Stakeholders deliberate on comprehensive sexual reproductive health right services

The three-day event organised in Accra last Wednesday created a platform for stakeholders to discuss and share best practices on an EmpowHER project.

The project is implemented by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) of which the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) is a member.

It was on the theme: “Advancing Gender Equality and Empowerment Through Comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).

Initiative

EmpowHER is a six-year transformative initiative under the IPPF designed to enhance access to comprehensive SRHR services.

Participants

The project, which supports Member Associations (MAs) to improve health outcomes and gender equality, is funded by Global Affairs Canada.

The annual meeting also serves as a critical platform for stakeholders to reflect on their achievements and challenges for the first year and to strategically plan for the second year.

Boy child

The President of Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), Gideon Leckson Leckey, said the project was crucial since it empowered women and children socially and economically to make informed decisions.

“Recently there was a survey that indicated that a lot of young girls, especially in the Ashanti Region area, were having multiple sexual partners.

“We realised that most of them have not been educated on how to protect themselves,” he said.

He identified poverty as another factor for the prevalence and said it was important to provide and allow easy SRH.

He also stressed the need to educate the boy child and not leave them behind in the empowering agenda.

“As much as we empower young women, we also need to empower the boy child to have the responsibility to support them and provide that supportive environment,” he said.

Collaborate

The Project Lead for EmpowHER project, Naadu Awuradwoa Addico, explained that the meeting provided participants with the avenue to collaborate to address persistent barriers to gender equality and SRHR access.

She said it was also to help them identify areas of synergy to avoid duplication of efforts in the regions.

“Already, we have started the processes to get Reproductive Health Education integrated into our curriculum and build the capacity of peer educators who bring accurate information to their fellow peers,” she said.

She stated that they however face the challenge of getting some stakeholders on board to champion some policies and changing gender norms which is sometimes met with some resistance.

Commitment

The Deputy Director of Global Affairs Canada, Francoise Nduwimana, called for a collective effort to ensure that young women could access SRH safely, and plan their pregnancies to reduce intergenerational cycles of poverty.

She said they had increased investments in comprehensive sexual education and created a future where women and girls would understand their bodies, choices and rights.

She pledged their continuous support to the project to expand access to SHR.

The Global Director, Development and Impact of the IPPF, Manuelle Hurwitz, also reaffirmed their collective commitment to diversity, gender equality, and SRHR.