Sexual and reproductive education for youth with leprosy and other disabilities

NLR Indonesia developed the MBIM project to educate children and adolescents with leprosy and other disabilities about their sexual and reproductive health and rights. As part of the project NLR has developed educational manuals and tools, such as pictures and videos.

In 2018 NLR Indonesia, an NGO based in Jakarta, developed the My Body Is Mine (MBIM) programme, an inclusive sexual and reproductive health programme for children and youth with disabilities. MBIM ensures that public and private stakeholders can respond to the growing needs of children through a rights-based, gender-sensitive approach using advocacy and knowledge building. In 2022 close to 200 children, 86 public health staff, and 23 caregivers have attended the programme.

Problems Targeted

Children and youth with disabilities often lack information about their sexual and reproductive health due to stigma and the lack of sexual education and services.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

NLR Indonesia has designed the MBIM project to educate children and youth with leprosy and other disabilities aged ten to 18 about their Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in schools and health care centres. As part of the project, NLR had produced and developed educational teaching manuals and tools, such as images and videos, which teachers, health care workers, and parents use to address topics of sexual and reproductive health with young people. The project also works closely with teenagers with disabilities who can be role models in promoting sexual health and reproductive rights in schools. In 2020–2021, COVID-19 significantly impacted the project. However, due to the training that had taken place before the pandemic, children and youth were better prepared to maintain personal hygiene and to report to trusted people when experiencing sexual violence. In the four project districts in Indonesia, 182 children and young people with disabilities received sexual and reproductive rights education between 2019 and 2022.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

NLR Indonesia receives funding for the MBIM project from Liliane Fonds, a Dutch NGO. The total cost for three years of implementation in four districts of Indonesia is €150,000. MBIM has encouraged the involvement of schools, health centres, village governments, and families to provide more comprehensive education about reproductive health and to create a safe environment. By 2025 the project wishes to include sexual and reproductive rights education in the mainstream school curriculum. It also aims to work with village governments to initiate a village fund for assistance in cases of sexual harassment and violence.

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