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Background:

Pakistan is the fifth youngest and sixth most populated country in the world, having 64% young people of an estimated 200m population[1]. This large cohort of youth is seen as the beacon of prosperity capturing the demographic dividend in Pakistan[2]. However, the prevailing high level fertility rate[3] and the age structure are not leading the country to benefit from the demographic window of opportunity.

In order to harness this potential to spur economic growth, it is imperative to invest in youth on their way to adulthood, which requires holistic and integrated life skills-based interventions, paying close attention to both the context in which young people live in and the relevant standards and principles they should adhere to in their everyday lives. Moreover, the global COVID19 pandemic has further necessitated action.

Reproductive health Rights (RHR) are at the very heart of adolescents’ transition into adulthood. The presence or absence of these rights directly effects an adolescent’s health, wellbeing, identity and personal fulfillment. Unless RHR are supported and upheld young people’s lives will be negatively impacted. The choices and decisions that today’s adolescents and youth make, or are forced to make by others, about their reproductive health, marriage and childbearing will critically influence whether or not they can take full advantage of opportunities for education, employment and societal participation. A great many adolescents and youth in Pakistan are at risk of experiencing poor reproductive health. Social and cultural barriers limit the choices as do available limited information and lack of access to services. It is therefore important to improve access to RHR information and services for all young people in Pakistan, but this need is most urgent among the more vulnerable segments, whose current and future needs may be higher and the barriers simultaneously greater due to intersecting factors such as gender, poverty, and lack of

education. In the aftermath of the COVID-19, these barriers and challenges have been compounded further.

Recent policies have acknowledged a need to enhance young people’s access to information and services related to reproductive health. In particular, the need to discourage early marriages and childbearing is recognized, along with making family planning services accessible to young married couples so they can avoid the high risks of pregnancy in adolescence. With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2016, the global community, including Pakistan, has recognized universal health coverage as a critical priority. Within this context, the need to ensure health coverage for adolescents is especially emphasized. In order to enable young people to make right choices for themselves and their families, it is important to make the health services responsive to the needs of adolescents and youth, in an integrated manner. Services must be responsive, respectful, confidential and affordable.

With support from the Government of Canada, UNFPA has initiated the Sehatmand Khaandaan project, which seeks to accelerate efforts to ensure that national and provincial policies provide the enabling environment for inclusive, gender-sensitive FP and RH. UNFPA’s programme endeavors are aligned to the National Youth Development Programme – ‘Kamyab Jawan’, which aims at advancing young people’s health, education and wellbeing, economic empowerment and employment, civic engagement and societal protection. The National Youth Development Programme is the first- ever national framework to fulfill Pakistan’s global commitments through engagement of youth for achieving SDGs, with the main focus on mainstreaming marginalized youth groups. UNFPA has partnered with the Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Program in supporting the National Youth Development Framework to increase investment opportunities for young people’s RHR nationwide and to promote their participation in the design of federal and provincial policies and programmes.

This consultancy will support the development of a health and wellbeing roadmap for the adolescents and youth reproductive health and rights (RHR) in support of the National Youth Development Framework.