Project profile — Protecting Adolescent Health and Rights in Nigeria and Senegal

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (i) increased practice among adolescents of healthy behaviours that reduce risks from HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and early/unwanted pregnancies; (ii) improved protection of children and youth from violence and sexual abuse; and (iii) increased engagement in income earning activities by program participants.

Results as of the end of the project (April 2017) include: (1) 9,278 youth (6,799 girls) have been reached in Senegal and Nigeria with adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights education. The increase in reproductive health knowledge has resulted in increased confidence of youth to communicate their rights, and also in the ability of communities to better identify, discuss and respond to allegations of sexual abuse; (2) youth who could identify two or three methods of contraception increased by 88% from baseline. This increased knowledge improved their ability to talk openly with family members, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and early or unwanted pregnancies; (3) 100 community-level groups, neighbour councils and parent groups were created, that have helped support improved protection for youth from violence and sexual abuse; (4) there was a decrease in the percentage of youth who have experienced sexual coercion (5.9% weighted average for Nigeria and Senegal) and who thought it justified hitting their female partners (8.1%); and (5) in Nigeria, 180 out-of-school youth (126 girls) received vocational training directly from the project, 100 different youths (70 girls) received business training and start-up capital from the project. The project supported adolescent youth in Senegal and Nigeria in taking control of their reproductive health, protecting themselves from sexual violence, and resisting early and forced marriage