Background
Child marriage rates in Bangladesh are the highest in South Asia, where adolescents account for one third of Bangladesh’s population.  Approximately 58% of women currently aged 20-24 were married by the time they were 18. This, combined with high fertility rates and low contraceptive use among married adolescents, means there is a need for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services specifically for young people in Bangladesh.

About the project
This project was created to meet adolescents’ needs for family planning services in Lakshmipur and Faridpur district in rural Bangladesh. The project team aims to increase the SRHR knowledge among adolescents, train health care providers on young people’s family planning needs and increase the use of contraceptive methods among married adolescents in the two districts.

Results
So far, 480 adolescents have been educated on SRHR – both in schools and on a community level in Lakshmipur and Faridpur. 70 peer educators have also been trained on youth SRHR, enabling the project team to reach further and educate more young people. In addition to this, health forum sessions have been held in Faridpur district, where 60 married adolescent couples have been informed about contraception use and 300 adolescents have been linked to a hotline.

The project team have recently established an adolescent health corner at a health and family welfare centre in Lakshmipur and are currently working to scale up the project.

Year: 2016