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Validation of the CTS Action Plan: A Coordinated Provincial Commitment to Protect and Empower Adolescent Girls

Validation of the CTS Action Plan: A Coordinated Provincial Commitment to Protect and Empower Adolescent Girls

by | Mar 6, 2026 | Activities, Institutional News

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, harmful practices such as child marriage, unintended adolescent pregnancies, and gender‑based violence continue to undermine the rights and well‑being of adolescent girls in Kasaï. These challenges—rooted in social norms, economic vulnerability, and limited access to accurate information—have long‑term consequences on girls’ health, safety, and life opportunities.

Adolescent girls frequently lack access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and to confidential, high‑quality contraceptive services. This gap fuels teen pregnancy, interrupts schooling, increases health risks, and restricts girls’ ability to make informed decisions about their bodies and their futures.

Data from the 2017–2018 MICS survey highlight the magnitude of the challenge: 54% of women aged 20–24 in Kasaï were married before age 18, compared to 29% nationally. Between 2021 and 2024, the province documented 425 cases of child marriage, predominantly among girls aged 15–17. These numbers signal an urgent need for coordinated, multisectoral action to protect girls’ rights and expand their pathways to autonomy.

In response, the provincial authorities of Kasaï have developed and endorsed the CTS Action Plan (Child Marriage, Teen Pregnancy, School Dropout)—a roadmap designed to guide integrated interventions. The plan was developed in collaboration with Ipas DRC, with financial support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), and aims to strengthen sustainable, community‑owned solutions that safeguard adolescent girls’ health, rights, and futures.

Woman carrying drinks on her head.

A Participatory and Inclusive Development Process

To ensure the plan reflects local priorities and lived realities, provincial leaders initiated a participatory process bringing together experts from the Health, Education, and Gender ministries. Working groups aligned with the six strategic axes strengthened the plan with evidence‑informed recommendations, which were later consolidated in plenary.

A broader validation workshop convened civil society organizations, school authorities, security services, youth representatives, and community leaders. This inclusive process affirmed strong local ownership and reinforced collective commitment to ending child marriage, reducing teen pregnancy, and supporting girls to remain in school.

Woman carrying drinks on her head.

Official Validation by Provincial Leadership

The CTS Action Plan was formally validated by Her Excellency Alphonsine BUNDU LUZANGA, Provincial Minister of Gender, Family, and Children. In her remarks, she underscored the urgent need to act decisively:

“Each day without action exposes hundreds of girls to futures constrained by early marriage, unintended pregnancy, and interrupted education.”

Her leadership sends a strong signal of political will to advance gender equality and uphold girls’ rights across the province.

Six Strategic Axes Designed to Advance Girls’ Rights and Well‑being

The plan is anchored in six strategic pillars that collectively address the root causes and consequences of child marriage and adolescent pregnancy:

  • Shifting harmful social norms: engaging communities through dialogue, awareness campaigns, and the promotion of positive role models that uplift girls’ potential.
  • Ensuring school retention and re‑enrollment: strengthening mechanisms to prevent dropout and supporting the return of girls who have left school.
  • Improving access to SRH services: expanding the availability of adolescent‑friendly, confidential, and high‑quality SRH care, including contraception.
  • Mobilizing parents and community leaders: reinforcing the role of families, traditional leaders, and faith communities in protecting girls’ rights.
  • Girls’ empowerment: nurturing leadership, life skills, and economic resilience so girls can make informed decisions and advocate for themselves.
  • Strengthening protection systems: enhancing community reporting mechanisms and enforcing legal frameworks that safeguard children and adolescents.
Woman carrying drinks on her head.

These axes reflect a holistic approach—one that centers girls’ voices, builds community support, and strengthens provincial systems

Woman carrying drinks on her head.
Woman carrying drinks on her head.

As part of the implementation of the action plan, Ipas will carry out a range of activities aimed at supporting students’ retention in school. The action plan includes awareness‑raising campaigns in schools, as well as the establishment and revitalization of school‑based clubs focused on sexual and reproductive health.

