Project inception year :

2018
Project supported by :

USAID
Project area :

State – Chhattisgarh, 2 districts
Project reach :
School :

427
Adolescents :

43657 (boys and girls), age- 11 to 19
Peer Educators :

534
Anganwadi Workers and Mitanins :

2,272
School Principals :

342
Health Ambassadors :

683
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Sangwari

Goal :

The proposed goal is to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health outcomes in the state of Chhattisgarh by improving access to sexual and reproductive health and rights information (among younger adolescents), services and supplies (among older adolescents) and increase access to youth-friendly Sexual and Reproductive Health services through the RKSK program.

Need :

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines adolescence as the second decade of life, between the ages of 10 and 19 years. Today, 1.2 billion adolescents stand at the challenging crossroads between childhood and the adult world. India is home to more than 253 million adolescents, who account for almost 21.4% of the country’s population. Adolescents are the citizens and working force of tomorrow, but face a range of health challenges, including malnutrition and anaemia, lack of knowledge on sexual and reproductive health (SRH), substance misuse, communicable and non-communicable diseases, mental health concerns, injuries and violence, including gender based violence. They are mostly overlooked in most health programs. Adolescents in Chhattisgarh stands at 21.47% of the state population. Data reflects the same challenges that young people face in the rest of the country. NFHS data shows that only 26.5% women has 10 or more years of schooling, 21.3% of women age 20-24 years were married before age 18 years and 4.8% in the age 15-19 years were already mothers or pregnant at the time of the survey. Women who have comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS stands at a very low 20.7%. Age-specific Fertility Rates - 7.9 in the 15-19 age group. (SRS, 2012). Total unmet need of contraceptives accounts to 12.9 %

Our program

The project equips adolescents with information and skills for improved reproductive and sexual health including increasing awareness and understanding of healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. This is provided by supporting the RKSK (the Government’s flagship adolescent health program) through schools and through community centres (like anganwadis). C3 is building the capacity and mentoring peer educators for facilitating sessions on reproductive health, nutrition, mental health, injuries and violence, substance misuse and Non-Communicable Diseases. We help them to access services at Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics and also during Adolescent Health Day organized at community level. We are facilitating linkages with referral units for health services for counselling and adolescent health services and also building capacities of community based frontline workers and health functionaries to support peer educators to mobilize adolescents to attend sessions.

Key Highlights :
  • C3 signed an MoU with National Health Mission to provide support for implementation of Rashtra Kishor Swasthya Karayakram and School Health Program in Bilaspur and Surguja districts of Chhattisgarh
  • Baseline data collection has been completed.
  • An assessment of Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics was completed and the report was shared with Government of Chhattisgarh.
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Case story

A health check-up was organized during the AHD. Two girls who were unaware of the complexities due to delayed menstrual cycle, were diagnosed with ‘primary amenorrhea’ after an ultrasound. One girl was diagnosed with micro uterus and no ovaries. She then received a referral for further check-up and also underwent counselling about the impact of this diagnosis and its impact on her marital life, especially with reference to sexual and reproductive health so that she can take informed decisions accordingly, in future.