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Ensuring girls’ futures

Home 9 Our Work 9 Strengthening youth sexual and reproductive health and rights 9 Ensuring girls’ futures

A holistic approach to tackling child marriage, teenage pregnancy and school dropout

Girls deserve the right to choose their own path in life. But this right is often denied due to many interrelated factors, including child marriage, teenage pregnancy, and school dropout.

A girl’s path through adolescence can be much easier if her community believes in her rights and has supportive policies and programs in place. That’s why we use a holistic approach to make lasting, systemic change. We work with partners across all sectors of society to build a world where every girl can control her own body and future.

Girls are resilient: Their stories prove it.

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Our strategy

To address the complex realities girls face, Ipas centers the voices of young people, who serve as leaders and active participants in all our programs to strengthen youth sexual and reproductive health. We partner with governments, health providers, community groups and local leaders to assess each community’s specific needs and build specially tailored programs that prevent girls from experiencing child marriage, teenage pregnancy and school dropout.

Child marriage

Child marriage is a global threat that severely limits girls’ ability to determine their own future, trapping them in poverty and making them vulnerable to gender-based violence. It also increases their risk of early and unwanted pregnancy, leading to more abortions by unsafe methods. And it deprives girls of education and economic opportunities, perpetuating a cycle of gender inequity.

Here’s how we’re tackling child marriage:

Proving the harms of climate change

Our research around the world has found an increase in child, early and forced marriages in places where climate change is harming people’s livelihoods.

Advancing gender equity

We engage men and boys in the fight for reproductive rights. With the right information and support, they can play an important role in advancing gender equity—and preventing child marriage.

Pushing for law change that protects girls

Around the world, we advocate for laws that protect girls’ rights. In Bolivia, years of work alongside local partners paid off when the government voted in 2025 to ban child marriage.

Teenage pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy significantly impacts girls’ health, education, and economic prospects. Early pregnancies can pose serious health risks, including from abortion with unsafe methods, and can trap girls in unhealthy relationships. In addition, young mothers are more likely to drop out of school, limiting their future opportunities.

We address the root causes of teenage pregnancy in the following ways:

Advocating for sexuality education

Without access to sexuality education, girls don’t have the information they need to prevent pregnancy or know when and how to seek reproductive health care. We advocate for comprehensive sexuality education that includes information on contraception and abortion.

Bringing sex education to schools and colleges

We partner with local governments, community organizations and youth groups to build sexuality education programs for children and young adults. In Nigeria, we worked with a local partner to bring much-needed sexuality education to college campuses.

Creating youth-friendly digital platforms

In collaboration with young people, we build chatbots, mobile apps, websites, videos and more to reach youth with the sexual and reproductive health information they need to prevent pregnancy and stay in school.

School dropout

School dropout rates for girls are alarmingly high in many parts of the world, due to factors including poverty, gender-based violence, and teenage pregnancy. Plus, stigma around youth sexuality and abortion often prevents girls from accessing the sexual and reproductive health information and care they need to stay in school. Dropping out of school has long-term consequences, perpetuating cycles of poverty and preventing girls from reaching their full potential.

We work to prevent school dropout by promoting policies and programs that keep girls and young women in school, including in these ways:

Preventing gender-based violence

If girls can avoid gender-based violence—and access timely, high-quality sexual health care if they do experience violence—they are more likely to stay in school.

Ending abortion stigma

Abortion stigma prevents many girls with an unplanned pregnancy from seeking safe abortion care. Instead, some resort to abortion with unsafe methods, while others are forced to continue their pregnancies—greatly increasing their risk of school dropout.

Advocating for comprehensive sexuality education

We push for sex education programs that include information on contraception and abortion, so girls can learn how to prevent pregnancy and what their options are if they do become pregnant.

Supporting local groups that help keep girls in school

We support community groups, such as our Kenya-based partner Entashata, that offer the sexuality education, financial sponsorship and social support girls need to stay in school.

Explore the stories and people working to ensure girls’ futures

Young people are powerful.

That’s why Ipas taps into the knowledge and networks of youth-led groups closest to the challenges young people face. In Malawi, Chimwemwe Chatseka leads a youth network that combats child marriage, teenage pregnancy and school dropout. He’s pictured below with Estelle, who received support from the network and returned to school after dropping out due to marriage and pregnancy.

