Mais Escolhas (More Choices): Rights, Equality, SRHR, and Adolescents in Mozambique

Overview

MORE CHOICES project focusses on addressing barriers and shifting norms that limit adolescent girls’ and young women’s decision-making power and rights in Cabo Delgado Province, Maputo City, and Maputo Province.

Adolescent girls and young women face increased difficulties accessing sexual and reproductive health information and services, including access to contraception and abortions. Heightening their risk of unintended pregnancy and poor health outcomes.

The project strives to enhance their ability to exercise their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Additionally, it aims to improve their access to quality youth-friendly counseling and services, while strengthening policies and guidelines by centering their rights.

MORE CHOICES aims to support sustainable, government-led efforts to improve sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes and enhance the quality of life for women and girls. It also seeks to strengthen financial resource management through greater accountability and stakeholder involvement.

The initiative targets adolescent girls and young women aged 10–24 in the Cabo Delgado Province, in Mecufi, Metuge, Ancuabe, and Pemba; in Maputo City, in KaMaxaquene, KaMubukwana, KaMavota, and Nlhamankulu; and in Maputo Province, in Matola, Marracuene, and Boane. It is implemented in 47 health facility (HF), 43 secondaries schools and 9 Internal Displaced People (IDPs) centers.

Activities

• Training of Health Providers: With extensive training in SRHR, mentorship and formative supervision to strengthen the respective Health district directorates (SDSMAS) in offering highly qualitative SRHR services expansion including adolescent youth friendly services (AYFS), family planning (FP), CAC and SGBV services by fostering community-Health Facility (HF) and HF-based integration.
  
• Intensive Support of SRHR Outreach: Investing in activities focusing on displaced populations. Hosting communities by expanding the SRHR coverage to the most vulnerable communities.
  
• Coordinating interventions with SDSMAS (Serviço Distrital de Saúde Mulher e Ação Social) and SDETJ (Serviço Distrital de Educação, Juventude e Tecnologia): Multiplying mobile brigades at schooling settings to close progressively the SRHR information and service delivery gap for the VYA (very young adolescent) and adolescents.
  
• Complementing SDSMAS Efforts to Equip Health Facilities: Providing them with medical equipment and supplies, data logbooks, IEC materials mitigating the chronic lack of essential supplies.
  
• Coordination with SDETJ: By expanding comprehensive SRHR education sessions by involving teachers at secondary schools to promote adolescent’s SRHR agency in seeking and adopting positive prevention SRHR behaviors and raising parents’/guardians’ awareness about AGYW rights boosting like this an enabling environment for adolescent’s agency and choice.
  
• Expand Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Screening: At all health facility and IDPs centers including through community health workers (CHWs) maximizing identification and referral of SGBV cases including CEFM and sexually assaulted.
  
• Radio Broadcasting and Debates: Enaging with media for the dissemination of information on SRHR, GBV, Abortion, FP and Contraception and community-based demand generation involving SRHR champions, including influent community and youth leaders, to further contribute to the creation of an enabling environment.