About SHE+
The Sexual Health Education Plus (SHE+) helpline is an adolescent-oriented, youth-friendly and engagement platform that provides information, counselling and referral services for young people. The services provided are easy to access, confidential and private. It has over the years, provided an avenue for adolescents and young people to find redress for all their information and service needs related to their growth and development.
The platform is currently manned by social and health workers with diverse backgrounds in especially health, counselling and education. Among the team manning the platform, 9 local Ghanaian languages are spoken:
- Ga
- Ga Adangbe
- Gurune
- Asante Twi
- Hausa
- Dagbani
- Waale
- Ewe
- Kusasi
Due to demand by adolescents on calling cost impeding their access to reproductive health services, Savana Signatures, in 2020, acquired and commenced the implementation of the Toll-Free number 0800 00 11 22. This has improved access of Ghanaian adolescents and young people, to critical information and life-saving linkages to services related to their sexual, reproductive Health and Rights.
The SHE+ Helpline heavily relies on the existence of a well mapped out repertoire of very reputable and reliable sexual, reproductive, health and right service points across the length and breadth of Ghana. These points include both public and private facilities and institutions including health facilities, security services, legal services, psychosocial services, laboratory services etc.
Since 2019, through a Savana Signatures and UNICEF Ghana partnership, the SHE + Helpline and the UNICEF Agoo platform have been linked to provide additional and complimentary services to young people in Ghana. counsellors for further interaction.
Through this linkage, callers on Agoo platform 5100 who need further information, counselling and referral services could get connected to the SHE+ Helpline attendants for realtime guidance, counselling, information and other support services. This collaboration provides timely linkages to sexual and reproductive rights services to young people.
Linking the Agoo and SHE+ platforms has improved adolescents’ access to safe and age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health services not only in the Northern part of Ghana but in Ghana as a whole. It has created an opportunity for Agoo callers who are mostly young people and adolescents to have direct access to the SHE+ helpline counsellors and has complemented the Agoo Platform in the following ways:
Provided information related to the sexual and reproductive health needs of the young people, especially in the North but also across the country as several calls came through from many other regions of the country.Provided real time information and counselling support to the callers.
Provided psychological support and empowerment opportunities to the callers.
Has ensured language is no longer a barrier to young people’s access to information and services on reproductive health.