Empowering young people to own their futures
“Young people are curious, but sex is still a taboo subject in our society”
In 2017, we traveled on foot, by boat and by car to communities across the globe to provide contraception and safe abortion care. We worked tirelessly to ensure our clients got the care they needed and fought against funding cuts enacted by the Global Gag Rule. With the release of our 2017 impact report, the results of that work are in. As our supporters, these results are your results too.
We are particularly proud of how we doubled down on our efforts to reach young people with our services. Roughly 25% of the world’s population is between ages 10 and 24, and ensuring their reproductive choice is critical to their success and the prosperity of the planet.
Since January 2017, we’ve served more than one million clients between ages 15 and 19.
All too often, however, politicians, providers and educators treat young people as irresponsible or naïve when it comes to sex and contraception. The following stories illustrate how we’re working to change cultural norms by giving young people to resources they need to prevent unintended pregnancies and decide their futures.
Mary Benjamin, 25, Tanzania
Watching her mother work as a family planning nurse from a young age, Mary Benjamin knew she wanted to have a positive impact on women’s lives when she got older. Now 25 years old, Mary is a nursing officer at the Mare Stopes Bajaj youth club in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She is dedicating her time and energy to helping young women and couples own their futures.
“I decided to specialize in family planning because I want to help other youths fulfill their dreams. It’s all about health education. If you give them health education, they will understand what to do, at what time and at what point.”
Through her work with young women, Mary is acutely aware of the many challenges they face, from the stigma surrounding sex outside marriage to the logistical challenges of reaching a clinic in rural Tanzania.
“Some of them are too rural to be able to find family planning clinics, so if we can go there and reach them, give them the service there, it helps them.”
Mary is not alone in her compassion and determination. At Marie Stopes International (MSI) we are committed to reaching women wherever they are. In 2017, 26.9 million women and men around the world were using a method of contraception supplied by our 11,000 team members in 37 countries. Our services helped avert an estimated 5.4 million unsafe abortions, 8.2 million unintended pregnancies, and 23,900 maternal deaths.
Deepa Pradhan, 25, Nepal
For the last two years, 25-year-old Deepa Pradhan has been volunteering with the Marie Stopes Nepal Youth Center. She is responsible for planning and coordinating 90-minute school and college orientation sessions, usually titled ‘Youth Career and Contraception.’
“Young people are curious, but sex is still a taboo subject in our society. The only way I see things changing is if we talk about it. The more we talk, the more open society will get. I used to be very shy but as I learned about all this work, I have become more open and confident.”
Around the world, MSI is breaking down stigma and misconceptions about family planning. 51% of our clients were not using modern contraception when they came to us. Eleven percent were between the ages of 15 and 19.
Aggness, 17, Tanzania
For many young women and girls like 17-year-old Aggness Dominick, family planning options and services are virtually nonexistent. But after visiting a youth clinic in Keko, Tanzania, Aggness received a three-year implant. Now, she can live her life without worrying about an unplanned pregnancy making it harder to achieve her dreams.
“If I couldn’t come here, I wouldn’t be able to even think about of having an implant. In the other places you have to have money.”
