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Fix hurdles in reproductive health services
Ms Eunice Wachira, a reproductive health expert, trains journalists during a family planning campaign seminar in Nyeri on September 21, 2012.
Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are crucial entitlements relating to women and girls. These rights address the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/Aids, gender-based violence, maternal mortality and the provision of essential health services.
Since the International Conference on Population and Development 2019 and the Program of Action, national SRHR policies and programmes have been found to support societies and contribute to a country’s wealth. The importance of SRHR is further underscored by section 5.6 of Sustainable Development Goal 3, dedicated to achieving SRHR for all.
Human rights-based approaches emphasizing rights over needs have become the focus of sustainable strategies for change.
The basic principles include empowerment of the marginalised, open participation, accountability and defined and established linkages between rights-holders and duty-bearers.
Duty-bearers
This approach empowers citizens to claim their rights and duty-bearers to meet their obligations. It considers the vulnerable and the marginalised. Achieving these principles requires coordinated, multi-sectoral approaches, based on an analytical understanding of the needs of groups, available resources and challenges.
While many of today’s adolescent girls are better educated and more aware of their rights, these threats are still prevalent, especially among adolescents in poor marginalised rural areas.
Adolescent girls who migrate, often on their own, are emerging in many countries as a large group at high risk of violence, exploitation and potentially poor SRH outcomes.
Early marriage is still prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and it goes hand in hand with the exclusion of girls from the decision on when and whom to marry, exposing many girls to major risks.
The government should allocate more resources to sexual and reproductive health initiatives to reduce the burden of HIV/Aids and teen pregnancy.
Mr Abdallah Shuaib is Executive Director, Epic Youth Organization.
