Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Benin managed to organize the country Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) scorecard development workshop. As an accountability tool, the Benin SRHR Scorecard aims to track progress in sexual and reproductive health and rights in the country. It will be used to monitor the achievements of SRHR targets in Benin.

The meeting was held at Princess Hotel in Bohicon and was organized jointly by the Directorate of Programming and Prospective and the National Agency for Primary Health Care (ANSSP), with technical and financial support from WHO. The workshop brought together more than twenty Beninese participants: doctors, teachers, researchers, statisticians, planners, as well as other actors from central directorates and regional level of the Ministry of Health, professional health organizations, representatives of WHO, and various stakeholders involved in SRHR. 

Mr. Venance Gandaho, Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry, Representing the Minister of Health in his opening speech, thanked the participants for responding to their request and insisted on the great importance of this workshop for the sector. 

The workshop was organized in two main phases: presentations and debates and group reflections followed by plenary sessions. Three technical experts made presentations, namely: Dr. Chilanga Asmani, WHO Technical Officer, SRH (Inter-Country Support Team) - West Africa, Dr. Léopold Ouédraogo, Medical Officer, SRH - WHO-AFRO Regional Office, and Dr. Gaston Désiré Ahounou, Head of family planning and adolescent and youth health, National Agency for Primary Health Care, Ministry of Health. 

The presentations enabled participants to improve and harmonize their knowledge on: 

• The context and extent of SRHR related issues,
• SRHR scorecard for the African Region and regional experiences, indicators and their thresholds, and finally, tools and lessons learned,
• The status of SRHR in Benin including country objectives in Reproductive Health, its components, its leading indicators and progress, as well as the central interventions and the coordination and monitoring-evaluation mechanism.

From the analyzes and reflections of specialists in group works, a consensus emerges on the 22 indicators selected at the regional level with the addition of 9 other indicators considered essential for SRHR monitoring in Benin. 

The matrix of the 31 SRHR scorecard indicators for Benin was also completed. This activity focused on: 

• The search for information on the definitions and calculation methods of all the indicators,
• Scoring modalities for the nine additional indicators,
• The identification of data table filling periodicity,
• The identification of scorecard users and target groups for advocacy.

In the end, the participants recommended training of the heads of planning, information, and research services of the 12 regions, a semi-annual filling of the data table, and the validation and dissemination of the results to support advocacy actions for sexual and reproductive health improvement and enjoyment of rights in Benin.