Project profile — Improving Adolescents and Youth’s Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (RESPECT)

• Burkina Faso (37.67%)
• Benin (28.66%)
• Haiti (33.67%)

• Population policy and administrative management:
Population policy and administrative management (13010) (22.00%)
Reproductive health care (13020) (36.00%)
Family planning (13030) (11.00%)
• Government And Civil Society, General: Ending violence against women and girls (15180) (29.00%)
• Unallocated/ Unspecified: Promotion of development awareness (99820) (2.00%)

• Youth Issues (significant objective)
• Nutrition (significant objective)
• Gender equality (principal objective)

This project aims to improve access to sexual and reproductive health care for marginalized and vulnerable people, particularly adolescent girls and young women between the ages of 10 and 24, in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Haiti. Project activities include: (1) providing training to teachers and educators on comprehensive sexual education; (2) providing training to health care providers on high-quality, gender-sensitive and adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services, particularly for adolescent girls and young women; (3) organizing awareness-raising campaigns targeted at parents and community members on improving their general knowledge about the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of adolescent girls and young women, to dispel stigma, and to encourage productive communication around sexual and reproductive topics; (4) working with youth and women’s rights groups to advocate for better SRHR policies in all three countries; and (5) leading an educational campaign across Canada, particularly targeting young Canadians, to raise awareness around SRHR and sexual and gender-based violence. The project expects to benefit 850,000 people across all three countries. Doctors of the World is implementing this project in partnership with Lawyers without Borders Canada, and several local partners, including women’s groups and government agencies across all three countries.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased equitable use of sexual and reproductive health services, especially by vulnerable and marginalized adolescent girls and young women aged 10 to 24 years in the targeted countries’ regions; (2) improved provision of gender sensitive, inclusive and accountable health services by health care providers, particularly to adolescent girls and young women aged 10 to 24 years in the targeted countries’ regions; and (3) improved effectiveness of women’s and girls’ rights organizations and health authorities in advocating for evidence based, accountable and equitable SRHR policies and legal frameworks.

Results achieved through March 2026 include: 1) supported awareness-raising activities on issues of sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, and related rights, targeting adolescents and young people. The beneficiaries of these activities are 2,691 peer educators, comprising 482 women and 259 men in Benin, 957 women and 589 men in Burkina Faso, and 265 women and 139 men in Haiti; 2) trained 2,184 health facility staff members, including 1,740 women and 444 men. The training focused on providing high-quality sexual and reproductive health services that are sensitive to and respectful of the needs and rights of adolescents and young people in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Haiti; 3) implemented advanced health and sexual and reproductive health strategies to reach and provide services to vulnerable adolescent girls and young people in remote areas. They reached 219,484 adolescents and young people, including 22,481 women, 13,809 men, and 20 non-binary individuals in Benin; 97,986 women and 69,850 men in Burkina Faso; and 7,366 women and 7,972 men in Haiti; 4) Supported changes in norms and policies at the national or regional level in favor of the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescents and young people. More specifically, 3 changes were identified in Benin, 7 in Burkina Faso, and 2 in Haiti, demonstrating an increased commitment by national stakeholders to strengthen normative and policy frameworks related to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

• Proactive disclosure