Resident Coordinator's Remarks at the Panel Discussion on Social Return on Investment in Rights and Choices for Women and Girls in Reproductive Health

Good morning

Khun Sunee Srisangatrakullert, Deputy Director-General, Department of Women’s Affairs and Family Development, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security,

Government officials, Diplomats, Panellists,

Friends from civil society, private sector and youth groups,

My colleagues from the UN,

It is my pleasure to join you today to discuss the social return on investment in empowering girls and women to boost their sexual and reproductive health.

Let me begin by commending the Government on its ambition to narrow the gaps for young people to claim their rights to sexual and reproductive health premised on a robust policy to prevent adolescent pregnancies.

In Thailand adolescent birth rates decreased by half from 51 births per 1,000 women in 2015 to 23 births per 1,000 women in 2019.

Although, this trend is encouraging, girls in rural areas still have an 11% higher risk of early childbearing while those below 18 years of age are 30% more vulnerable, especially if they are poor.

To bridge these gaps, continued efforts are necessary to target young girls from poor rural areas for interventions.

Evidence tells us that empowering young people with knowledge and networks yields behavioural changes and better decision making, which UNFPA has applied to quantify through the “social return on investment toolkit.”

Based on this toolkit we know that productivity in business operation increases by 22% from an investment in a peer outreach programme and by 15% from subsidised sexual and reproductive health products and services. This investment is a win-win strategy for all.

The UN in Thailand is prioritising human capital development and leaving no one behind through our Cooperation Framework, which serves to guide all UN agencies in country, including UNFPA.

We are leveraging technology to engage with young people through the “Teen Club,” which is an official Line account. It is the first digitalised service targeting young people to raise awareness about the drawbacks of adolescent pregnancy. It also enables them to take better reproductive health decisions and enjoy a safe place to discuss sexually transmitted diseases.

To date, the “Teen Club” has reached 50,000 young people who are active online and is expected to reach over 8 million people within five years.

UNFPA, in partnership with Reckitt and the Department of Health, is also training traditional birth attendants from ethnic minority communities to ensure safe deliveries in remote border villages of three northern provinces where the nearest hospital can be up to 90 kilometres away.

Having traditional birth attendants in these communities reduces young women’s risk of losing the life of their new-born.

Birth attendants are also trained to capture statistics on maternal and infant mortalities as well as adolescent births for provincial surveillance systems. This helps us gather more accurate data to support evidence-based planning.

The UN is also looking to conduct further research on ethnic minority issues to add to the evidence base. Analysis by ESCAP suggests that young boys from ethnic minorities are stunting at a 12% higher rate than young boys outside these communities. We want to dig deeper to understand why this happens and how it can be addressed.

These investments in sexual and reproductive health pave the way for human capital development and take us closer to achieving the SDGs.

I look forward to the discussion today and would like to emphasize the critical role all of you play in enabling young girls and women to claim their rights to sexual and reproductive health, making this country prosperous, equitable and peaceful.

Thank you.