In Niger, adolescents and young people aged between 10 and 24 represent 33% of the population, with a growth rate of 3.7%, according to the Niger 2021 Statistical Yearbook. Adolescents and young people are highly vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections, early and unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions and other risky behaviors such as prostitution, drug use, poor hygiene, dropping out of school and all forms of violence. There are also a number of barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health services – such as social norms, legal restrictions, insufficient availability of services and negative attitudes of providers – that prevent adolescent girls from accessing sexual and reproductive health services.

Description

The FOUNDATIONS project is a six-year initiative (2021-2027) funded by Canada’s Department of International Affairs, which aims to strengthen adolescent sexual and reproductive health adolescent sexual and reproductive health. It focuses on empowering marginalized adolescent girls in Mali, Niger, and Sierra Leone to exercise their rights to sexual and reproductive health, particularly in the Maradi and Diffa regions of Niger.

To assess the obstacles and enabling factors affecting adolescent sexual and reproductive health, as well as the effects of FOUNDATIONS’ interventions, a study will be conducted by EVIHDAF in collaboration with GAGE and Save the Children Canada. This study will take place in the Tessaoua health district across four project intervention sites (Oura, Maiguije, Magaria Sud, and Awache) and a control site without project intervention (Garare).

Study aim and objectives

This study aims is to understand the obstacles and factors that contribute to improving the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents. These include:

• Explore the factors that promote or hinder the use of ASRH information and services;
• Explain the specificity of factors according to the status of individuals, families, and communities;
• Examine the effects of interventions, including those of FOUNDATIONS, on improving ASRH;
• Identify needs for improving ASRH.