Young people face enormous challenges and needs in terms of better access to sexual and reproductive health information and care. Our needs remain largely unmet. The weight of tradition and customs as well as the cost of contraceptive methods, which is always high for young people, are great obstacles affecting access to family planning and reproductive health care.
Another obstacle we face is quality of care. When we go to the health centers, we are not well received by the health providers and, often, we are subject to judgments from them. It’s not encouraging. It pushes young people to stay at home, not go where help they may need is available. They wonder how to do the right thing, or even what to do.
And, finally, what is still a big difficulty for us is that our parents do not talk to us about sexuality. There may be a lack of awareness of many aspects of sexual and reproductive health. These subjects are still taboo in our society because of social norms. And yet, it is at this age that we really need to be informed, to have cognizance of the related aspects.