Liberia

Partners

Consortium for Strengthening Abortion-Related Research Capacity and Evidence in Liberia (CoSARL) was developed in 2021 to strengthen researchers’ capacity to plan and implement abortion-related research in Liberia. CoSARL also aims to collaboratively develop the foundation for a multiyear abortion research strategy in Liberia as part of a broader sexual and reproductive health strategy. CoSARL is made up of the following organizations:


University of Liberia School of Public Health

Institute for Population Studies, University of Liberia


The Clinton Health Access Initiative in Liberia


The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) , a Kenya-based organization whose mission is to generate evidence to drive policy change to improve the health and well-being of African people.

Purpose of the collaboration

Guttmacher worked with partners on several capacity strengthening initiatives in Liberia. In collaboration with CHAI and APHRC, Guttmacher supported a Liberian institution in generating the country’s first abortion-related evidence on incidence, morbidity and facility-based quality of care.

Guttmacher also supported local researchers and institutions in creating the CoSARL, which is laying the groundwork for longer-term leadership on developing and overseeing a multiyear strategy for generating and leveraging abortion evidence in Liberia. CoSARL, with support from Guttmacher, APHRC and CHAI, is working toward a Liberian-led abortion research agenda and toward increasing the capacity of Liberian researchers to conduct abortion research.

Capacity strengthening activities accomplished

  • Provided technical assistance to APHRC as it oversaw data collection and analysis in Liberia.
  • Facilitated six online skills-building webinars for researchers, advocates and civil society groups working to advance safe abortion in Liberia.
  • Conducted an assessment of individual and institutional abortion research capacity needs in Liberia.
  • Conducted a virtual training for Liberian researchers and CoSARL members on the fundamentals of abortion research.
  • Virtual training for CoSARL on abortion research proposal writing and an overview of the abortion research funding landscape.
  • Held a two-day training on research methods to assess facility- and community-level changes in access to and knowledge of safe abortion care, led by Guttmacher and APHRC.
  • Developed a five-year strategic framework for abortion research capacity strengthening in Liberia.
  • Developed a proposal for a new cohort study to track the knowledge of and access to safe abortion care in Liberia over time.