Through A360, we’ve seen firsthand how catalytic sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programming can be when we support girls to tap into their own agency to achieve their goals.
And yes, we have made inroads in what it looks like to dare girls to dream – but the truth is that we aren’t doing enough to help them actually fulfill those dreams.
We’re fractured when we take a one sector-only approach —and deliver girls broken promises, as a result.
Girls’ lives (and what it takes to help them thrive) span education, finance, labor, tech, media, agriculture, justice… you name it.
Girls need and want so much more than SRH services to make their voices heard and persevere in their journey to achieving those dreams, stay resilient and progress toward a stable and inspiring future.
The Opportunity is There
In emerging countries, 53.8 million youth are unemployed; 3 in 10 young women in developing countries are out of the labor force and not in school.
Though the school enrollment gender gap might be closing, the labor force participation gender gap is on the rise.
Aspirational programming for SRH health programs is an evidence-based approach to reaching youth with critical health services.
But if those aspirations aren’t met with actionable, reliable opportunities for girls to better their lives, where does this leave them? What can, and what should we be doing in response?
How can we work across sectors to actually fulfill our promise to improve girls’ lives – within and beyond their reproductive health?
Keep exploring
PSI is pledging to identify, train and deploy a corps of 500 young people from around the world with the skills to co-design and implement adolescent and youth SRH programs alongside technical experts—all by 2030.
These Youth Fellows will be employed as practitioners in programs within and beyond PSI, working as researchers, analysts, advocates and community-level champions who can counsel teams on how to apply meaningful youth engagement.
Learn how the pledge is part of PSI’s larger global vision to work alongside cross-sectoral partners to create pathways to bring in youth at younger ages and provide them with opportunities that extend well beyond the fellowship, itself.
Looking for more?
Do you work with young people?
The A360 Open Source’s Youth Engagement Plan can support your team to ensure youth voices are justly represented in your programs, making your programs more effective, accountable, and relevant to your youth population.
Dig in, here.