A smiling young man sits on a wooden stool, wearing a bright blue t-shirt with the words "MASEVE YOUTH NETWORK" printed on it, in a warmly lit indoor setting with a plain brown background.

“As the youth, we are the leaders of today, not tomorrow. We disbanded nine child marriages in this area to date, and [the girls] have resumed their studies.”

Chimwemwe Chatseka,
chairperson of Massarif Youth Network in Malawi

Pictured below: Estelle, age 25, lives in rural Malawi with her seven-year-old son and runs a pastry business. Youth officers like Chimwemwe once helped her to return to school, and she is now the vice secretary of the Massarif Youth Network. [Photo by Kondwani Jere]

A smiling woman in a colorful dress and red headscarf walks beside a man in a blue shirt and dark pants on a dirt path, with trees and a thatched-roof hut in the background.

Sexual education helps girls stay in school.

When girls can make informed choices about their own bodies, they’re better able to avoid unwanted pregnancy and stay focused on their education. In Bolivia, Ipas partners with schools to train teachers on preventing gender-based violence and what to do if a child experiences violence. The teachers in turn train students and parents.

A woman with long dark hair in a pale yellow blouse stands in a living room with orange couches, framed certificates on the wall, a bookshelf, flags, and a calendar on a desk showing March 2023.

“This kind of education is preventive and comprehensive. Ipas’s training focuses on mental health and emotional intelligence. Ipas has been a blessing in this aspect.”

Elizabeth Phillips,
school director, Potosí, Bolivia

Photo by Manuel Seoane

Our local partners are experts on their communities’ needs.

In Indonesia, we partnered with the Central Sulawesi Women’s Equality Struggle Group (KPKPST), who identified that the climate crisis was disrupting people’s livelihoods, in turn putting girls at higher risk for gender-based violence and child marriage.

A woman wearing a blue hijab, blue top, and black pants stands smiling on a dirt path in a rural area with houses, greenery, and cloudy sky in the background.

“There’s been progress ever since Ipas joined us in 2022 in Central Sulawesi. With their help, we conduct community meetings and training sessions about climate change, reproductive health, and the relationship between the two, which includes gender-based violence.”

Susilawati,
staff of Ipas’s partner KPKPST in Indonesia

Photo by Rosa Panggabean

Four women are sitting on red sofas around a table with a yellow cloth and a basket of blue flowers, having a conversation in a brightly lit room with framed certificates on the wall.

(Left to right) Susilawati the staff of KPKPST, Ipas Indonesia staff Athirah Winarsih, Tabah Suanti Ipas-trained midwife, and Nur Aini. Ipas, KPKPST, and midwives routinely hold discussions to develop strategies for addressing child marriage in Sigi Regency.

Laws must protect girls’ right to bodily autonomy.

In Bolivia, Ipas worked closely with the government to raise awareness and advocate for a bill to advance sexual and reproductive rights in Cobija municipality.

A woman in a blue patterned dress stands smiling in an office with blue walls, a bookshelf with mugs and books, a wooden desk with papers, and a framed religious image hanging on the wall.

“Ipas’s work is comprehensive because they are working with adolescent girls, parents, physicians, and everything involving the communities that helps us.”

Giovanna Castedo,
municipal councilor, Pando, Bolivia

Photo by Manuel Seoane

Girls deserve respectful health care.

That’s why we train doctors, midwives and nurses to respectfully care for girls who experience pregnancy, gender-based violence and child marriage. Tabah Suanti, a midwife in Indonesia, received Ipas training and works to educate young women on the risks of early marriage.

A woman in a brown uniform stands in a classroom with blue walls, educational posters, a calendar, and a green-covered table beside a sunlit window.

“The Ipas training changed how we serve our community, as they taught us to be nonjudgmental when counselling pregnant teenage girls. This ensures they feel supported and not shamed. We are actively working to break the cycle of early pregnancy and underage marriage.”

Tabah Suanti,
Ipas-trained midwife, Indonesia

Photo by Rosa Panggabean

We have a job to do. Will you join us?

Young people and their local communities already know what’s needed to fight the injustices of child marriage, teenage pregnancy and school dropout. With our holistic approach and vast network of local partners and experts, Ipas is uniquely positioned to help make lasting, systemic change.

With your support, we’ll build a world where every girl can control her own body and future.