Plan International commits $500 million to improve SRHR for girls & adolescents by 2025.

In support of the Every Woman Every Child Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health (EWEC Global Strategy), Plan International is committing to deliver $500 million to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and adolescents by 2025.

A key objective under the Thrive pillar of the EWEC Global Strategy is to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services—including for family planning—and rights, for all women and girls, no matter where they are. Too few adolescents have access to information and counselling, as well as integrated, youth-friendly services, especially for sexual and reproductive health, without facing discrimination or other obstacles.

Despite international human rights standards and national commitments to guarantee the mental and physical health of every woman and every child, adolescent girls are at risk of pregnancy as well as forced and early marriage, sexual and gender-based violence and exploitation. In particular in crisis settings, the rights and needs of adolescent girls are often overlooked.

By guaranteeing universal sexual and reproductive health and rights, we can and will advance gender equality, help ensure that adolescent girls and women can make informed choices about their lives and bring the world much closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

“Plan International aims to be the world largest rights-based organisation committed to achieving equality for girls. It is crucial that we challenge gender inequality and the social norms that hinder the fulfilment of the sexual and reproductive health and rights of children, adolescents and young people, in particular girls and young women.”—Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, CEO Plan International and member of the High-Level Steering Group for Every Woman Every Child.

Photo caption: In the Far-North region of Cameroon, only a small fraction of women and girls can afford sanitary products, they improvise by using newspapers, leaves, pieces of clothes, cow dung, and other materials for menstrual hygiene; consequently, young girls stay away from school during their menstruation period.

In order to improve school attendance and prevent serious health consequences such as urinary tract infections and reproductive health issues that can arise from the use of these materials, Plan International Cameroon distributed hygiene kits to girls aged between 14–24 years after an educative training session.