Shaping Tanzania's Adolescent Reproductive Health Agenda
Adolescents and young people aged 10 to 24 make up 33% of Tanzania's population, yet many face significant barriers to sexual and reproductive health information and services. Teenage pregnancy stands at 22%, 31% of girls are married before 18, and adolescent girls remain disproportionately affected by new HIV infections. Despite strong national policy commitments, gaps in implementation, coordination, and youth participation continue to limit progress.
The National Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Forum is an annual national convening organized by the Doris Mollel Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. DMF leads the planning, coordination, and funding of the Forum, while engaging the Ministry of Health through the Directorate of Reproductive, Maternal, and Newborn Health to anchor the convening within national policy structures.
The Forum brings together government officials, researchers, development partners, youth led and youth serving organizations, and civil society to identify policy, legislative, and accountability priorities on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (ASRHR) in Tanzania.
The Forum aims to:
- Share key challenges and priority solutions in adolescent SRH, including interventions for gender based violence (GBV) and violence against children (VAC).
- Bridge the gap between researchers, policy makers, development partners, and NGOs by promoting the use of evidence on adolescent reproductive and maternal health.
- Develop a shared vision for coordination, resource mobilization, and implementation of adolescent health priorities.
- Elevate young people as actors of change, users of services, and holders of rights.
Each edition of the Forum places particular emphasis on emerging issues shaping adolescent health in Tanzania, such as climate change and ASRHR, universal health coverage, and the often overlooked SRH needs of boys and men.
Through convening this Forum each year, DMF strengthens the link between national policy and adolescent realities, ensuring that the voices of young people inform decisions that affect their lives. The Forum highlights DMF's broader commitment to coalition building, policy influence, and putting adolescents at the centre of Tanzania's reproductive health agenda.