Improving Adolescent Girls Access to SRHR

2018 GPI graduating girls took SRHR information and services to a rural community. The exercise was a two-day community intervention in Ekong Anaku community in Akampka Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria.

The aims were to:

• To pass on information on issues of sexual and reproductive health rights, gender and sexuality in rural communities
• To assist girls, build practical skills on community intervention/social action
• To help girls to put into practice the information/skills learned from the programme

Ekong Anaku is a community settlement of about 3,795 people, whose pre-dominate occupation is farming and trading. Reproductive health Issues identified were: teenage pregnancy, early marriage, teenage cohabitation, wife battery, Female Genital Mutilation(FGM) and Violence against girls and women. Girls held sessions with community members and engaged them in a participatory discussion were more in-depth issues were discussed. At the end information on the effects of the issues highlighted above were highlighted as well as their long term health implications on the girls and women in particular.

The second day featured medical check-up and services (drugs administration) to children, adolescent, young women, women and men. The event was a success as it helped build linkage to the health post in the community through provision of some basic drugs and health care commidoties, enhancing the populace confidence in accessing orthodox health care being that the event was held in the only health post in the community. It made health service accessible at zero cost to community members; It aided community members to know their health statues; Minimum package of health intervention was achieved as the outreach took care of behavioural (information sharing), Biomedical (the rapid test) and structural (meetings with community leaders towards promoting/strengthening healthy living) especially for the most vulnerable groups – girls and women.