Welcome note
Dear Readers,
We’ve started another year with our sights set on new horizons and possibilities. Part of any good forward-facing strategy involves looking back and reflecting on the full journey that brings us to this moment. In this special blog, we put a retrospective eye into 2023 and see how together we championed change, dismantled barriers, and worked toward a future where no one is left behind in the fulfillment of sexual and reproductive rights and justice (SRHRJ).
We want to express our deepest gratitude for your unwavering support throughout 2023. Your commitment to our shared vision of an Africa where all people can fulfill their SRHR has created a ripple effect of positive change; and your generosity has indeed created a wave of impacts, touching lives in ways that resonate with our mission.
We share our excitement over new horizons, as we go back and reach forward in tandem, with anticipation for the journey ahead.
Enjoy your reading!
Our achievements in 2023
Amplifying young people’s voices to drive SRHR Agenda
In 2023, the Strengthening Young People Voices for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SYV) project, a partnership initiative between WGNRR Africa, Chama cha Malezi Bora Tanzania (UMATI) and the Ministry of Health, was key in strengthening young people’s leadership and amplifying their voices to drive their Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) agenda in five districts of Morogoro and Iringa regions, in Tanzania. Through a capacity need assessment, 105 young people aged 10 to 24 years from hard to reach communities of Morogoro Municipal Council (MC), Kilosa District Council (DC), Mlimba Council, Iringa MC and Kilolo DC have expressed the gaps in knowledge, skills and attitudes in relation to SRHR, Gender, Stigma, and Advocacy concepts. General findings among many includes 99% of Adolescents and Young people were able to mention one or two SRHR issues, 89.5 % (n=94) out of 105 respondents were aware of FP methods both modern and traditional, 29.6% (n= 30) out of 105 had knowledge about safe abortion and Comprehensive Post Abortion Care (cPAC) services, 71.4 % (n=75) out of 105 respondents had limited knowledge of cPAC Services.
“My friend got pregnant but she terminated the pregnancy using traditional herbs, she stayed in her room for three days without anyone noticing, thereafter she was taken to the hospital and later died ”. R23
“Through the school health club, I was able to learn about the existence of family planning methods, though with less information, but at least I know”. FGD 4/R5
On the Advocacy part 33% (n=35) out of 105 respondents knew nothing about advocacy and 67% (n=70) out of 105 respondents failed to differentiate advocacy from campaigns
The findings from the assessment have been used to tailor training materials that were used to strengthen the skills of Peer Educators (PEs) and leaders of Youth and Women-led organizations CSOs(Y&WLCs) to capacitate them to mobilize their peers around Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), Family Planning, Gender, STIs & HIV, and the consequence of unsafe abortion and the existence of cPAC services; and advocate for their increased access to youth friendly SRH services.
In total, 30 PEs and 5 leaders from Y&WLCs were capacitated and supported to increase their understanding of key SRHR issues affecting young people most, to generate demand among youth communities, address social stigma, increase referrals; and to advocate for policy change so to create enabling environment for young people’s access to friendly SRH services. A total of 340 SRHR awareness creation sessions were conducted by the trained PEs and have reached 25,946 adolescents and young people of 10-24 age in Morogoro MC, Mlimba Council, Kilosa DC, Iringa MC and Kilolo DC. Young people increased their knowledge and awareness on different SRHR topics including puberty, gender and sexuality, sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), HIV/AIDs, Family planning, Safe abortion and post-abortion care.
“The skills I acquired from the sessions have strengthened my confidence to elaborate on Youth SRHR issues with my younger sister who is 12 years old. Before these sessions, I was reluctant to discuss SRHR with my younger sister, but now I can, even with other peers from my community .”(Joshua, 17-year-old boy from Mlimba DC)
“I never knew that at my age I could use the family planning methods, but when the PE named Irene visited our school to teach us about preventing early pregnancy, I followed her after the session. She invited me to a weekend clinic at Mazombe dispensary, where I was also able to be advised on the family planning methods, and in the end I chose Implant.” (15-year-old girl from Kilolo District)
As an impact, a total 25,946 of adolescents and young people from Morogoro and Iringa Regions were reached with SRHR Information and a total of 988 adolescents and young people were referred to and received SRH services in nearest health facilities and through the outreach clinics organized by the project.
