International Women's Health Coalition - International Women's Health Coalition

PARTNER: Reprolatina

Reprolatina, Innovative Solutions in Sexual and Reproductive Health, is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization founded in 1999 and located in Campinas, State of São Paulo in Brazil. It carries out strategic and innovative actions to help enhance the quality of sexual and reproductive health of women and men (adolescents, young people, and adults) in disadvantaged populations in Latin America.

Reprolatina works on research projects and develops educational curricula and educational materials with a gender perspective. It also offers different types of courses, using participatory techniques, to build and strengthen the capacities of providers, educators, community women, and adolescents to increase their participation in policies and programs and become advocates of social transformation. They focus on sexual and reproductive rights, the elimination of gender inequalities, and the improvement of sexual reproductive health.

IWHC has supported Reprolatina since 2006, and has been fundamental in the expansion of their activities in Brazil.

Mission:

To plan and conduct research on sexuality, health, and sexual and reproductive rights.
To devise, develop, implement, and evaluate projects, seeking innovative models to improve the quality of health, sexual health, and reproductive health, incorporating community participation as an essential element.
To provide technical assistance and educational support and training to public and private institutions in the areas of sexuality, health, sexual health, and reproductive health.
To devise, develop, and implement advocacy programs and activities to protect sexual and reproductive rights and defend gender equity.

Projects

Women Advocates of Sexual and Reproductive Health in Santa Bárbara D’Oeste, SP and Campinas, SP
Cared-for Girls, Healthy Women in Americana, SP
Guardians of Sexual and Reproductive Rights
Focus on Emergency Contraception for Girls

“Reprolatina changed my life. I am a different person after being trained as a community facilitator and gaining awareness of my rights. It gave me the courage to go back to school more than 15 years after I had stopped, and I was trained as a caseworker. Now I help other women to learn about and exercise their rights and to be empowered." --Áurea Soares de Deus, Facilitator in Santa Bárbara D´Oeste

Impact

The “Viven oficina_adolescentes_02 do a Adolescência” [Teen Living] website is the site most frequently visited by adolescents and young people in Brazil searching for up-to-date information on sexual and reproductive health. It is a reference point for young people; it ranked first in a teen opinion poll conducted by the Technical Area on Adolescents and Young People of Brazil’s Ministry of Health; and its URL is listed first in the list of recommended links and in Google’s ranking for searches on “adolescência” [adolescence].

In 2008, the site had over 549,000 hits, 360,000 of which were by girls or women. In late 2009, the site was updated and reformulated, in order to transform it in an instrument for adolescents promote and advocate for better sexual and reproductive health and for the full implementation of the policies aimed at respecting sexual and reproductive rights of girls and women. In 2010 the site has received more than 725,000 visits, mostly of girls and young women.