Save the Children Launches New Program to Promote Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in Bolivia

Thanks to funding from the Government of Canada, Save the Children and Unicef will launch a new program to support the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescents in Bolivia.

The $9.1 million program, over five years, will aim to increase access to quality health care services in Bolivia, where seven out of ten women have suffered from sexual and gender-based violence.

Adolescents in Bolivia are particularly vulnerable to domestic and sexual and gender-based violence, unwanted pregnancies, maternal mortality, STIs and HIV/AIDS.

“Too many young people, especially girls, don’t have access to the health care or support they need. This fuels an environment where their rights are not valued or respected. Our program hopes to change this, so young girls and boys can lead healthy, productive lives” said Bill Chambers, President and CEO of Save the Children.

In recent years, nearly 58,000 cases of violence against women have been recorded, 54 per cent of which involved adolescents and young people who do not receive any form of care or support, according to the National Demographics and Health Survey in 2008.

With better access to quality health care and sexual and reproductive health services, the program aims to create an environment that promotes gender equality, sociocultural inclusion, and encourage adolescents to exercise their full rights “to live well”.

Save the Children’s $4.8m funding, over four years, will focus on strengthening gender-sensitive reproductive health services for adolescents, improving sexuality education in schools, increasing knowledge and skills, creating peer support networks and promoting public policies to advance gender equality. The program will also provide comprehensive gender-sensitive sexual reproductive health for adolescents, particularly girls, in a context of rights and social inclusion.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

* Save the Children has been working in Bolivia since 1987.

* Sexual and gender based violence is a problem in Bolivia, where seven out of ten women in the country have suffered from violence. Despite the introduction of a law condemning violence against women in 2013. In recent years 57,773 cases of violence against women have been recorded, 54 per cent of which

involved adolescents and young people who do not receive any form of care or support (National Demographics and Health Survey 2008).

* A comparative study based on data from 144 countries found that maternal mortality among women aged 15–19 in Bolivia was double that of women aged 20–24.

* 32% of young mothers are single mothers. According to UNICEF State of the World’s Children (2016), 3% of girls get married by the age of 15 and 22% of girls get married by 18.

* 51.9% of girls ages 15 to 19 who are single are sexually active, 59.1% of girls in the same range of age who are married or in union do not use any kind of contraceptive method (ENSAB 2008).