Helping vulnerable girls to gain their confidence and dignity

Helping vulnerable girls to gain their confidence and dignity

I amfrom Liberia, The executive Director for promoting public & Social Development programs in health isa local Non-Governmental organization (NGO)that wasestablished in 2014based in Monrovia, that have been working towards impacting the lives of young women and girls through advocacy campaigns that is focused on HIV and AIDS Prevention, teenage pregnancy Gender Base Violence, right base programand Reproductive health activitiestargeting vulnerable young people in order to transform their lives and help them gain dignity, confident, skills for better outcome in safe in a society.

The organization took thisinitiative based on the current results from the HIV and AIDS situation in Liberia by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the National AIDS Commission along with its implementing partners that conducted a nationwide Integrated Bio-Behavioural Surveillance Survey (IBBSS) focusing on the Most at Risk Populations which highlights the vunrbility of young women and girls as Commercial Sex Workers with second higest prevelance rate of (8.9%) in the Country.

Meanwhile, securing the rights and empowerment of young women and girls in Liberia is a moral commitment. It is a smart investment that will safeguard the health of young people across all sector of our society, in order to ensure a sustainable and inclusive growth for young people. Such situation is very crucial because according to the Intergrated Bio-Behavioural Survellance Survey ( IBBSS) 2013 report that shows the vulnerability stems of girls from drinking alcohol and taking other drugs on a daily basis as well as their knowlege of HIV prevention among female commerical sex worker is comparatively low with a prevelance rate of (9.8%) making the issue of adolescent girls health an important issue to address.

At the same time , many young girls between the age of 15-24 continue to use this practice as a means of securing livelihood for themselves making them more vulnerable to HIV including their male clients. Such attitude has created social stigma, and discrimination which stop them from making decisions that affect them from acquiring information on HIV care treatment services and reproductive health services. On the other hand, teenage girls may likely experience an adverse pregnancy outcomes to be more constrained in their ability to pursue educational opportunities than young women who delay early childbearing.

This makes it very crucial in addressing vulnerable girls who have been labled as female commercial sex workers (FSW) because there is no coordinated programs or activities to help direct them to reproductive health right services in a friendly environment to access thses with out judgement that will address their attitude of health and empowerment skills to reduce poverty.

This tell us that we need community base interventions that will engag them in sensitization campaigns activities that will serve as a tool in minimizing risk behaviours that put them at risk with HIV and AIDS awareness and sensitization campaigns and empowerment programs. This will help our organization to do a well costed activities plan to coordinat programs or activities to direct these girls to reproductive health right services in a friendly environment and then empower them with skills that will help to enroll girls development skills program to generat income in reduceing poverty at the community level.

To conclude on our participation in this all important award program by World Pluse in sharing our story from Liberia to people out there in winning this award, will motivate staff from this great organization to work harder in helping young women and girls in makeing positive decisions for behavior change and introducing them to vocational programs that will help to build their skills to generate income on their own indepence and maintain a healty life style , that will change these girls from visiting kioks, brothels/hotel, night clubs and encourage them to seek HIV and promote a new behaviour chang process in a more effective and sustainable manner through PROMOTING PUBLIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMES IN HEALTH (PPSDPH).

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