Our Stories | Benin

Speeches Shim

January 15, 2021

How smartphones supported seasonal malaria chemoprevention to protect 300,000 children, despite the challenges of COVID-19.

October 5, 2020

In addition to knowledgeable staff, health centers need effective medical equipment to provide quality maternal and child healthcare. In Benin, equipment and supplies can vary from one hospital to another, resulting in preventable deaths of new mothers and their children. At Adjohoun Zone Hospital, Ouémé, a regional facility that serves more than 260,000 people, the lack of surgical equipment means that many pregnant mothers cannot access caesarean sections to avoid life-threatening birth complications. Meanwhile, insufficient infant warmers means babies might not survive their first hours.

October 1, 2020

Aimée Gbahoué has a busy week ahead. Surrounded by sacks of sand, cement, and orange and blue-colored recycled plastic jugs, she quickly moves about at her open-air workshop in Aplahoué, Benin. With just a few handheld tools, she pours concrete, fits water taps, and bends iron rods over red-hot embers under the West African sun.

Social service agent Pélagie Houndodjade in her office at the One Stop Care Center in Parakou

In Benin, nearly 70 percent of women will be victims of gender-based violence in their lifetimes. As in most of the world, the majority of these crimes will go unreported. This is where the One Stop Care Centers step in to provide survivors with a place to receive comprehensive, survivor-centered care.