As part of the “Accelerating the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy in Southern Leyte and Samar in the Philippines” joint programme supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), UNFPA Philippines, UNICEF and WHO held meetings with government officials in Southern Leyte last week.

On behalf of the joint UN team, UNFPA Philippines Country Representative Dr. Leila Saiji Joudane presented the project to Vice Governor Rosa Emilia Mercado and the mayors of the selected municipalities of Southern Leyte.

The UN joint team and the local government officials vowed to work closely together for the implementation of the project, which aims to improve access of the adolescent population to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and information, to raise adolescents’ self-awareness on SRH, as well as to enhance leadership and governance in relation to adolescent SRH.

The vice governor and mayors expressed their commitment and support to the programme as it aims to reduce the number of adolescent pregnancies in their municipalities.

Learn more about the project, which is also being implemented in Samar: PH gov’t, KOICA, and UN Agencies Launch joint programme to address national emergency of adolescent pregnancies