These spaces will provide young people with opportunities to express themselves freely, strengthen their knowledge of sexual and reproductive health, and build leadership skills. The goal is to support adolescents and youth to become agents of change, equipped to positively influence their communities and to promote inclusive, safe, and protective school environments.

Publication of the CAC standards and guidelines

Publication of the CAC standards and guidelines

by | Apr 6, 2024 | Institutional News

Ipas DRC brings a new vision of a DRC where every woman, regardless of her social and ethnic class, has the potential to achieve all her social, cultural, economic, and political goals

Ipas DRC works with local partners to educate all relevant stakeholders—including women and communities—on women’s newly expanded right to access safe abortion.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Health and key partners, we helped draft new standards and guidelines for comprehensive abortion care that align with the Maputo Protocol and are now working to see that they are fully implemented. We also are training health-care providers to offer abortion and contraceptive care, and linking with community-based organizations and community health workers to ensure that women and girls know where they can access services.

Investing in Sexual and Reproductive Health to Accelerate the Gender Equity Agenda

Investing in Sexual and Reproductive Health to Accelerate the Gender Equity Agenda

by | Mar 10, 2024 | Analysis and Opinions

The development of a nation is inextricably linked to its investment in the rights, education, and health of young girls and women. On Friday, March 8, 2024, the world celebrated International Women’s Rights Day under the theme “’Invest in women: Accelerate progress.”, urging all nations to not only acknowledge its achievements, but ring the alarm on targeted actions needed to tackle violence against women, poverty, lack of access to education, inadequate healthcare, and gender inequities that impede women from attaining their full rights; dimming their future.

Over the last five years, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government has taken bold strides to catalyze the socio-economic empowerment of girls and young women. In 2019, the government launched its “Free Public Primary Education” initiative, showing its strong commitment to breaking down financial barriers that have kept young girls outside the school system, and out of sight for decades. Although this initiative has bolstered primary school enrollment for young girls, a major obstacle persists ahead: how do we ensure that young girls remain in school?

In the DRC, the number of girls enrolled in primary school takes a plunge as they transition into secondary school, compared to boys. The most frequent contributing factors to this decline are child marriage, unintended pregnancies among teenagers, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), and incest among many others. The root cause of these factors can be explained by persistent harmful social norms that reign within communities, taboos related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH), increased violence against women, lack of access to accurate SRH information and services, and the scarceness of youth-friendly health services adapted to youth needs. To reinforce the government’s investment in the future of girls and young women – often seized by these factors – Ipas DRC brings a unique contribution to this cause.

School children in DRC
Ipas works to ensure that young girls and women have the knowledge and can exercise their rights to make autonomous decisions on their sexual and reproductive health, in an environment where they are supported and can access services adapted to their needs. In collaboration with youth-led organizations nationwide, Ipas has reached over 1 million youth with accurate and reliable information on SRHR, breaking the silence on SRHR, including abortion rights, through dialogues, advocacy initiatives, and outreach campaigns. Coupled with sensitization activities, Ipas has trained over 100 intermediaries who are trusted community youth leaders serving as a bridge between the community and the health system by leading the community referral pathway. Between, 2019 and 2023, Ipas-supported sites have provided over 5741 abortion services to adolescents, representing 23% of total clients. The client referral pathway showcases that the community remains a pivotal source of information and referrals to Ipas-supported centers, highlighting the need to continue expanding our collaboration with youth-led organizations to advance SRHR and adequately support the SRH needs of Congolese girls inside and outside of schools.
Currently, Ipas partners with over 25 local youth-led organizations through its grant-making strategy providing strategic programmatic and operational support. One of the innovative programs implemented by our local partners is the Positive Masculinity Gender Responsive program, which works to engage men to support women’s bodily autonomy and act as changemakers through local networks of Men Engaged.

As we will reflect on Women’s rights all through March, Ipas pledges to invest in the sexual and reproductive health of young Congolese women and girls as a pathway to accelerate progress in gender equity, socio-economic development, and health.”