The social assignment of stereotypes and roles in adolescent girls and young women promotes gender inequalities that limit their autonomy and their rights to comprehensive sexual education, sexual and reproductive health, and a life free from violence, without discriminatory and harmful practices such as child marriages.
Therefore, a key focus during the UNFPA's current intervention in the climate crisis in Piura is working with adolescents and young people. With this objective in mind, UNFPA has been working diligently with teenagers from different educational centers. The sexual and reproductive health brigade conducted an awareness-raising session for students in 3rd to 5th grade of secondary education at Los Algarrobos Educational Institution in the Veintiséis de Octubre district, with the aim of reinforcing bodily autonomy, providing guidance and counseling on the use of contraceptive methods, and emergency kits for the management of sexual violence.
The young students showed their interest in the topics covered through their presence and the questions they asked, which were answered by UNFPA's brigade members. Early pregnancy and motherhood often hinder the continuity of education for young girls and adolescents, becoming a barrier to the development of their skills and competencies and limiting their chances of successfully achieving their academic goals and pursuing life projects with better job and economic opportunities. These challenges are further exacerbated in emergency contexts, such as the one Piura is currently facing, significantly impacting young girls and adolescents.
This activity is part of a series of actions framing the UNFPA's intervention through its implementing partner, the NGO Prisma, in the Piura region in response to the climate crisis. The intervention aims to provide services and information on sexual and reproductive health to women, adolescents, and young people, as well as to prevent gender-based violence. It will continue in other human settlements affected by the recent rains and mudslides in the localities of this northern region of the country.
