“My government will make the fight against unplanned adolescent pregnancies in schools our fight,” declared Burkina Faso’s Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba. In an agenda-setting policy statement to parliamentarians on February 5, 2016, the Prime Minister officially committed to integrating sexual and reproductive health modules into school curricula for students aged 10 to 24. A majority of the country’s 125 parliamentarians then voted to prioritize it on the Prime Minister’s policy agenda for the year.
More than four months in the making, this advocacy win represents a remarkable step forward in expanding family planning information and access for young people and addressing the growing issue of unplanned adolescent pregnancies in Burkina Faso.