The Solutions for Supporting Healthy Adolescents and Rights Protection (SHARP) program brings together a special collection of organizations, including experts in the fields of adolescence, commerce, gender, SRH, and religion. The Experts have a history of conducting research and advocating for changes in policy that have a positive effect. The project will make use of these abilities and experiences to involve policymakers, the private sector, faith leaders, influencers, and teenagers in order to improve access to SRH services and products and, ultimately, bring about lasting improvements to health and well-being, particularly for adolescent girls.
In order to progress ASRHR, especially for girls and other vulnerable adolescents, the initiative seeks to persuade duty-bearers to adopt, develop, enhance, and execute (sub) national and regional policies and budgets. We will assist SRH service providers, including those in the public, private, and religious sectors, in offering high-quality services and supplies, such as family planning. Through this program, decision-makers will address ASRHR at the subnational, national, and regional levels using inclusive multi-sector platforms, and opinion leaders will have strengthened their voices to put ASRHR on the public agenda by utilizing their various constituencies and communication channels, such as social media, mass media, and faith media.
Peter Munene, the CEO of Faith to Action Network, made the following observations when discussing the constructive role that religious leaders in particular can play:
“Faith leaders require and can also provide a safe space to discuss issues of adolescent sexual reproductive health to achieve consensus on how to approach the issues. We have to always remember and respect that Faith Leaders are guided by Holy Scriptures and values. From our work at Faith to Action Network, we have put Faith Leaders at the centre of our advocacy in terms of advancing SRH as they bring with them influence and convening authority in our advocacy. It is very important to recognise that as we work with Faith Leaders, they need a safe space which gives them the opportunity to deeply reflect and reach consensus, even on contentious issues.”
This four-year program, which is supported by the EU, aims to lower sociocultural and religious barriers in the Great Lakes region while increasing accessibility to ASRH services and goods by increasing their availability, acceptability, acceptability, and quality (Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia).
