Project profile — ACT WOMEN: Empowering Women and Adolescent Girls in Tchologo Communities

• Côte d'Ivoire (100.00%)

• Basic health care:
Basic health care (12220) (25.00%)
Basic nutrition (12240) (5.00%)
• Population policy and administrative management:
Population policy and administrative management (13010) (35.00%)
Personnel development for population and reproductive health (13081) (35.00%)

• Gender equality (principal objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (significant objective)
• Participatory development and good governance (significant objective)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (significant objective)
• Youth Issues (significant objective)
• Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR) (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Nutrition (significant objective)
• ICT as a tool for development (significant objective)

This project aims to empower women and adolescent girls and improve their sexual and reproductive health, as well as maternal and infant health, in the Tchologo region of Côte d’Ivoire. Project’s activities include: (1) conducting analyses on gender roles within the community and identifying socio-cultural barriers to access to services and risk factors; (2) raising awareness among communities, mothers, husbands and adolescents to improve behaviours related to sexual and reproductive health, maternal and infant health, nutrition, and outbreak prevention; (3) supporting members of women’s and adolescent girls’ associations in establishing healthy and sustainable association management mechanisms; (4) training and raising awareness among community leaders and officials on inclusive governance so that women and adolescent girls can participate in local decision making; and (5) training women’s and adolescent girls’ associations on the use of referral services and mechanisms for survivors of gender based violence. This project is intended to directly benefit more than 192,000 people (more than 62% of whom are women and adolescent girls) and, indirectly, the entire population of the 15 targeted health zones in the Tchologo region, or more than 328,000 people.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) women and girls have more influence over the availability and quality of services related to sexual and reproductive health, maternal and infant health, nutrition, psychosocial support, prevention, and outbreak response; (2) women, girls and their representative organizations are more involved in social accountability and decision making mechanisms; and (3) women and girls are more empowered to exercise their rights in relation to equality, sexual and reproductive health, and the elimination of gender based violence.

Results achieved up to March 2024 include: (1) improved participation of women to the various management committee meetings of 13 out of 15 health centers supported by the project; (2) improved the provision of health services tailored to the real needs of women and adolescents supported by the post training follow-up of 28 health workers; (3) increased capacity of women on their rights as well as inclusive governance and gender equality, thanks to four three-day training sessions that mobilized 18 public administration officials and 46 community leaders; and (4) 272 vulnerable women aged 25 to 49 and 159 adolescents aged 15 to 24 benefited from improved access to consultations at the three legal clinics set up in the social centers of Ferkessédougou, Kong, and Diawala, thus becoming more autonomous in exercising their sexual and reproductive health rights.

• Proactive disclosure
• Related activities: ACT WOMEN: Empowering Women and Adolescent Girls in Tchologo Communities - 2