Sexual and reproductive health

Adolescent health is a growing concern in Burkina Faso. Adolescents are confronted with a number of health problems that have a negative impact on their development:

• high fertility (11%);
• clandestine abortions (12% nationally, compared with 36%, 32%, 19% and 13% respectively in the Centre-Nord, East, North and Sahel regions);
• unwanted pregnancies in schools (125 cases between 2012-2015 in the Centre-Nord region, compared with 110 in the East, 64 in the North and 44 in the Sahel);
• socio-cultural barriers that prevent access to the services they immediately need to be able to exercise their right to a healthy sexual and reproductive life;
• early marriage (52% of young girls are married before the age of 18); – unequal power relations between the sexes, leading to gender-based violence (GBV): 31.7% of girls aged 12 to 17 in the North region were circumcised, compared with 10.8% in the East, 9.2 in the Centre-Nord and 7.7 in the Sahel.

To reverse this trend, national and international policy instruments supporting Sexual Rights and Reproductive Health (SRH) have been adopted, including the National Family Planning Plan (PNAPF 2017-2020 and 2021-2024) that Burkina Faso has developed to promote voluntary and affordable Family Planning (FP).

Solidar Suisse, in its fight for an equitable world, is also interested in this issue. As part of the “Promotion de l’accès des filles à un Système Educatif et de Formation Professionnelle de qualité dans les régions du Sahel, du Nord, de l’Est et du Centre Nord du Burkina Faso (PROMESSE-FP)” project, to improve the reproductive health of young people, the following measures are planned:

• promoting awareness-raising activities for girls and boys and their parents on sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, early marriage, etc. ;
• Raising awareness among girls and boys is done on the one hand through formal teaching integrated into curricula, accompanied by assessment covering knowledge and skills. And secondly, by raising awareness among pupils through children’s clubs. Parent awareness is raised through regular general assemblies of parents in each school and training sessions organized for them;
• menstrual hygiene kits for girls;
• training VT teachers and trainers in comprehensive sex education.