Sexuality education with a mobile application

Conakry, Guinea | Enabel launches a mobile application for Guinean youth to promote sexual and reproductive health, improve access to sexual and reproductive rights for women and young people and combat gender-based violence.

In Guinea, taboos, myths and social rules surrounding sexuality stand in the way of sexuality education and intergenerational communication. This leads to misinformation and reduced access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. It also encourages risky behaviour such as early sexual activity, unprotected sex, unwanted pregnancies and infection with sexually transmitted diseases.

“The main purpose of the application and website is to inform and raise awareness among young people about sexuality and gender equality,” explains Junior Expert Digitisation Hannah Van Den Berghe from Conakry. “It is precisely because sexuality is a taboo in Guinea that it is harder for young people to find information. We want to improve this with this simple and accessible application.”

The application and website provide information on sexuality and gender equality. Its name, Kouyé, means “peek-a-boo”, an expression used by children when they play hide-and-seek. The name of the application thus refers to the taboo surrounding sexuality in Guinea. The app answers a whole range of questions about sexuality that young people are worrying about, such as “What can I do to avoid getting pregnant against my will?”, “What does Guinean law say about abortion?” and “What is child marriage?”. There is also information on diseases such as Ebola or Covid-19. Young people can test their knowledge with a quiz, share ideas with other young people through the forum or look up the address of the nearest health centre.

The project is funded by the EU and Belgium and implemented in partnership with the Guinean Ministry for Public Health and the German development agency GIZ. The application and website aim to reach at least 10,000 Guinean youths in 2022.