An exploration of the contribution of a Sports-for-Development programme on slum-dwelling adolescent girls’ perspectives on their sexual and reproductive health and uptake of sexual and reproductive health services.

Abstract

This research aims to examine the contribution of a Sports-for-Development programme, Mrembo Girls, to the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of slum-dwelling adolescent girls and their uptake of SRH services in Nairobi, Kenya. SRH issues such as early pregnancy, abortion, STI’s and HIV are prevalent within the population who are under provided for local services. A lack of accurate information and cultural and religious barriers aggravate the situation resulting in poor SRH outcomes. The Mrembo Girls programme uses football as their vehicle and the Women Win, Goal Curriculum with the aim to empower girls and tackle SRH issues. They incorporate SRH education into an employability programme and vocational training. A qualitative approach was taken to gain in-depth insights into participant and staff perceptions. Focus group discussions explore the girls’ attitudes towards their own SRH and the ways in which the programme has affected their use of services. Semi-structured interviews are used to discuss these issues with staff and coaches to understand their perceptions of the projects’ contribution to girls SRH and service uptake. The study findings indicated that Mrembo is contributing to developing girls social, human, physical and economic assets with positive outcomes for their knowledge and attitudes towards their SRH and service uptake. Furthermore, it highlighted the ways in which the programme is constrained by contextual factors and proposes further research to explore the issues identified.