Safe Reproductive Health Awareness

Adolescent girls and young women in Zambia who decide to terminate a pregnancy for different reasons usually face a lot of barriers. Some of these barriers include attitudes and quality of service by health workers, stigma stemming from social norms and cultural beliefs and lack of youth-friendly health services. For instance, despite no legislation specifically stating the Age of Consent to access safe abortion, service providers tend to require parental consent for those under 16 years of age, the age of consent for sex. Adolescents, therefore, face additional barriers to accessing safe abortion services.

To help raise awareness about the negative impacts of unsafe abortion on adolescents and young women, Copper Rose Zambia has launched the Safe Reproductive Health Awareness Project (SAP). SAP is intended to address the currently limited awareness of abortion policies by service providers, policy-makers, and traditional leaders in Zambia. The Safe Reproductive Health Awareness Project is a 2-year project being implemented in Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces from July 2022 to June 2024. The aim of the project is to increase the number of people accessing reproductive health services including abortion.

The Project Objectives Include

  • Increase awareness and feedback mechanisms to help provide information on SRHR including safe abortion services to adolescents and young women as well as health service providers, policy and traditional leaders in Zambia
  • Reducing the stigma associated with access to safe abortion services among adolescent girls and young women (16-30 year) in Zambia especially by service providers through community outreaches and Attitudes and Values Clarification Training (VCAT).
  • Collaborate with Youth Lead Organisations (YLO) to help build capacity in advocacy for SRHR.

We Are Doing This Through

  • Developing a feedback mechanism platform for adolescent and young people to share their experiences with service provision at health facilities.
  • Capacity building for health care providers, policy & community leaders, peer health educators and youth led organizations on SRHR and the legal policy provision of safe abortion to adolescents and young people
  • Awareness events and outreach activities on SRHR, abortion services and improve uptake of feedback platforms.