In partnership with the Health Development Initiative and the Swedish Embassy, Medical Doctors For Choice has implemented the project titled “Bridging the Gap, Connecting to Care: Strengthening the Network of Abortion Providers in Rwanda to Achieve Universal Access to Friendly Abortion Services (SNAP Rwanda)”. The project was implemented over the 4 months, from November 2024 to February 2025. The project has achieved remarkable milestones by creating a network of 82 abortion providers (SNAP Teams) in 27 district hospitals across the country, establishment of real-time digital map and safe abortion services referral system model to support women and girls in the regions where faith-based hospitals are located to allow them to get stigma- free services in quick and easy way without delay.
Medical Doctors For Choice conducted a disseminated workshop with its stakeholders including health professional associations like Rwanda society of obstetrician and gynecologists (RSOG), Rwanda Midwives and nursing associations (RNMU), Rwanda medical association(RMA), Rwanda biomedical center (RBC), Civil society organizations and NGOs in Rwanda that do advocacy around work around sexual reproductive health and rights, district and referral hospitals in Rwanda including faith-based hospitals that have been trained on the referral system model as one of the great achievement of the project.
The dissemination workshop marked a pivotal moment to reflect on the collective progress made in expanding access to safe abortion services and strengthening referral pathways in Rwanda. It also served as the final step in documenting and sharing feedback, experiences, and evidence gathered from the interviews with the trained healthcare providers involved in the SNAP referral system, particularly those from religiously affiliated hospitals.
The goal was to: Present key findings, lessons learned, and best practices; Share recommendations from frontline providers and stakeholders. Use the documentation to inform future scaling and policy influence around accessibility to stigma-free abortion services in Rwanda.
Some of the key highlights and lessons learned from the dissemination workshop include:
The event showcased the impact of the SNAP Service Referral System Model, including the number of women reached and referred appropriately who accessed the safe abortion services. During the piloting phase of the Referral System Model from mid-January to the end of February 2025, 384 cases were received and accessed the safe abortion services. 20% of them were transferred from faith-based district hospitals.
After the establishment of the toll-free “8016” helpline to support healthcare providers in navigating legal challenges while providing abortion services, but also guides women and girls seeking safe abortion services who live hard to hard-to-reach areas across the country. In one month (February 2025) of its establishment, 25 Healthcare providers received support during their service provision period, and 28 beneficiaries received support for accessing safe abortion information and services (21 of them were females, and 7 were males).
The Dissemination participants’ insights: during the dissemination, stakeholders’ reactions and insights were overwhelmingly positive, with a call to institutionalize behavioral change initiatives and expand the Referral System Model to the public hospitals.
The SNAP dissemination workshop marked the successful closure of a transformative project phase, bringing in together a wide network of actors to commit to the ongoing work of ensuring access to stigma-free, safe, legal, and supportive abortion services in Rwanda by utilizing new rising interventions like SNAP Referral System Model, establishment of Toll-free Helpline, and building the Network of Abortion providers (SNAP Teams). The reflections and outcomes shared at the event provided critical insights for scaling the referral model and improving future interventions.
