World Contraception Day: EU-LA cooperation for the sexual and reproductive rights of adolescent girls

Teenage pregnancy has a long-term impact on the life paths of both these girls and their partners. It has a negative effect on their access to education and employment and hinders their psychosocial development. These premature pregnancies can also cause health problems for both them and the child and contribute to perpetuating intergenerational cycles of poverty and poor health.

To address this multifaceted problem, it is essential to deploy prevention responses based on interinstitutional coordination and the commitment of the various stakeholders in sustainable development. A holistic approach, including health and education programmes and involving both men and families, aims to bring about changes in cultural models by combating stereotypes.  

Among the countries in the LAC region, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama and Uruguay are countries with high rates of premature pregnancies and/or unions among adolescent girls. Under the EUROsociAL+ Programme, whose Gender Component is implemented by Expertise France, strategies have been developed to prevent them and assist adolescent girls in a responsible manner.

Ensuring that adolescent girls remain in school

The lack of schooling for girls is one of the main sources of gender inequality. It has an impact on the integration into working life and socio-professional consequences throughout their lives. Ensuring that pregnant adolescent girls and young mothers remain in the education system is therefore just as important as preventing pregnancies.

As part of the Gender Equity and Equality Policy for the Education Sector, a Protocol has been prepared with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to ensure that pregnant girls and adolescents who are already mothers remain in school in El Salvador. Its objective is to allow them to successfully complete their studies through coordination between schools, parents and other relevant institutions. This Protocol is also a fundamental component for the consolidation of the National Intersectoral Strategy for the Prevention of Pregnancy in Girls and Adolescents (2017-2027).

Intersectorality: a key instrument for sustainable prevention strategies

The National and Intersectoral Strategy for the Prevention of Unintended Adolescent Pregnancy in Uruguay (2016-2020) is a clear example of multi-stakeholder work in the LAC region.

It was based on a working group composed of the Ministry of Public Health (MSP), the Ministry of Social Development (MIDES), the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC), the Office of Planning and Budget (OPP), the National Administration of Public Education (ANEP), the Uruguayan Institute for Children and Adolescents (INAU) and the State Health Services Administration (ASSE). Civil society and academia have consequently been given a key role in its construction.

With support from EUROsociAL+, Uruguay's strategy and experience have been shared with a delegation from Panama (represented by the National Council of Pregnant Minors - CONAMA), which went to Uruguay to learn about the benefits, weaknesses and challenges of an interinstitutional policy. This experience has made key contributions for the implementation of Panama’s law on pregnancy among girls and adolescent girls.

European Union-Latin America cooperation: a source of innovation

EUROsociAL+ had identified the teenage pregnancy prevention strategy implemented in the UK for over 20 years as a successful policy and role model for Latin America. It is an example of a public initiative, based on studies, conducted at the national and regional level with long-term resources and has reduced the pregnancy rate among adolescent girls aged under 18 by 51%.

With the support of the programme, a Uruguayan delegation went to the UK (while it was still an EU member) to facilitate the exchange of good practices. The interinstitutional delegation went to Queen's University Belfast (QUB) in Northern Ireland to find out about the design and development of the “If I were Jack” project. The project’s objective is to provide decision-making tools, reduce sexual risk-taking behaviour and tackle gender inequalities in sexual and reproductive health. The LAC region did not have this type of tool. Universidad de la Republica de Uruguay, with assistance from QUB, has now adapted this project to the Latin American context under the name “Si yo fuera Juan”. This project integrates, in a dynamic and educational way, the role and participation of male adolescents in the prevention of unintended pregnancies. Similarly, it promotes sexual education using an experienced-based approach.

A second study visit was organised in Eastern Europe (Bulgaria) with representatives from Mexico, Panama and the Dominican Republic. This exchange made it possible to work on intercultural issues and the territorialisation of strategies to prevent pregnancies among adolescent girls. The delegation met public actors and NGOs which provide Holistic Sexuality Education to young mothers and access to contraceptives in deprived neighbourhoods.

Intersectorality, multiculturalism and the inclusion of boys and men in the continuous implementation and evaluation programmes all contribute to ensuring the sustainability of public policies. EUROsociAL+ has assisted various countries in the region with this issue, in order to ensure that the girls of today and women of tomorrow have a completely independent life.