To raise awareness of World Health Day, we’re honouring community leaders in the SHE SOARS project. SHE SOARS engages local leaders, heathcare providers and youth in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia to increase young women and girls’ access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). Local leaders act as gatekeepers to improve attitudes in their communities towards women and girls’ empowerment, decision-making and access to SRHR. They also collect and share feedback on the project to ensure SHE SOARS has a positive impact in their communities.
Nesta is a leader in Tuku village, Terego district, Uganda, who raises awareness of young women and girls’ SRHR in her community and helps facilitate the SHE SOARS project. Nesta knows firsthand how important reproductive health services are. Tuku village has a lack of ambulances, nurses and some medicines, so women and girls are often referred to a hospital far away in Arua. When Nesta was pregnant with triplets, she began to feel pains but there was no ambulance available to take her to the hospital in time. Tragically, she lost one of her babies. This experience led Nesta to become a local leader in the SHE SOARS project to improve this situation in her community and hopefully help other women and girls.
Nesta
Women and girls’ right to Sexual and Reproductive Health is part of the ‘right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health,’ defined in Article 12 of the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Marginalized groups like young women and girls who are not in school are often left out of traditional SRHR programming. The right to health does not reach them, limiting girls’ opportunities to enjoy the lives they deserve and to build better futures for their communities.
SHE SOARS aims to increase young women and girls’ decision-making about their bodies and lives by providing access to critical information and inclusive, high-quality health services. The project works at all levels, engaging governments, health systems, grassroots organizations and local leaders like Nesta to improve access to SHRH. Youth, both girls and boys, also play a key role in advocating for health services that meet their unique needs.
At a time when human rights are increasingly at risk, especially Sexual and Reproductive Rights (CanWaCH), World Health Day on April 7th shines a light on the most pressing health issues affecting people across the globe. Local leaders like Nesta are essential to the SHE SOARS project and the world as their voices and contributions support women’s rights in their own communities. Nesta is an inspiration for young women and girls globally, as she leads from her own experience and determination to increase SRHR for all.