Improving Adolescent Health in the Great Lakes Region

A conference on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) was held in Kigali, Rwanda on 28-29 June to foster dialogue and reinforce partnership on SRHR of adolescents in the African Great Lakes region. The event was co-hosted by Swiss TPH, who presented their project Jeune S3.

The Jeune S3 project empowers young people to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health rights (Photo: Cordaid for Next Generation)

Young people comprise the majority of the population in the Great Lakes region (Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi and Rwanda), yet they face barriers in accessing basic health services, information and other commodities related to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

Numerous organisations are engaged in improving the SRHR of adolescents through strategies such as youth friendly services, comprehensive sexuality education and youth engagement and empowerment. The Regional Practitioners Conference on SRHR brought these partners together to foster knowledge sharing and to reinforce collaboration between donors, governments and other stakeholders to ultimately improve SRHR of adolescents in the Great Lakes Region.

Jeune S3: health, sexuality, security

The Jeune S3 project focuses on improving the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescents in Cameroon, Central African Republic and DRC (South and North Kivu). Swiss TPH is implementing sexual education and life skills education for youth in 90 schools in DRC, with an additional 40 schools planned for 2018. “We are collaborating closely with the provincial authorities and the Ministry of Education to ensure the ownership of the sexuality education programme by all actors, from teachers, to school directors and community leaders. Through our monitoring research, the youth have a direct say on the quality of the sexuality education they receive.” said Ernest Clément Mendy, project coordinator at Swiss TPH.

Jeune S3 aims to strengthen young people’s access to quality SRHR services and education until 2020. It is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by a large consortium led by the NGO Cordaid.

Sexual and Reproductive Health at Swiss TPH

Swiss TPH is active in a broad range of activities related to quality sexual and reproductive health with a focus on adolescence, gender and communities. The work includes access to information on family planning, sexually transmitted diseases, contraception and more across the entire value chain from innovation and validation to application, to sustainably improve and maintain the health and well-being of populations.