At a global and national level, sexual and reproductive health is recognised as integral to the wellbeing and rights of women and girls. Sustainable Development Goals Target 3.7 asks that by 2030, countries ‘ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies’ (UN 2015). The importance of young people’s access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services is also echoed in Ethiopia’s National Adolescent and Youth Health Strategy, which seeks to (1) enhance health literacy, including SRH information, among adolescents and youth, (2) improve equitable access to adolescent and youth health services, (3) improve the quality of adolescent and youth health services (MOH 2016). The Strategy emphasizes that health extension workers can play critical roles in expanding SRH information and services, especially in rural and remote areas where awareness is low and access to services is limited. The Ministry of Education has also developed a guideline for gender clubs that recognises such clubs as a means of improving SRH services in schools.
Suggested citation:
Pincock, K., Yadete, W., Workneh, F., Murha, R., Tilahun, K., Gebeyehu, Y. and Jones, N. (2023) ‘Young women involved in commercial sex work in urban Ethiopia: experiences, drivers and implications for sexual and reproductive health policy and programming.’ Policy brief. London: Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence.
