Equipop and the Scouts of Niger were in Accra, Ghana, from February 8 to 12 to represent Alliance Droits et Santé at the seventh African Conference on Sexual Health and Rights (CASDS). CASDS is intended to be a pan-African forum for sharing and discussing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This year, 600 participants—civil society organizations (CSOs), activists, media, technical and financial partners, and government representatives—made the trip to discuss SRHR for adolescent girls and the realization of the demographic dividend in sub-Saharan Africa. Here are four key takeaways from the conference!
Teenage girls demand their right to participate
Across the continent, adolescent girls participate in or create spaces to make their voices heard on SRHR issues, particularly FP, sexual and gender-based violence, child marriage, and female genital mutilation. There are various formal platforms and networks that enable young people and adolescent girls to participate in the development and monitoring of public programs and policies on SRHR. But more needs to be done to ensure that their voices really count! The Alliance Droits et Santé network has therefore made the participation of adolescent girls in public programs and policies on SRHR one of its advocacy priorities.
Teenage girls assert their diversity
Not all adolescent girls are the same. We must recognize and realize the rights of adolescent girls living with disabilities, vulnerable young people in urban and rural areas, young married girls and young mothers, and adolescent girls who have dropped out of school.
Teenage girls demand their right to appropriate SRH services
Studies have been conducted to identify what works in terms of SRH services tailored to young people. We know, for example, that it is not necessary to provide separate services for adolescent girls, but that it is better to use and adapt existing services. It is also crucial to continuously build the capacity of health workers in order to improve the quality of services offered to adolescent girls. Finally, young people need to be more involved, which would also make it possible to offer high-quality services that truly meet their needs.
Teenage girls demand to live free from all forms of violence
Child marriage, sexual and gender-based violence, and female genital mutilation are all forms of violence against girls. During his speech at the launch of CASDS, the President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, explicitly condemned the practice of child marriage. During CASDS, the Ghanaian chapter of the African Union's campaign to end child marriage in Africa by 2020 was launched, recognizing this practice as a form of violence with dramatic consequences. SRHR actors across the continent must now work together to ensure that government commitments and positions do not remain dead letters. Since 2013, Alliance Droits et Santé has been mobilizing communities and policy makers to strengthen the participation and consideration of the SRHR needs of young people and adolescents in French-speaking West Africa. We leave Accra with new ideas and strengthened convictions to fuel our advocacy and social mobilization work to improve the status and health of this key population.
