Attachments
Key Insights
• Plan International deeply believes in the right of all girls and women to have control over their own bodies and realise the full extent of their sexual and reproductive health and rights. We are operating in a global context where there is both promising progress and concerning setbacks and resistance to sexual and reproductive health and rights. The continued importance of programming and advocacy in this area is clear.
• This year we saw positive outcomes through our work with young people to strengthen knowledge and awareness around sexual and reproductive health and rights. This included in areas such as child, early and forced marriage and unions and female genital mutilation/cutting. Key enablers included models that combined engagement with young people with work with teachers and peer educators, involving parents and caregivers and the integration of practical support such as linkages to vocational training.
• We need to continue to advocate for investment in longer term programming. Sustained engagement in communities is fundamental to shift deep-seated norms and attitudes that act as barriers to girls and young people in all their diversity claiming their rights.
• To strengthen access to services, multi-pronged strategies are needed to address both the demand and the supply side. We saw positive trends this year where holistic approaches were used in our programming, but with increasing challenges created by situations of conflict and instability, it’s critical that further investment is focused on strengthening access to vital sexual and reproductive health services.
• Greater efforts are needed in the sexual and reproductive health sector to ensure equitable outcomes. This requires carefully tailored approaches that respond to the needs and priorities of girls and young people in all of their diversity.