Collaborate for Women (C4W) Ensemble
All women and adolescent girls should have access to the information and care that allows them to make informed choices about their reproductive health. Quality, accessible and affordable family planning (FP) and comprehensive abortion care (CAC) are essential to achieving this.
Midwives and obstetrician-gynaecologists (OBGYNs) play important and complementary roles in FP and CAC provision. To provide quality, respectful, woman-centred care, both professional groups must enter the health system with the knowledge and skills they need.
Across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, the unmet need for contraception is high, as is the prevalence of unsafe abortion. These challenges contribute to maternal mortality rates that remain among the highest globally. Through the Collaborate for Women (C4W) Ensemble project, the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and FIGO are working together through their respective national midwives’ associations and OBGYN societies to strengthen pre-service education and advocacy for FP and CAC and help address these challenges.
Our goals
C4W Ensemble’s goal is to ensure women and girls have greater access to quality, woman-centred FP and CAC, supported by strengthened competencies among midwives and OBGYNs. It aims to do this by:
- Strengthening pre-service education for midwives and OBGYNs, aligned with consistent, competency-based global standards and preparing health professionals to deliver high-quality care.
- Increasing equitable access to quality contraception and safe abortion care services, enabling women and girls to make informed choices about their reproductive health.
- Improving collaboration and teamwork across health professions, supported by more equitable professional relationships and reduced gender and power imbalances.
- Supporting stronger national midwives’ associations and OBGYN societies, with increased capacity to lead reforms, advocate effectively and influence health policy.
- Facilitating greater regional learning and collaboration across Francophone West Africa, enabling countries and professional networks to share, adapt and scale effective approaches.
Our approach
C4W Ensemble builds on the lessons and successes of Collaborate for Women: Abortion and Contraception Care Together (C4W ACCT), adapting learning from this earlier ICM–FIGO partnership. The name chosen (Ensemble means “together” in French) reflects how integral this partnership is to the project.
Central to our approach is a commitment to locally led change. ICM and FIGO will support national midwives’ associations and OBGYN societies to strengthen their leadership and collaborate to define shared priorities, develop context-specific strategies and build institutional relationships and advocacy mechanisms that endure beyond the life of the project.
Our local partners are:
Côte d’Ivoire:
- Association des Sages-Femmes Ivoiriennes (ASFI)
- Société de Gynécologie et d’Obstétrique de Côte d’Ivoire (SOGOCI)
Democratic Republic of Congo:
- Société congolaise de la Pratique Sage-Femme (SCOSAF)
- La Société Congolaise de Gynécologie et d’Obstétrique (SCOGO)
Senegal:
- Association Nationale des Sages-Femmes du Sénégal (ANSFES)
- Association Sénégalaise de Gynécologie-Obstétrique (ASGO)
The project is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
