Santé Sexuelle et Reproductive des adolescents au Nigeria (ASPIRE)

This project aims to improve the realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights for adolescent girls and women including vulnerable populations in Nigeria’s Bauchi and Sokoto states. Project activities include: (1) training adolescents parents and family members and mentoring adolescent girls on life skills sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) gender equality and inclusion and child protection; (2) establishing and strengthening women and adolescent savings groups and providing the groups’ participants with financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills; (3) training health care providers on gender and adolescent-responsive and inclusive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) including mental health; (4) training and supporting teachers including religious school teachers to provide information on SRH sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) prevention and response infection prevention and control and child protection; (5) training local- and state-level women’s rights organizations on advocacy for SRHR SGBV child early and forced marriage and women’s and girls’ rights; and (6) facilitating a research study led by girls and young women on decision-making around SRHR and gender equality. The project expects to reach 638 525 direct beneficiaries (481 100 girls and young women and 157 425 boys and young men) 1 185 917 indirect beneficiaries (550 632 girls and women); and 635 285 boys and men) and 1 976 intermediaries such as teachers school heads community facilitators government officials and traditional and religious leaders.

The expected results for this project include:(1) increased individual and collective agency of diverse women and adolescent girls to exercise their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and increased access to gender and adolescent-responsive and inclusive SRH services; (2) strengthened health systems to provide gender and adolescent-responsive inclusive integrated and innovative SRHR and protection services for women and adolescent girls; and (3) improved responsiveness of local stakeholders to provide evidence-based integrated accountable and equitable policies legal frameworks and SRHR and protection services.