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Strengthening Girls’ Lives in Nepal   
May 17, 2006—At a May 16 press conference in Kathmandu, CEDPA/Nepal publicized its national campaign efforts and outcomes with adolescent girls’ issues. CEDPA joined its local partners in the Baglung, Mohottari and Udayapur districts of Nepal to improve adolescent girls’ lives through a non-formal education program. Almost two-thirds of Nepalese women and girls are illiterate because of poor access to education. And, more women die in pregnancy and childbirth in Nepal than anywhere else in South Asia due to limited access to healthcare and family planning services. From 2004 to 2006, CEDPA’s project reached 3,200 adolescent girls between the ages of 10–19 through literacy and critical life skills training that improved reproductive health knowledge and strengthened participants’ self-confidence. CEDPA and its partners—Aamaa Milan Kendra, Nepal Technical Assistance Group and the Nepal Red Cross Society—also addressed family and community factors to provide support for changes in attitudes and behaviors. Noting the overall success of the project, CEDPA/Nepal country director Dr. Chhatra Amatya stated that “an impressive 45 percent of the out-of-school girls who completed the literacy training component enrolled in primary schools as a result of the project.” Gaura Rai, a representative of in-school girls from the Udayapur district, shared that CEDPA’s project “helped generate awareness among parents who had not enrolled their daughters in school.” Stating that CEDPA’s work helps empower women, Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Population Upendra Adhikari also recognized that the project increased the confidence levels of in and out-of-school girls. CEDPA will further its work with adolescent girls under a new project, planning to reach nearly 4,000 adolescent girls and young women aged 15–24 through peer educators. Using CEDPA’s Choose A Future! curricula, these peer educators will spread the word about reproductive health and life skills. The two-year project was implemented with support by USAID/Nepal and the U.S. Agency for International Development through the Access to Clinical and Community Maternal, Neonatal and Women’s Health Services (ACCESS) project and CATALYST project. Read more about the Building Demand for Reproductive Health Awareness project. |
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