Ipas President & CEO Anu Kumar is a finalist for prestigious WIN WIN Award 2026. Nomination recognizes Kumar's work with Ipas to show that reproductive justice is essential for gender-equal societies. Ipas President & CEO Dr. Anu Kumar, a lifelong champion for women's rights and reproductive justice, has been selected as a finalist for the WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award. The WIN WIN Award celebrates changemakers who inspire others and lead the way toward a sustainable future. Previous winners include Al Gore and Kofi Annan. This year's award theme is "gender-equal societies," and received a record 1,224 nominations from 136 countries. After a thorough jury evaluation, 10 finalists have been announced today for the WIN WIN Award and WIN WIN Youth Award (for nominees ages 13-29). Kumar is the first-ever finalist selected for work on reproductive rights and justice. Other finalists selected include Pakistani female education activist Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Prize winner in history. "The WIN WIN Award jury nominates Anu Kumar for her principled and strategic leadership, demonstrating how reproductive rights can be translated into concrete systems and processes," the announcement states. "Her work shows how bodily autonomy and reproductive justice are essential for gender-equal societies and long-term social stability." WIN WIN Award winners will be announced later in 2026. A lifetime devoted to reproductive justice. In her 24 years of leadership at Ipas, and now, in her ninth year as Ipas's president and CEO, Kumar has been a relentless champion for the simple but revolutionary idea that abortion rights are human rights - and are necessary to realize gender equality. "At a time when reproductive rights, human rights, and democracy itself is under attack, the WIN WIN Award's recognition of my work to advance reproductive justice is a light of hope during a dark time," Kumar says. "I have dedicated my life to the cause of reproductive justice because the ability to control one's body and reproductive life is critical for women to have power - economic power, social power, political power. It is critical to achieving gender equality and more just societies. I'm deeply honored to be among the changemakers working toward such a future." Connecting abortion to gender equality. Ipas's mission has always been to expand abortion access for all. And Kumar has always challenged the fields of international development and global health to think boldly about abortion. She highlights all that abortion access brings: bodily autonomy, decision-making power, a pathway out of poverty, continued education, the ability to life up to one's fullest potential - and proven benefits to individuals, communities and even countries. Earlier in her tenure at Ipas, Kumar pioneered the field of abortion stigma, co-authoring a groundbreaking article that launched a robust field of research and activism. She has also worked with colleagues to create the sustainable abortion ecosystem model, which is rooted in human rights and recognizes the factors that impact a person's ability to access abortion. This multifaceted approach to address the barriers that undermine sexual and reproductive health forms the foundation of Ipas's work to advance women's and girls' rights, agency and reproductive autonomy.

Ipas gets major funding boost for safe abortion initiatives. The US based reproductive rights organisation Ipas has secured a substantial grant from The Audacious Project to expand global access to abortion and contraception. The full amount has not been disclosed as Ipas is still negotiating with the donor. "Every year, 35 million people end pregnancies using unsafe methods, amounting to one unsafe abortion every second of every day, with life-altering and often fatal consequences for women, girls, and their families," said Ipas in a statement on Tuesday. "Our vision is to prevent 16.3 million unsafe abortions and 22.6 million unintended pregnancies and to avert 39,000 maternal deaths by 2032, reducing unsafe abortion by 30% in 10 high-need countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America by 2040." But achieving this vision requires substantial resources, Ipas director in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Dr Jean-Claude Mulunda, told Health Policy Watch. "A total investment of $350 million is required to reduce unsafe abortion by 30% across 10 countries, including six in sub-Saharan Africa region," said Mulunda. While an initial commitment has been secured from Audacious, "discussions with several donors are still underway, and we expect to have a clear picture soon of the exact level of funding that will be made available", he added. Priority countries. The organisation will focus on Côte d'Ivoire, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia, as well as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Mexico. Mulunga acknowledged that several of these countries have restrictions on access to abortion. Some countries allow abortion when a woman's life is in danger, but healthcare providers are unsure of when and how they can help, he added. "Ipas works with partners, with government, with the health system, to clarify through guidance so it's easy for health providers to identify when they can provide those services," he explained. "The abortion ecosystem needs to shift, but we don't wait for everything to change. We try to leverage every single positive step to transform it as quickly as possible into tangible services for women, because that is the only way for us to protect women's lives." Focus activities. Ipas will focus on three activities in Africa. "The first involves strengthening the health system to deliver high quality of abortion care to women, while looking at diversifying pathways to care," said Mulunga. This includes not only improving facility-level care, but also the possibility to train pharmacists to provide information and the abortion pill to women who can self- manage their abortion. "The second level will be around advancing laws, policies and political will to support sexual reproductive health and rights, including the right for safe abortion," Mulunga added. The third focus will be on "reducing stigma, strengthening referral pathways, and building a movement that will support the advocacy," he said. This will involve partnering with civil society organisations to enable them to support abortion advocacy, information on where women can get pills and services, and social support. "We are honoured to be part of this inspiring Audacious Project 2025 cohort," said Ipas CEO Anu Kumar. "We know access to abortion and contraception leads to immense benefits to individuals, families, communities, and even countries. We want every woman and girl, no matter where they live, to have healthy, prosperous lives." Audacious is a collaborative donor platform that includes ELMA Philanthropies, MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates' Pivotal Ventures, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, and the Skoll Foundation. Combat the infodemic in health information and support health policy reporting from the global South. Its growing network of journalists in Africa, Asia, Geneva and New York connect the dots between regional realities and the big global debates, with evidence-based, open access news and analysis. To make a personal or organisational contribution click here.