Intergenerational dialogue on girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights in Benin
Promoting healthy dialogues on sexual and reproductive health and rights between girls and their caregivers.
Plan International follows the lives of 118 girls living in nine countries across three continents, from their birth in 2006 until they turn 18 in 2024. Real Choices, Real Lives study’s longitudinal and qualitative data makes it uniquely placed to explore the experiences of girls and their families as they transition from childhood to adolescence in a gendered world. The study provides valuable evidence on girls’ realities to support policy work on both a global and national level. This research brings girls’ voices to the fore, supporting available statistics, theories, and academic discussion on how social and gender norms impact girls’ lives over their life course.
Short radio programmes
Drawing on analysis of the experiences of girls and their caregivers participating in this longitudinal study in Benin, West Africa, the School of Law and Politics delivered a series of short radio programmes to spark intergenerational community dialogue on girls’ Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).
SRHR education is predominantly considered a risk mitigation strategy for avoiding unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and exposure to gender-based violence. Girls’ sexual wellbeing is absent in this education. The research evidence recommends that more be done to support SRHR. Drawing on the expertise of Plan International, this project supported and normalised healthy intergenerational dialogue through community-level programming.
Script writing workshops
Young people from two communities in Benin engaged in script writing workshops and helped co-produce the radio shows, informed by girls’ own perspectives. The radio programmes depicted and normalised healthy dialogues on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) between girls and their caregivers, sparking intergenerational dialogue. Radio presenters facilitated further discussion with community members calling into the show by providing post-broadcast local helplines.
Guidance notes were produced to outline the approach taken in this pilot project, key lessons learned, and recommendations on how similar evidence-driven interventions can be designed and implemented in more communities. Download the Turning evidence into practice: Insights from qualitative research and community radio programming with girls on SRHR in Benin.
This project marked the first endeavour for Plan International to incorporate Real Choices, Real Lives findings directly into a community intervention programme.
Further interventions
This project could potentially be a pilot for further interventions based on research findings across the other participating countries, including Togo, Uganda, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil.
