Challenging the Politics of Social Exclusion (CPSE) Program

Abstract

This program brief introduces the Challenging the Politics of Social Exclusion (CPSE) Program Phase 2, a three-year initiative funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and implemented by the African Population and Health Research Center. Building on the first phase of the program, implemented from 2018 to 2024, CPSE 2.0 seeks to support the constellation of government and civil society actors working to overcome barriers to the full domestication and realization of continental sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) commitments across Africa. The program positions APHRC as a critical and neutral knowledge partner to key actors at the continental level, at the sub-regional level in Eastern, Southern, and Western Africa, and in eight countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Zambia. Across these geographies, CPSE works to broker evidence and support partners in developing and marshaling effective, evidence-based policy engagement and advocacy on three focal SRHR issues: the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescents, access to safe abortion, and the rights of sexual and gender minorities.