In the Los Manguitos community, there are still many challenges faced by adolescent girls and young women in obtaining adequate menstrual and reproductive health and counseling services. This situation has been worsened by the COVID-19 crisis. Teen pregnancies are on the rise. With this project the Foundation intends to improve its sexual, reproductive and menstrual health services for its more than 200 young women to include: weekly health text messages; monthly access to pregnancy tests; acces
In the Dominican Republic, the statistics of adolescent pregnancies, especially unwanted ones, have increased since the beginning of COVID-19 due to the closure of schools and limited access to sexual and reproductive health services. But teenage pregnancy has been a challenge before the pandemic. The most recent Demographic and Health Survey found that 29% of girls under the age of 19 were already mothers. Evidence from past epidemics shows that resources are often diverted from routine medical
The Foundation will invest efforts and resources in improving its sexual, reproductive and menstrual health services for its more than 200 young women and will adapt to the new challenges of COVID-19. The new services will include weekly online counseling on sexual, reproductive and menstrual health and rights; monthly access to pregnancy tests; access to monthly health consultation and distribution of contraceptives; and access to reusable sanitary pads and menstrual cups.
Increasing accessibility to sexual, reproductive and menstrual health information and services will reduce adolescent pregnancy rates in our community. The community foundation for the Development of Sleeves, in collaboration with the Funcomas Foundation and other social entities, integrates leadership development in all its programs. Young women accessing these services will leverage their leadership skills and knowledge of sexual, reproductive and menstrual health.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
