Promoting and advancing Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights

About the project

Adolescents in Mauritius lack access to SRHR information and many are not equipped with the knowledge to ensure safe sexual practice. There has been a rise in the adolescent fertility rate (births per 1,000 women aged 15-19) in Mauritius, reported at 24% in 2020, and an increase in sexually transmitted infections.

Gender Links will work with five partner organisations in Mauritius (Adolescent Non Formal Education Network, Future Hope Association, Mahebourg Espoir, JA Mascareignes and Vent D’un Rêve) to collaborate and engage with government to contribute to a better understanding of SRHR issues among adolescents. By implementing a comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) programme, it is hoped that over 1,200 adolescents aged 10 to 11 years old will benefit from improved knowledge on SRHR.

This will be achieved by:

• developing and presenting a comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) toolkit to government ministries, civil society and faith-based organisations
• providing training on the use of the CSE toolkit for civil society partners working with schools
• working with a communication agency to launch a social media and public awareness campaign to promote CSE
• holding roundtable discussions with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Gender Equality, Attorney General and the Prime Minister’s Office to push for policy change and review of the National Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy 2022 to include holistic CSE in schools.

As a result of the project, it is hoped that adolescents in Mauritius will have improved knowledge of SRHR and will be able to practice safer sex; schools and civil society partners will be trained to deliver the CSE programme; and government and the public will have greater awareness of SRHR issues relating to adolescents, particularly women and girls.