independence, social justice, activism, capacity for action, balance
Vulnerable children
© Olivier Papegnies
Since its creation, Médecins du Monde has taken into account the health needs of the minors it encounters. For many years, we were an approved adoption service provider and accompanied many children and families, ensuring that their fundamental rights were always respected.
Disregard for the rights of minors
Distressing findings
In the course of our actions, we are confronted with situations of failure to respect children’s rights and their physical and psychological safety. There are specific determinants of health for minors, and we bear witness to the obstacles they face in accessing health:
- Financial and social barriers
- Difficulties linked to lack of information or legislation.
Our duty
As a medical organization advocating for access to rights and healthcare for all, and in particular for people in vulnerable situations, we must take into account the inequalities in access to rights and health for minors, who are particularly vulnerable.
Guaranteeing minors’ access to rights and healthcare
Some of our projects target minors specifically, but we often encounter children and adolescents in the entire range of our projects, in the following contexts:
- In crisis situations, on their migrant journey
- Living in indecent housing
- During our work with drug users and sex workers
- In projects dealing with access to rights and sexual and reproductive health.
Whatever the context, we always strive to identify the social determinants of health specific to children and adolescents, and we adapt our projects, tools, and strategies to their reality.
Children face special challenges. That’s why we not only fight for the recognition of children’s rights, but also empower minors, strengthening their capacities so that they can participate in their own health journeys.
To this end, we combine a dual approach of risk reduction and child protection.
Preventing and managing unintended pregnancies among adolescent girls
Our commitments
Médecins du Monde is committed to respecting the right to sexual and reproductive health. This is why we support a holistic, accessible, and quality health offer for the most vulnerable people and advocate for:
- respect for people’s right to access appropriate healthcare services;
- the removal of legal restrictions and barriers to safe abortion.
Contraception
Unintended teenage pregnancies, often due to a lack of access to safe and effective contraception, are a real public health issue. In many cases, they lead to an unsafe abortion, which in turn results in high levels of morbidity and mortality.
To help prevent unintended pregnancies among adolescent girls, Médecins du Monde projects ensure that health systems provide a range of contraceptive methods and that relevant information promoting informed choice, effectiveness, equity, and non-discrimination is available. In this task, we always respect the privacy of adolescent girls and ensure that the community is aware of the availability of contraceptives for all.
Support
For adolescent girls facing an unintended pregnancy, the type of pregnancy management proposed will depend above all on their own choice. We can provide antenatal care and psychosocial support if they choose to continue the pregnancy, or if not, they can choose to have an abortion.
