Taguig City, 14 November 2024 – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Bayer Philippines, Inc., today sealed an agreement to jointly lead a series of activities empowering young people to champion sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and address harmful gender norms – with an overarching goal of reducing teenage pregnancy in the country, starting with the project’s target communities in selected cities in Metro Manila.
From November 2024 to December 2025, the project titled, “Adolescent Peer Champions for SRHR,” will train young people, aged 15–19, to become community and social media influencers that will help promote peer-to-peer conversations about family planning and SRHR among the youth. The initiative targets to reach about 200,000 adolescents in the target cities via social media.
“In the Asia Pacific, the Philippines has the highest unmet need for family planning among adolescents. This means that although these young people who are engaged in sexual activities report that they do not want to have more children or at least delay having their next child, they do not actually use any method of contraception,” said Dr Leila Joudane, UNFPA Representative in the Philippines. She further highlighted that this could be attributed to a number of factors, including lack of information, as well as lack of awareness regarding access to available family planning services, especially in the case of young people. “By directly working with adolescents themselves, we aim to reduce stigma around and open a safe space for conversations about this culturally perceived sensitive topic,” she added.
According to the 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey, more than 5% of girls aged 15–19 in the Philippines have begun childbearing, the highest rate among Southeast Asian countries. In addition, live births in girls aged 10–14 have increased by 35%, based on the Civil Registry and Vital Statistics; the figures have continued to increase in recent years.
“It is against this trend of adolescent pregnancies that Bayer and the UNFPA are initiating this program to empower adolescents and adults alike by widening their knowledge of sexual and reproductive health. Since it’s a sensitive topic, adolescents tend to ask from their parents and friends, or rely on social media as sources of information. However, the quality of that information, particularly on social media, still has room for improvement. With this project, we’re enabling community champions to initiate informed peer-to-peer conversations, and to even challenge harmful gender norms in the process. By empowering young people with the right information through this partnership, we hope to contribute towards reducing the rate of adolescent pregnancies in the country” said Angel-Michael Evangelista, Managing Director and Country Division Head for Pharmaceuticals, Bayer Philippines Inc.
Aside from peer champions, the project will also engage potential adult key opinion leaders in the communities to help overcome barriers related to parental consent in the context of adolescent SRHR and family planning, as well as to facilitate informed, supportive conversations with young people about the said topics.