Considering the role that the media plays in creating awareness, 15 local media staff and editors were successfully trained on stigma reduction, community mobilization strategies, and storytelling methodologies so that they support the efforts of local PEs and Y&WLCs. Five (5) radio sessions and one (1) TV program were conducted through local radio and TV stations, namely Abood FM in Morogoro, Nuru FM in Iringa, and Mapambazuko radio in Mlimba Council. PEs and representatives of Young and Women-led CSOs were upfront leading and implementing these radio and TV programs.
As reaching adolescents and young people requires creativity and innovative strategies, Information, Education and Communications (IEC) materials, i.e 600 T-shirts, 5,000 brochures, 405 posters, 5 teardrops, 40 raincoats & boots, 5 billboards, were developed and disseminated across the 5 districts of implementation. Messages on the materials were adopted with support of experts from the Tanzania Ministry of Health.
The PEs and Y&WLCs trained under the SYV project didn’t end up mobilizing communities only, but they also engaged district and national level decision makers to discuss challenges and opportunities to improve youth friendly SRH services through Youth SRHR technical working group meetings and other policy advocacy spaces. From these discussions, recommendations were made to decision makers to improve young people’s and women’s access to SRH services.
WGNRR Africa supported them to engage 30 members of district and regional health committees, key opinion leaders 35 district-level decision-makers from Morogoro MC, Kilosa DC, Mlimba Council, 15 national-level decision-makers from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of education, Prime Minister’s Office and POLARG in open dialogues to discuss SRHR issues affecting women and young people in the community. An advocacy brief highlighting key youth challenges and their advocacy Asks was presented to the policy and decision makers at both district, regional and national levels. Although it’s still early to see the overall impact of this advocacy pathway of the SYV project, the quick wins registered in 2023 include the acceptance of young people representatives to be sitting in the district health committees’ and Ward District Council meetings in Morogoro MC, Mlimba Council, Kilosa DC, Iringa MC and Kilolo DC to bring young people’s perspective in health programming at ward and district levels; and the interest of the Ministry of Health to document SYV youth-centered approach to increase young people’s access to SRH services and influence policy change.
Innovative increase of access to SRHR services
The year 2023 was also a year of creativity and innovative thinking. Working in a context where conversation on some SRH issues are socially stigmatized and legally restricted, WGNRR Africa have come with an innovative solution to foster a trustful and anonymous conversation between clients and providers, to easier referral process, and increase access to SRH information and services, including those most stigmatized issues. In 2023 we completed the pilot of the MimiCare, an end-to-end encrypted mobile application using Android and IOS software that virtually provide scientifically proven and Tanzania specific SRH information, connect clients with qualified health care providers, and facilitate referrals to approved public and private health facilities where the access quality services. The Application was developed through a human-centered approach placing the users at the center of the development process. A total of 6,135 users were registered in the application, 495 users chatted anonymously with healthcare providers, 397 users were referred to partner health facilities of which 255 successfully received services.
The innovation was also a reason for strong community engagement. As its development used the human-centered approach, WGNRR Africa was close to the community, not only collecting insights and feedback that informed the development of the application process, but also building users’ skills on SRHR, disseminating the application and supporting users to enroll in the application. A total of Twelve (12) community sessions were conducted and 687 (Six Hundred Eight Seven) people were reached. This was achieved thanks to the partnership we established with different partners and stakeholders, namely Sauti ya Jamii Kipunguni, Binti Makini Foundation, Help to Help East Africa, and SUKITA-Shirika la Usawa wa Kijinsia.
Protecting and advancing reproductive rights in TanzaniaIn its efforts to ensure sexual and reproductive rights are respected and protected as other human rights for all, WGNRR Africa gave a particular attention the the reproductive rights of victims of sexual violence in Tanzania in 2023.
