PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCING ABORTION RESEARCH AND REDUCING UNSAFE ABORTION IN NIGERIA (PAARRUAN)
Theme:
UNPLANNED PREGNANCY AND ABORTION DECISION AND CONTEXTS IN NIGERIA
Date – March 2025
Venue: Kakanfo Inn, Ibadan, Oyo State.
Abortion is highly restricted in Nigeria, with legal exceptions only to save a woman’s life. As a result, young women often resort to unsafe methods to terminate unplanned pregnancies. Also, with over 60% of Nigeria’s population under 25, many young people are sexually active, often without access to comprehensive reproductive health education or family planning services. This increases the likelihood of unplanned pregnancies among adolescents, who may then turn to unsafe abortion practices due to stigma, lack of resources, or restrictive laws. Evidence has shown that unsafe abortion is a major cause of maternal mortality in the country. Therefore, there is need for concerted efforts to increase evidence-based access to family planning education and services as well as conversations on how to prevent unplanned pregnancies. .
To further stimulate conversations around research, programmes, and policy aimed at reducing unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortion, annually, the Partnership for Advancing Abortion Research and Reducing Unsafe Abortion in Nigeria (PAARRUAN) brings together stakeholders from the academia, development partners, and policymakers to deliberate and collaborate at a national forum.
PAARRUAN is an initiative coordinated by the consortium of the Centre for Research, Evaluation Resources and Development (CRERD) and the Academy for Health Development (AHEAD), both in Nigeria and the Guttmacher Institute, USA. The Partnership comprises experts, development partners, policymakers, and scholars from four institutions of higher learning in southwest Nigeria. It is looking to expand its reach and network into other parts of the country. The four institutions are Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Medical Sciences Ondo, University of Ibadan, and Federal University Oye-Ekiti.
Submissions are therefore invited from experts, scholars, practitioners, and advocates for the second annual National Forum with the theme ‘Unplanned Pregnancies and Abortion Decisions/Contexts in Nigeria’, scheduled to hold in March, 2025. Interdisciplinary works are encouraged on any aspects of the following issues:
• Unplanned pregnancies in Nigeria
• Abortion practices in Nigeria
• Unsafe abortion in Nigeria
• Abortion laws and policies in Nigeria
• Post-Abortion Care
Submission Guidelines
• Abstracts should be maximum of 250 words.
• Extended Abstracts should not be more than 1,500 words excluding references.
• Submissions must be from completed projects or works.
Submissions should be made at https://bit.ly/paarruan-national-forum2 on or before January 25, 2025.
Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by February 10, 2025. Authors of all accepted abstracts will be sponsored.
For further information please contact the Programme Officer, ‘Dimeji Ogunoye, at [email protected] or call +2347043872368.
