Adolescent Score Card; A Participatory Tool for Ensuring Rights of Adolescent

Raghu Maharishi
Pradeep Kumar Mishra, Save the Children

Adolescent Score Card (ASC) is one of the most effective methods of participatory data collection providing evidences for better planning, monitoring and to ensure that the services reach those for whom they are meant. ASC tool facilitates dialogue between adolescents and service providers in a participatory forum to inform and empower adolescents for exercising their SRH rights. ASC captures 3 levels of information- Availability of SRHR services, Satisfaction for quality of service delivery and suggestions for Improvement of quality. Basis mutually decided indicators performances is evaluated as Good (75%), Average (50-75%) and Poor (50%). Interface meeting between adolescents and service providers helps in developing action plan for ensuring accountability of service providers for improving services on selected indicators. In ‘Marriage No Childs Play’ project in India, the project introduced ASC’s for understanding access and availability of SRHR services for adolescents. ASC was administered in 4 districts of Rajasthan & Bihar states of India and data was collected from 108 score cards at an interval of 6 months. The results show availability of contraceptives improved to 39% from 4%, availability of pregnancy kit improved to 54% from 10%, treatment of menstrual related problem improved to 61% from 18% and RTI/STI services improved to 29% from 11%. Findings provided basis for influencing health officials/system beyond providing evidences to understand and evaluate SRHR services from adolescent’s perspective. In addition, this process brought accountability in system since health workers and other government officials know that they will be periodically evaluated on selected parameters.

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 Presented in Session P3. Poster Session Migration, Economics, Environment, Methods, History and Policy