The Adolescent in Transition in West Africa (ATWA) program is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The four-year program aims to influence and promote positive adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) outcomes by addressing some of the interrelated drivers of poor sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) among very young (ages 10-14 years) and older (ages 15-19 years) adolescents in eight regions of the Liptako Gourma area of
West Africa, an area that covers eastern Burkina Faso, southwestern Niger, and a small portion of southeast and central Mali.
Spanning from December 2019 until November 2023, the program will improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescents by catalyzing the provision of Life Skills Education (LSE) in school settings, and in Niger and Mali outside of school settings as well. Teachers, mentors, and peers will engage adolescent girls and boys in learning about SRHR, building critical life skills and improving attitudes, behaviors and norms towards gender and SRHR. Alongside
the provision of LSE, the program will increase access to, and uptake of, quality adolescent-responsive SRH services and contraception among adolescents by improving the quality and youth-friendliness of services, including the attitudes, skills and knowledge of service providers.
