“'What is the problem? The goats and the sheep give birth without any assistance, why not my wife?'”

This is a quote from a man in one village on Ivory Coast who refused his pregnant wife permission to get a pre-natal check-up. In this village, women don't have the right to decide to have a prenatal check-up- they must get permission from their husbands.

In this week's featured Wake Up Call video, Monika Bakayoko-Topolska, from our affiliate organziation the International Rescue Committe, shares her story. Shocked by how low a woman's postion was in her community, she channeled her outrage toward raising awareness among the village, whose women she knew had the strength to create change.

Our reproductive health program works to help women and gilrs in four areas including maternal and newborn health and gender-based violence. To learn more about our reproductive health program click here.