In partnership with the Centre for Reproductive Rights, WGNRR Africa adopted strategic litigation as a strategy to add value to the ongoing advocacy efforts around sexual and reproductive rights in Tanzania. The year 2023 was dedicated to strengthen movement of CSOs and individuals committed to women’s human rights to work on a common agenda of setting progressive and harmonized legal standards to protect and advance the right to access SRHR services, including safe abortion and post abortion care for victims of rape, incest, sexual assaults and defilement. A collective effort was then undertaken to generate and document evidence on the magnitude of sexual violence in Tanzania, the impact of inconsistent policies and unclear law on access to safe abortion within the existing legal framework; and the cost implication of post-abortion care on the national health system. A number of activities including Facts finding, documentation and packaging, meetings with experts and allies, the RRDs task force team, and CRR technical team were conducted, and a number of investigative journalists were trained and supported to collect stories that will support evidence generated. The most important outcomes of this engagement include – increased number of sectoral allies who have joined the movement to support the strategic litigation initiative, – well documented cases of survivors of rape and incest to support the litigation case and shape public debate around the case; a number of stories highlighting the magnitude of unsafe abortion related to rape and incest were collected and published as articles.
Breaking barriers to young people’s access to SRHR in East Africa
The Youth Collaborative Action Now to advance SRHR of young people in the East Africa region (YOUCAN project) was a battle horse to address barriers faced by young people in the region. As social and cultural norms and stigma were identified as key barriers to young people’s access to comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), modern contraceptives and safe abortion information and services, efforts of WGNRR Africa and partners were focused to dismantle these barriers through various youth-conceived strategies. Eight (8) youth-led organizations, namely; Binti makini Foundation, Bintisalha Foundation, Youth Empowerment Movement Kenya, Zamara Foundation, Together Alive health Initiative (TAHI), Sauti ya Wanawake Ukerewe (SAWAU), Wadada Solutions for Gender Based Violence and Uganda Young Positives (UYP) were supported technically and financially to implement their advocacy campaign strategies using different mediums and platforms (Twitter spaces, offline dialogues, media engagement, and public meetings). Together, local partners in the three countries reached a total of 8,729,765 people with stigma-free and youth-oriented advocacy messages. Considering the safety of these brave SRHR activists working in a shrinking space where a well organized and resourced SRHR opposition is on rise, WGNRR Africa has also strengthened their online security by providing them resources to enhance the online protection of their information and of participants to their online spaces. We conducted a security audit to all 8 partners to assess possible risks and threats that might bring online security concerns. The outcomes from this audit informed the development of a cross-country digital safety policy/guide that helps partner organizations to activate their organizational and individual online defense mechanisms. Also, we equipped them with knowledge and skills to proactively anticipate anomalies and potential threats before they occur and continuously monitor the trends.
To make sure we are self-acquainted with the impact the YOUCAN project was making in the implementing countries, a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning visit was conducted by the WGNRR Africa MEL team in the countries where it met the end user beneficiaries. The visit not only fostered relationships and trust, it also provided a platform for reflection and documenting stories of change and gathering feedback from those who most lack social, economic and political power. A comprehensive report on this evaluation visit can be accessed here.
Strengthening Movement for Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Justice (SRHJ) for all
WGNRR Africa is a strong believer of power of movement; it therefore deepens relationships with other social movements, enhances partnerships and alliance between partners and stakeholders in order to better coordinate activities and actions aimed at creating a common understanding of SRHR and its importance to sustainable development. In 2023, we were vibrant in different spaces for networking, linking and learning to strengthen the movement for SRHJ.
We partnered with Young & Alive Initiative to co-organize the first ever Young Alive Summit that provided a platform to strengthen youth leadership, enhance linking, learning and networking, increase knowledge and awareness, and influence policies for the advancement of young people’s SRH in Tanzania.
