Reaching the Poorest: Quality Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Mozambique

The project aims to improve the quality of sexual and reproductive health services for 62 000 adolescent boys and girls (between the ages of 10 and 19 years) in and out of school. It is designed to address the social cultural and gender barriers faced by adolescents and promote cultural and behavioural change within communities in the districts of Milange Morrumbala and Derre in Zambézia province. Project activities include: (1) providing gender-sensitive and adolescent-friendly information about sexual and reproductive health and rights and related services in schools health centers and communities reaching up to 50 000 community members (of which 30 000 are women); (2) promoting community engagement and raising awareness around traditional adolescent initiation rites; and (3) supporting Children’s Parliaments a platform where children and youth are able to share their views to the government and other key stakeholders.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) improved equitable access to high quality gender-sensitive adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services and information for rural adolescent girls and boys in health facilities primary schools and communities; (2) enhanced use of gender-sensitive adolescent-friendly SRHR services and information in health facilities primary schools and communities by rural adolescent girls and boys through training community change agents and facilitators of initiation rites on adolescent SRHR and gender equality; and (3) reduced gender-based discrimination in the implementation of health policies at provincial and district levels for equitable access of adolescent girls and boys to quality SRHR services and information.