News

Many Dutch singles haven’t had sex since the start of the lockdown and 1.5 meter social distancing. This is the case for half of single young men and women, and for one third of the single men. From among all singles, 1 in 5 has had sex with a partner during the corona period, but this is now usually someone they have sex with more often (a sex buddy) than a one-night stand. Rutgers and SOA Aids Nederland investigated the influence of the COVID pandemic and measures on the sexual health of Dutch adolescents and adults, and access to sexual healthcare.

Today the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Rutgers has been selected to enter into 3 partnerships with the Ministry to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of young people, and to work towards gender justice in countries across Africa, Asia and the MENA region. It is a mark of approval for the work we do with our partners in over 20 countries every day.

Rutgers and Dance4Life have been working together for several years to improve the sexual health and rights of young people worldwide. Improving those rights is desperately needed, as unsafe sex is still the fastest growing health risk for young people worldwide. For example, complications around pregnancies are the #1 cause of death for girls aged 15 to 19 years old. Our organizations overlap in vision and mission.

Corona is a global health crisis that affects everyone. It affects us in our daily lives and has a major impact on our individual functioning. We depend on experts and crisis teams, and politicians to implement adapted laws and regulations. This leads to measures that contribute to curbing the crisis (flatten the curve), but unfortunately there are also a negative spin-offs.

DKT WomanCare Global, our partner in the She Makes Her Safe Choice programme, distributes the Ipas MVA aspirator in 80+ countries worldwide. DKT WomanCare Global is responding swiftly to the global Covid-19 surge and published this info sheet on preserving abortion care in this pandemic where women’s healthcare services, in particular abortion care, risk being deprioritized.

Rutgers continues to follow the latest developments around Covid-19 with great concern. Aside from worries about our families, friends and fellow citizens, the current situation is also troubling for our work on improving the sexual and reproductive health and rights around the world. Our heart goes out, especially, to those already vulnerable and disproportionately hit by this crisis.

Across four countries, Prevention+ engages with men and boys, as well as women, to end gender-based violence (GBV). In Western Uganda, partner organisation Reproductive Health Uganda works with local communities towards our shared goal of violence-free societies.

Rutgers is seeking an external evaluator for Hello I Am programme in Bangladesh, a four-year programme in Bangladesh aiming to reduce rates of child marriage, school drop-out and teenage pregnancy in six upazilas (sub-districts). Hello I Am will end in 2020.

This November, the Nairobi Summit took place in Kenya. Young advocate, Ligia DeStephen from Honduras attended, as part of our Right Here Right Now (RHRN) programme. Ligia looks back at an inspirational experience in Nairobi, and will continue to hold her government to account for the commitments it made during the Summit.

It's two years since the #MeToo movement started. From Monday, 25 November, organisations all over the world, under the name 'Orange the world', will campaign for 16 days for the prevention of violence against women. Rutgers will also colour orange and will advocate for more focus on the prevention of sexual harassment and violence, in the Netherlands and abroad.