The summit brought together 207 young and women-led CSOs, peer educators, gatekeepers and decision makers at Royal Village Hotel in Dodoma City to engage in constructive debate around multi sectoral challenges faced by young people in Tanzania and together propose solutions to them. Peer educators and Y&LCSOs supported by WGNRR Africa through the SYV project had a privilege to share SRHR challenges faced by young people in Morogoro and Iringa region, the efforts they are undertaking to increase demand for SRH services among young people and to ensure their voices are taken into consideration in the health programming at the district and regional decision-making levels. The summit also provided them an opportunity to learn, connect and engage with various stakeholders including government officials
“You’ve taken a commendable step in ensuring that men receive accurate information about Reproductive Health. Historically, this knowledge has been predominantly accessible to women, leaving us men uninformed. Your initiative ensures that everyone is included, promoting a more comprehensive understanding of Reproductive Health for all.” Hassan S Hassan ,Student University of Dodoma
At Women Deliver Conference 2023 in Rwanda, we brought grassroots voices in this global space to feature chilling realities of discrimination and stigma experienced by socially marginalized and discriminated. Our partners Utetezi Rural Africa/Kenya, Women Spaces Africa/kenya, Zamara Foundation/Kenya, Uganda Young Positives/Uganda, and Bintimakini Foundation/Tanzania shared their experiences working with adolescents girls, young people with disabilities, young people living with HIV/AIDs, sexual minorities and slum dwellers; showcased their resilient fight for right and social justice; and launched resounding call for rethinking reproductive rights of these communities in Africa. This call for change reverberated the imperative and urgency of fulfillment of rights and social justice for all. This transformative experience galvanized a collective commitment, sparking actionable initiatives and fostering alliances that are poised to dismantle barriers to SRHR for all, amplify voices, and steer a society committed to a more equitable future.
Through our advocacy campaigning strategy, we also fostered collaboration and solidarity among grassroots organizations and activists, community leaders, and affected populations to take action and stand up for sexual and reproductive rights for what they are: an indivisible and inalienable part of human rights. As a movement, we commemorated in different ways the – May 28 – International day of action for women’s health and – September 28 – International safe abortion day. To cite only as an example, in Tanzania we partnered with our local partners, health care providers and the Sandali Ward Councilor to organize a dialogue between young people and gate keepers to raise awareness about SRHR issues affecting adolescents girls and young women, including contraception, unsafe abortion, maternal health, and sexual education; we dispelled myths, reduced stigma, and increased understanding of the importance of SRHR. A total of 150 reflector vests with stigma-free SRHR messages were distributed to 150 motorcycle riders (commonly known as Bodaboda) of the Sandali Ward to ignite stigma-free conversations around SRHR in several corners of the whole Dar-es-salaam where the bodaboda go.
“Although you need reflectors for your traffic work, the ones you are given today have added value: they will also pass on SRHR messages needed by your clients in your communities” (Sandali Ward Councilor)
On September 28, WGNRR Africa in collaboration with CAMMAC members and various stakeholders from different sectors (law, media, health, human right) in Tanzania stood as part of the #UnstoppableMovement, a force of unwavering resolve, bound together by a shared commitment to address maternal mortality due to unsafe abortion and equitable access to safe abortion and post-abortion care, and justice for all, especially for survivors of sexual violence (rape, incest, sexual assault, and defilement). We organized an event full of entertainment, learning and sharing, skills building and strategizing to reaffirm and assert that every person has the right to decide what happens to her/his own body, free from stigma, discrimination, and barriers; and that no woman should die because of preventable unsafe abortion. The event proved that together we are stronger and can make a profound difference in the lives of countless individuals and contribute to a Tanzania where reproductive autonomy is not just a right but a reality.
Organizational Strengthening
The year 2023 was also a year of organizational strengthening at WGNRR Africa. To address various challenges and dilemmas experienced by the organization at the level of governance and management, WGNRR Africa went through a process of re-designing the organizational structure to materialize its vision of becoming an agile autonomous organization while maintaining its inborn ties with WGNRR Foundation. The organizational design process resulted in – a final landscape report summarizing key observations, gaps, and proposed solutions and – an organizational design document describing a clear governance structure including recommendations on the WGNRR Africa by-laws and legal registration.
Also we reviewed and evaluated our 2020 – 2022 strategic plan, and developed the direction for the organization in the coming five years. The review and evaluation of the old strategic plan resulted in a new Strategic Plan 2023 – 2027 that reflects the specific social, political, economic, and environmental conditions that underlie SRHR advocacy in the African context. It is further informed by the ambitious and genuine need of a WGNRR Africa that strives to become an agile and adaptive advocacy organization and to grow its reach over the whole of the Africa region. Support us in implementing our new strategic plan!
