What impact does the "My health, my rights" project have on the population? Answers from Awa Faly Ba, Resident Representative of Plan International Togo

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Extract from the article: The right to health is a fundamental right for children, adolescents and people in general. It is often the case that when it comes to the right to health, the specificity of the girl child and the adolescent girl is overlooked when focusing on the f

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The right to health is a fundamental right for children, adolescents and people in general. It is often the case that when it comes to the right to health, the specificity of the girl child and the adolescent girl is overlooked when focusing on the female adult age group or the youth group. The "My Health, My Rights" project particularly aims to emphasise the right to health of the adolescent girl with concrete access. The dimension of the right to access to health for the girl child should allow for an intergenerational and multi-actor dialogue with a leadership dimension. Each time Plan International sets up a project, there are two fundamental elements that are taken into account, namely the question of protection to ensure the best interests of the participant, but also the question of the transformation of society in terms of gender and equality.

The "My Health, My Rights" project financed to the tune of 886 057 650 F CFA by the European Commission and PlanBØRNEfonden Denmark for a duration of 03 years aims to ensure that adolescent girls and young women, whether or not they are in school, have access to comprehensive education on sexuality. With our implementing partners, the Ministry of Primary, Secondary and Technical Education and Handicrafts, the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene, the Ministry of Social Action for the Promotion of Women and Literacy, the communities of the prefectures of Zio, Vo and Yoto prefectures of the Maritime Region and the NGO La Colombe, we will make sure that this project respects our values and the legislation to enable adolescent girls and young women to have all the necessary information to be able to make decisions concerning their bodies and their sexual lives. It is also an opportunity through this project to go beyond the taboo that surrounds sexual life and therefore discuss so that teenagers are informed. But also so that they can have access to all the services that are linked to their sexuality. It's about lifting a taboo while respecting our norms, our traditions, but also ensuring that the relevant information and services are available to adolescent girls. It is a way to fight against early and unwanted pregnancies which are often a source of school drop-out, especially in this region of Togo.

"My Health, My Rights" aims to reach 97,000 girls in the three prefectures of the Maritime Region, namely Zio, Vo and Yoto, in terms of information, education and access to services. We really believe that this will have an impact and enable these girls to continue their schooling when they are in school, to have a trade when they are in apprenticeship and to have access to decent income when they are neither in school nor in technical education.

Interview by William O.