News

Rigid gender norms have negative effects on both girls and boys, and inhibit Indonesia from fully benefiting from its economic growth potential, also known as the demographic dividend. These are key results from the Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) and the Youth Voices Research conducted in Indonesia as part of the pioneering research and advocacy programme, Explore4Action. The findings were presented today during the first International Conference on Indonesia Family Planning and Reproductive Health (ICIFPRH) being held from 30 September to 2 October in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

We are proud to announce our collaboration with Reproductive Health Network Kenya (RHNK). Through global collaboration in the She Makes Her Safe Choice programme, we aim to realize the goal of having zero unsafe abortions worldwide by making safe abortion widely available, accessible and affordable to all the women and girls who need it.

Every year 25 million women undergo an unsafe abortion and between 22,500 and 44,000 women worldwide die from the complications. She Makes Her Safe Choice works to reduce these devastating numbers by providing women with a safe choice.

Last week’s announcement that Indonesia’s new penal code will include a number of very regressive articles, is extremely worrying and threatens the sexual and reproductive health and rights of all. The draft law includes the criminalisation of unmarried people living together, homosexuality, safe abortion and sharing information on contraception. Rutgers is gravely concerned by this drastic proposal, and stands in support of those opposing its ratification.

Indonesia's parliament raised the minimum age at which a girl can marry from 16 to 19, in a ruling which is expected to curb child marriage in the country.

The Right Here Right Now (RHRN) strategic partnership amplifies the voices of young people advocating for their sexual and reproductive rights – at home, in their regions, and internationally. This June, all partners and platforms came together in Naivasha, Kenya, to discuss how the meaningful inclusion of young people can continue and how the partnership can sustainably build on its outcomes and lessons learned. National Coordinators Rajendra Maharjan (Nepal), Teresa Alarcón Rodríguez (Bolivia), Solange Mbaye (Senegal), Saraban Tahura Zamen (Bangladesh) and Tendaishe Changamire (Zimbabwe) explain why the inclusion of youth is so vital.

The Yes I Do Alliance (YIDA) has again completed a year with good results. The number of child marriages has decreased, alternative ceremonies have been held (instead of female circumcision), trainings have been given and lobbying is progressing. The annual report gives insight into what was achieved last year.

Rutgers is proud to announce its partnership with SafeAccess Hub, a digital platform which shares practical guidance on safe abortion and post-abortion care. By spreading knowledge to front-line practitioners, this partnership will help to reach the ambitious goal of zero unsafe abortions through its She Makes Her Safe Choice programme.

Three times a year, UN member states gather at the Human Rights Council (HRC) to discuss the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe. This is a key space for Rutgers’ work to advance Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, especially in current times of growing conservative opposition forces in governments.

We are shocked by the devastating news of the murder of Bessy Ferrera (known as Bessy Watson), who was killed on July 8 in the streets of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.