Introduction:

Adolescents in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, grapple with substantial barriers in accessing accurate reproductive health information and services concerning their reproductive health and rights. There is a critical gap in comprehensive sexuality education among adolescents leading to a lack of awareness regarding their bodies, reproductive processes, and rights.¹ Furthermore, a study conducted in two LGAs in Bayelsa State revealed that there is a prevalent issue with inadequate menstrual hygiene management practices, contributing to health complications and potential social stigma.² Perhaps most critically, another study conducted in Bayelsa study shows that there’s a dire lack of readily accessible and supportive mechanisms for survivors of sexual violence, leaving many young persons without the necessary resources for disclosure, counselling, and rehabilitation.³  These combined barriers result in poor reproductive health outcomes, limited autonomy, and increased vulnerability for adolescents in the region, underscoring an urgent need for targeted and comprehensive interventions. Over the years, outcomes and findings from research projects just sit idly as recommendations in published journal articles which may never be implemented owing to stakeholders’ priorities. Individuals and Non-governmental organizations can actually step in to turn these recommendations into actionable, low-cost yet high impact public health interventions. The ARREARS project was specifically designed following this ideology as a three-year intervention that ran from April 2022 to April 2025. The project aimed to systematically dismantle these barriers and enhance the overall reproductive well-being and rights of adolescents in Bayelsa State. Specific objectives were to empower adolescents by providing comprehensive, age-appropriate sexuality education; to promote improved menstrual hygiene management practices; and to establish robust and accessible support mechanisms for survivors of sexual violence.

Body

Methods:

Over its three-year implementation period, the ARREARS project deployed a multifaceted and integrated approach across three key Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Bayelsa State. The LGAs included Ogbia, Yenagoa and Sagbama. Our strategy encompassed several complementary components: intensive school and faith-based outreaches that delivered age-appropriate, evidence-based comprehensive sexuality education directly to adolescents and their caregivers; targeted capacity-building workshops for healthcare providers to enhance their knowledge, skills, and youth-friendliness in delivering reproductive health services; and the strategic use of online surveys alongside providing a confidential platform for adolescents to share their experiences. This comprehensive methodological framework ensured broad reach and addressed multiple determinants of adolescent reproductive health.

Results:

The ARREARS project achieved a significant and measurable impact. Key accomplishments include the distribution of over 1,000 menstrual hygiene materials and 300 hard-copy educational pamphlets, directly improving access to essential resources and information. We conducted capacity-building workshops for over two dozen healthcare workers, enhancing their ability to provide youth-friendly reproductive health services. Furthermore, our online surveys garnered over 700 responses, facilitated 10 disclosures of sexual violence experiences, highlighting the urgent need for and trust in our support mechanisms. In a testament to the project’s success in fostering safe disclosure, psychotherapeutic support was successfully provided to 3 young persons who bravely shared their experiences of sexual violence via confidential WhatsApp voice notes, demonstrating the effectiveness of accessible and empathetic digital support channels.

Lessons Learned:

The ARREARS project conclusively demonstrated that a comprehensive, youth-centric, and youth-friendly approach is exceptionally effective in empowering adolescents. This strategy significantly improved reproductive health and rights awareness, led to better menstrual hygiene practices, increased the utilization of crucial health services, and fostered a safe environment for disclosures of sensitive issues like sexual violence. These findings underscore the importance of tailored interventions that prioritize adolescent needs and perspectives and provide alternatives for safe disclosure of sexual violence.

Conclusion:

This perspective unequivocally demonstrates the effectiveness and transformative potential of a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach in advancing adolescent reproductive health and rights within the challenging context of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The ARREARS project’s success provides a compelling model for future interventions aiming to empower young people and ensure their access to essential health information, services and support.

Recommendations:

Schools should establish youth-friendly corners within schools for adolescents to access information, resources and confidential support on reproductive health. Faith-based organizations and NGOs and other entities such as Davepearl Konsults and Omonijo Omonijo legal practitioners, should not wait for interventions from government but scale up and strengthen referral networks for survivors of sexual violence to benefit from medical, psychological and legal support. Bayelsa state government should invest in initiatives that leverage digital platforms for health education, information dissemination, and confidential support, building on the success of ARREARS’ online engagement.

Acknowledgment:

The management and staff of all participating secondary schools and higher institutions, all survivors of sexual violence and sponsors of our outreaches are acknowledged for their roles

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interests.