Dialogue with parents, teachers and students on SRHR issues

Under the Horizon project, BNMT Nepal organized six dialogues between parents, children and teachers of six schools of Indrawati Rural Municipality from 1^st June till 21^st June 2022. The objective of these dialogues was to help parents, children and teachers explore each other’s perspectives; sensitize them about the challenges of adolescents; identify various Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (ASRHR) issues; and help address those issues by fostering communication between them. The dialogues focused on topics of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights including but not limited to, Child Marriage, Gender-based violence, Menstrual Hygiene Management, Abuse of harmful substances (smoking, drinking, and drug abuse), Gender discrimination, sex and sexuality, Sexual Abuse etc. These topics were chosen by the participants they felt were prevalent in their communities, which were then prioritized to steer the discussions. Dialogues on adolescence, child marriage, menstruation, and the consumption of harmful substances led to an insightful discussion. Moreover, an intensive discussion was conducted on the delivery of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in schools, which helped identify the problems. Similarly, participants put forward their important remarks on topics of adolescents’ access to SRHR services. The program helped participants understand the problems better, and come up with possible solutions. Also, they showed commitment to solving those issues with meaningful discussion. Furthermore, parents, teachers, and students regarded CSE as an effective tool for addressing ASRHR issues in their community. A total number of 173 participants took part in the events.

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