Gathering in Mombasa. You can join Inroads here.
SAAF grantee partner spotlight

SAAF is delighted to start working with a new grantee partner in India. Hidden Pockets is a young, feminist collective using social media to reach young people with reliable and non-stigmatising information about abortion.
Aisha from the team recently wrote a blogpost about the expansion of the Indian abortion law for SAAF’s new partnership with online platform Girls Globe, which you can read here.
News and updates
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir Argentina has also written an article for Girls Globe, about the legalization of abortion in Argentina, which was due to happen just before the global health crisis broke. You can read their blogpost here.
Ground-breaking research on Samsara’s SAAF-funded abortion helpline in Indonesia has been published in the International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics.
Two SAAF grantee partners, CSJ News and RISE, have contributed to a Change report on the effects of the Global Gag Rule in Malawi:
“The bottom line is that people are dying. People are suffering quite a lot. The problem is that these are poor people, voiceless people, and their voices don’t even count. People are dying silently because they cannot access the services that were once offered by private family planning clinics that were vital sources for health care.” Brian Ligomeka, Director, CSJ News