{"id":3187,"date":"2021-10-26T09:57:11","date_gmt":"2021-10-26T09:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/over-150-adolescents-meet-over-reproductive-health-rights"},"modified":"2021-10-26T10:25:25","modified_gmt":"2021-10-26T10:25:25","slug":"over-150-adolescents-meet-over-reproductive-health-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/over-150-adolescents-meet-over-reproductive-health-rights","title":{"rendered":"Over 150 adolescents meet over reproductive health rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Member of Parliament Gamariel Mbonimana has called for a change in mind-set around youth sexual and reproductive health rights if the nation is committed to building a stronger future.<\/p>\n

Mbonimana was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2-Day National Conference on Adolescents’ Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) held from October 19 to 20, 2021. The conference, which gathered over 150 participants, was hosted under the theme, \u201cAmplifying Voices towards Access to ASRHR Services\u201d.<\/p>\n

Organized by Health Development Initiative (HDI) in partnership with Plan International Rwanda and Norwegian People’s Aid, the conference was aimed at raising awareness on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and creating a space for adolescents to voice their concerns in front of duty bearers.<\/p>\n

Among the participants were adolescents from four provinces and the City of Kigali, development partners, policy makers and stakeholders, including government institutions.<\/p>\n

An opportunity<\/b><\/p>\n

Mbonimana, who was representing the Network of Rwandan Parliamentarians on Population and Development (RPRPD), pointed out that this was an opportunity for the youth to start a conversation on how best they can be supported in the area of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we really are committed to building a stronger future for our country, it is important that we change our mind-set and strive to respect the rights of our young people. This is an opportunity to share your ideas and where there are problems, we can work together to find solutions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He reminded that research indicates that teenage pregnancies are on the rise where at least 20,000 teenagers between 15 and 19 get pregnant every year.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that the reasons for these pregnancies vary and include domestic violence, poverty, lack of enough information, culture, laws and producing children beyond the couples\u2019 abilities among others. Mbonimana reminded the participants that the conference was an opportunity to discuss these causes in detail and find long term solutions for them.<\/p>\n

Call on parents<\/b><\/p>\n

He also reminded religious and local leaders, teachers and parents of their responsibility to impart clear and easy to understand sexual and reproductive health and rights information and services.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur young people who make up over 60 percent of the national population are looking at us adults for guidance. However, they are also expected to take good care of themselves and of each other. As young people, you should avoid unsafe sex and should strive to seek and take the advice of reproductive health professionals. This will help you to plan for the future without many distractions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Listen to adolescents<\/b><\/p>\n

On his part, the Executive Director of HDI, Dr. Aflodis Kagaba told the participants that his organisation has spent about 15 years trying to contribute to fixing the issue of teenage pregnancies.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur wish is for every pregnancy in our country to be a wanted one and one that has been planned for. We do not wish to see any girl drop out of school because of pregnancy. There should be combined efforts to ensure that this girl goes back to school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that teenage pregnancies are a challenge that requires a multisectoral approach and combined efforts. \u201cTo fix this, we need to hear from adolescents and teenagers. What are your expectations of us and what can we do to help you deal with this. This conference is an opportunity for you to tell us how we can work together to find solutions to this issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Eliphaz Karamage, the Adolescent Health Officer at Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) pointed out that RBC is working on availing SRHR services in places that are more accessible to young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should think of other ways, like availing services at youth centres and training service providers on how to deal with young people and how to encourage more to feel comfortable enough to seek them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Young people\u2019s voices<\/b><\/p>\n

For 16 year old Bienvenue Mihigo, although the government has made some positive steps towards ensuring Sexual Reproductive Health Rights, some work still needs to be done to guarantee complete access.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe find some laws inconvenient for us young people when it comes to seeking Sexual Reproductive Health Rights information and services. For example, the requirement that a young person must be accompanied by a parent or guardian discourages some of us from seeking these services. How am I supposed to ask my parents to go with me to get a condom?\u201d he wondered.<\/p>\n

Karongi\u2019s Francoise Tuyizere reminded that there is still an information gap especially in rural areas. \u201cThere is still a challenge of accessing the right sexual and reproductive health information all over the country but it gets worse in rural areas. Saying that you are providing a service is not enough. There is a need to evaluate if the services are being given to the right people by the right people, at the right time and if there is impact,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dan Shema from King David School touched on the issue of stigma towards teenage girls who get pregnant. “When a teenage girl gets pregnant, she is subjected to lots of stigma yet this unwanted pregnancy does not concern her alone. What plan is there to teach society about supporting teenagers that find themselves under such pressure,” he wondered. This was the second National Conference on Adolescents’ Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). The first was held in 2019.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. Member of Parliament Gamariel Mbonimana has called for a change in mind-set around youth sexual and reproductive health rights if the nation is committed to building a stronger future. Mbonimana was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2-Day National Conference on Adolescents’ Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":3186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30,761,28],"tags":[2084,760,763,2085,758],"class_list":["post-3187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-files","category-homepage-english","tag-adolescents","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-reproductive-health-rights","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nOver 150 adolescents meet over reproductive health rights - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Member of Parliament Gamariel Mbonimana has called for a change in mind-set around youth sexual and reproductive health ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/over-150-adolescents-meet-over-reproductive-health-rights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Over 150 adolescents meet over reproductive health rights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Member of Parliament Gamariel Mbonimana has called for a change in mind-set around youth sexual and reproductive health ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/over-150-adolescents-meet-over-reproductive-health-rights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-26T09:57:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-26T10:25:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2021\/10\/img-6177d77e72c54.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"847\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"491\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/over-150-adolescents-meet-over-reproductive-health-rights#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/over-150-adolescents-meet-over-reproductive-health-rights\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Over 150 adolescents meet over reproductive health rights\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-26T09:57:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-26T10:25:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/over-150-adolescents-meet-over-reproductive-health-rights\"},\"wordCount\":916,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/over-150-adolescents-meet-over-reproductive-health-rights#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2021\/10\/img-6177d77e72c54.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"adolescents\",\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"reproductive health rights\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Community\",\"files\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/over-150-adolescents-meet-over-reproductive-health-rights#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/over-150-adolescents-meet-over-reproductive-health-rights\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/over-150-adolescents-meet-over-reproductive-health-rights\",\"name\":\"Over 150 adolescents meet over reproductive health rights - 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