Strengthening health systems for integrated and transformative SRHR

This project aims to address key gender inequality and human rights issues. This includes harmful social norms regarding gender and sexuality lack of adequate information or access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. This includes particularly safe abortion lack of decision-making power by girls and women regarding their health and sexuality and limited capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) to effectively advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This includes women’s rights organizations and youth-led organizations. Project activities include: (1) providing technical support to selected facilities for the development and implementation of quality improvement mechanisms (including procurement); (2) delivering trainings to health care providers on gender responsive SRH services including abortion; (3) delivering comprehensive sexuality education to adolescents and young people from marginalized communities in and out of schools; (4) providing SRHR awareness campaigns to community influencers; (5) providing technical assistance to local CSOs in project countries on advocating for SRHR at local national regional and international levels; and (6) delivering technical assistance to Canadian CSOs on promoting human rights based approaches to SRH among Canadians. This project directly benefits 2 450 094 people (2 039 193 women girls and young women and 410 901 men and boys) in Benin Nigeria and Mozambique including persons with disabilities LGBTQ communities and internally displaced persons. Also the project indirectly benefits 4 697 990 people including community members health care workers teachers youth peer educators youth networks and community leaders.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) increased resilience of health systems to deliver integrated quality and gender-responsive SRH services. This includes abortion to women adolescents and most marginalized communities in targeted regions of Benin Mozambique and Nigeria; (2) increased uptake of integrated quality gender-responsive SRH services including abortion care from women adolescents and most marginalized communities in targeted regions of Benin Mozambique and Nigeria; and (3) strengthened enabling environments for the respect protection and fulfillment of SRHR by governments and key stakeholders nationally regionally and internationally.