UNFPA and UNICEF’s Joint Programme, Empowering Women and Girls to Realize their Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights in South Africa, was launched in late 2019 to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and reduce sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) among vulnerable adolescent girls and young women in three districts across two provinces of South Africa.

The districts supported were Alfred Nzo and Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape and uThukela in KwaZulu Natal. These districts have youthful populations (15-34 years) as follows: Alfred Nzo, 34 per cent; uThukela 35 per cent; and Nelson Mandela Bay, 32 per cent, as of 20221 as well as having the highest national poverty headcount ratio (the percentage of the population living below the national poverty line) and a high burden of disease. In addition, the three districts reported poorer progress on selected SRHR indicators, including teenage pregnancy and HIV.

The Joint Programme was therefore designed to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and reduce sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) among vulnerable adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) living in in the Alfred Nzo District Municipality, Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, and uThukela District Municipality in South Africa.