HerHealthCorner

The specific concern being addressed is young women's and girls' ignorance about sexual and reproductive health in North Macedonia, especially in areas with significant socioeconomic effect. This lack of education is made worse by the conservative cultural setting and leads to problems with sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, and reproductive problems.

Because these health issues are neither properly informed or well resourced for, girls and young women in North Macedonia face a substantial challenge.
Lack of thorough and culturally acceptable sexual and reproductive health education, difficulty accessing reliable resources, and the stigma associated with these subjects are some of the factors contributing to the issue. 

"HerHealthCorner" seeks to encourage girls and young women to take charge of their sexual and reproductive health by addressing these concerns by providing easily available, relevant information and professional consultations in local languages.

A locally accessible website with an emphasis on promoting sexual and reproductive health education and support is the answer. This website is specifically designed for young women and girls in North Macedonia, particularly those living in high-impact social areas.

The target audience may easily understand the content on the website since it is provided in the local language. It offers thorough information on all aspects of sexual and reproductive health, including safe practises, indicators of reproductive changes, puberty, and more.

Furthermore, users may consult with professionals including doctors, lawyers, and other relevant experts via the website's private chat function. This removes the fear of social stigma by enabling people to discretely voice their concerns and ask questions.

The solution primarily serves girls and young women in North Macedonia, especially in high-impact social regions. These individuals are the target population, and they face several challenges related to sexual and reproductive health. They are currently underserved in terms of comprehensive and culturally sensitive sexual and reproductive health education and support. Many factors contribute to their underserved status, including societal stigma and the lack of accessible and trusted resources.

The solution serves girls and young women in North Macedonia by providing them with the knowledge, support, and resources needed to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. It aims to bridge the existing information gap and empower them to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives.

Our team comprises a small, dedicated group of women who have firsthand experience with the challenges faced by girls and young women in North Macedonia regarding sexual and reproductive health. Each team member has a personal history of navigating these difficulties during their own adolescent lives, which has driven their commitment to making a positive impact. Their shared experiences provide a profound understanding of the community's needs, and this team is motivated by their personal journeys to design a solution that is both empathetic and community-driven. These women are the voices of their community, and their firsthand experiences are the driving force behind the meaningful impact they aim to achieve.

Our solution has transitioned from a concept to a prototype through several key steps in its development. At the core of our prototype is a functional website that has been built and tested extensively. The website includes a user-friendly interface with content related to sexual and reproductive health, as well as a secure chat feature that allows users to interact with experts.

Additionally, we have engaged with local healthcare professionals, legal experts, and educators who have actively participated in the prototype's development. Their feedback and guidance have been instrumental in refining the solution to better meet the specific needs of our target population.

In North Macedonia, as a low-income and non-completely developed country, the level of awareness of plenty live aspects is pretty much lower compared to developed countries. In that sense, here are many challenges related to sexual and reproductive health that the girls and young women are facing to. Some of them are due to the conservative society and environment where we live in, however plenty of them are due to lack of knowledge about sexual and reproductive health rights. Considering the digital era that we live in, different information is available, however valid data resources are still lacking. Girls and young women have to choose between taking all those info as a guide, as they feel the stigma of the society, or to be quiet and let the things develop in their natural way. Therefore, it is obvious that somebody should bring this topic onto open discussions where everybody will feel free to say what is bothering them.

Saying so and considering the fact that main source of information is placed and searched online, developing a website on local language would be innovative solution as there are no such sites available now. Information served in local language is an advantage as not all people are understanding and speaking foreign language. The website can be place for submitting questions and having confidential chats with a doctor, lawyer, philologist or other relevant expert. The site will be valid and trusted source of truth so that the visitors can practice received advice.

The information about available webpage can be shared with the respective audience on lecturers held in the primary and secondary schools. The lecturers will be organized in agreement with the local majors and the topic will aim to make audience to think about the underling unclarities, stigma and everything that comes on their mind but until now they had never had a chance to say it out loud.

Ultimate goal will be audience to bring out all concerns, so far knowledge and understanding, and to take away said key messages with clear understanding how to proceed further. What is more to trust to the source of information and recommend it further to other concerned parties.

The target audience included in this project would be most vulnerable one, girls in reproductive period and young women, mainly from high-level social impacted regions in North Macedonia. As it was shown throughout past years in those regions' girls are suffering from sexual diseases, more often they have to terminate unwanted pregnancy or to cope with the reproductive issues.

The aim is to add valuable input on girls and young women lives by letting them know that they should talk about sexual and reproductive health challenges, as first.

Then, they should know all about sexual and reproductive health. What is that in general, when is the biological period in one human lifecycle to expect first changes, what are the indications showing the start of the reproductive period, what is considered to be save approach if some changes happen and so on.

With the planned activities audience can feel more free to discuss the underlying issues related to sexual and reproductive health and with that to increase the possibility appropriate solution to be found. Even in some cases sexual and reproductive health is not chronical condition, end users can be advised to be up to date and with that to assure that they will not face issue. Otherwise, for the end users that need long term care, the activities will be accommodated. 

Having the possibility for open or confidential discussion related to sexual and reproductive health with relevant expert is valuable step toward a solution or at least increased awareness. Target population will have opportunity first to hear important information on the topic, then to discuss on it and finally all that information will be available online on local language with possibility to submit question in confidential chat. 

Diversity, equitable and inclusion are incorporated, reasonable and understandable as core approach in all planned activities. As our society is open to diversity and inclusion that population is not marginalized at any level. What is more, sexual diseases are to be discussed with the LGBTQ population from specific aspects.

Sexual and reproductive health concerns all population in reproductive period. It is not only the women who should be aware, have the knowledge and take care about it. The men should, as well. Then these discussions can be conveyed in pairs, as preferred by the target audience.

Added value and benefits for the targeted audience can be seen if there is open and two-way discussion, as first. Considering that targeted audience does not feel free all the time to talk about related topic, it will be benefit if we open them for discussion. Second, increasing awareness and recognizing the underlying indicators of possible sexual and reproductive issue would be sufficient as first step toward trying to find solution. 

To offer this support and help to the target audience for free, grant or donation would be needed. Planned lectures will be conducted in six months period, however the webpage can be updated with relevant information for longer period.