Why We Work in Benin
Benin is one of Africa’s most stable democracies, but economically, it is seriously underdeveloped and corruption runs rampant throughout. It remains one of Africa’s largest producers of cotton but ranks among the poorest countries.
Despite the relatively high percentage of births attended by a skilled health worker, maternal mortality has been slow to decrease. Each year 1,600 women in Benin die during childbirth, and for every woman that dies, the World Health Organization estimates 20 more survive with significant injuries, such as obstetric fistula.
Rural women bear the heaviest share of this suffering. High rates of fertility, teenage pregnancy and a lack of emergency obstetric care fuel particularly poor maternal health outcomes in the country’s remote areas. There is an urgent need to invest in fistula treatment to address the country’s many new cases of fistula each year, as well as the backlog of women awaiting care.
What You Help Us Do
We are investing in the following areas to build Benin‘s in-country medical services and provide life-transforming surgery to as many women as possible:
Meet Our Partners
We identify local surgical teams in Benin already successfully treating women with fistula—and then work to amplify their efforts.
Artemedis
- Location: Cotomou, Parakou and Tanguieta
- Partner Since: 2019
Women and Health Alliance International (WAHA International)
- Location: Tanguieta and Cotonou
- Partner In: 2015 – 2017
Current Partners
- Artemedis: $361,196
Past Partners
- Women and Health Alliance International (WAHA International): $212,750