Religious Leaders’ Handbook on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Developed as a tool for religious leaders, this handbook assists the reader in understanding and addressing sexual and reproductive health and rights issues among children and adolescents. After a pilot session in Lusaka, Zambia, in November 2017 at a regional workshop, participating Christian and Muslim religious leaders subsequently recommended its broader use. 

The main aim of developing the handbook is to assist religious leaders and parents to provide effective sexual and reproductive health guidance to children and adolescents. Religious leaders are strategically placed to support adolescents because they are unanimously regarded as authority figures. Scriptures from both the Bible and the Quran were used to clarify the major themes discussed in this handbook. This handbook has two purposes: 

1. To provide information to religious leaders about adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, sexually-transmitted infections, and HIV and AIDS. 
2. To help religious leaders to communicate with adolescents about these issues within the context of shared faith.