SANSAS
Reproductive Health of Adolescents and Young People in Senegal
Project information
Themes: Family planning, Gender-based and sexual violence, Comprehensive sexuality education, Child, early, and forced marriage, Empowerment/leadership
Budget: €1,059,739 (Equipop, 8 million in total)
Country: Senegal (Thiès and Sédhiou regions)
Fund: Strategic funds
Donors:
French Development Agency
Project partners:
The project
SANSAS aims to improve access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for adolescents and young people, with a particular focus on girls, women, and vulnerable individuals. This improvement involves ensuring access to high-quality, appropriate health services and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education, as well as reducing gender inequalities and the resulting violence.
To achieve this objective, the SANSAS project focuses on three specific areas:
i) Expand and improve SRH services through innovative strategies tailored to the context and target audience: strengthen the skills of health professionals and mobilize communities to ensure service quality.
ii) Strengthen adolescents' and young people's skills in SRHR. This will enable them to make informed decisions about their emotional and sexual lives, while reducing gender-based inequalities, discrimination, and violence.
iii) Contribute to strengthening a favorable social and legal environment at the local and national levels: through awareness-raising and advocacy activities targeting key stakeholders and the production of knowledge necessary for public and political dialogue. Equipop is particularly committed to this approach.
In this context, Equipop supports 60 young leaders who actively participate in decision-making at every stage of the project. This empowerment approach enables adolescents and young people to:
► Equip themselves to develop their knowledge and skills
► Lead social mobilization activities and become actors in their communities
► Advance and uphold their rights by amplifying their voices
These young people have thus advocated at the local level, highlighting the continuum of violence (sexual exploitation and unwanted teenage pregnancies). At the national level, advocacy with the Directorate of Maternal and Child Health (DSME) aims to involve young people in decision-making bodies.
By actively participating in decisions that affect them, young people become agents of change, forcefully asserting their rights and contributing to a more just and inclusive society!
Equipop is also involved in transferring knowledge gained from the Sansas project. This work consists of promoting and supporting the systematization, dissemination, and appropriation of effective interventions in the field of SSRAJ in Senegal among local, national, and international actors. This involves producing and raising awareness of the academic and experiential knowledge gained from Sansas through a variety of dissemination materials and activities. It facilitates dialogue between different actors and the promotion of a common advocacy message, which is particularly necessary in the current context of rising anti-rights movements.
Further information
Publications
Testimonial, Capitalization sheet, Valuation & capitalization
Senegal: healthcare providers' perceptions of young people
Presentation, Capitalization sheet, Evaluation & capitalization, Analysis and report, Restitution & contribution
SANSAS – Meeting the health needs of 10-14 year olds in Senegal
Capitalization sheet, Valuation & capitalization, Analysis and report
Senegal: A transformative approach to gender in the service of health rights
Capitalization sheet, Tool & recommendation, Restitution & contribution
SANSAS – From empowerment to teen advocacy
