Uplift Her: Improving the sexual and reproductive health and nutrition status of adolescents

This project contributes to improving the health and well-being of the most vulnerable adolescent girls in Ethiopia in particular out-of-school girls and young mothers in the Afar and Oromia regions. It seeks to enhance adolescent girls’ access to Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Nutrition (ASRHN) services and to improve their economic independence through nutrition and climate-smart income generation. Project activities include: (1) providing capacity-building training and coaching to health care providers government staff and community facilitators to deliver integrated and comprehensive gender and adolescent-responsive ASRHN services; (2) establishing and rehabilitating gender-responsive and sustainable water sources including rainwater storage and solar water systems; (3) providing gender-responsive technical assistance for the establishment and operationalization of Youth-Led Savings and Loans Association including skills-based training in entrepreneurship and financial literacy; (4) reactivating Sexual and Gender-Based Violence committees at the district level; and (5) delivering gender-responsive and age-specific training on sexual and reproductive health rights and nutrition (SRHN) and related life skills to in-school and out-of-school adolescent girls and boys. The project aims to reach 204 110 girls boys women and men directly. The ultimate beneficiaries are 128 518 adolescents which includes 63 879 out-of-school girls 34 144 in-school girls 18 501 out-of-school boys and 11 994 in-school boys. Because adolescent girls have less access to SRHN information and services and girls who are married young are much more likely to be malnourished this project focuses on out-of-school girls and young married mothers.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) improved gender and adolescent responsive services in sexual and reproductive health and nutrition; (2) increased equitable participation of vulnerable adolescents in diversified climate resilient economic activities and in good health and nutrition practices; and (3) improved decision-making of young people especially out-of-school adolescent girls on their own health and well-being.