How Eastern Visayas Is Lowering Its Adolescent Pregnancy Rate

A Program Born From a Typhoon's Aftermath

The Joint Programme on Accelerating the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy, known as JPARAP, was piloted in the provinces of Samar and Southern Leyte starting in 2022. It is implemented jointly by the United Nations Population Fund, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization, with funding support from the Korea International Cooperation Agency.

The program's origin traces back to a specific moment. According to Dr. Feliciano John Matibag, Provincial Health Officer II in Southern Leyte, JPARAP was conceptualized after Typhoon Odette, when local data revealed that teenage pregnancy rates in the province were unusually high. Southern Leyte's adolescent birth rate sits above the national average, particularly in rural areas where access to information and health services is limited, a challenge compounded by the province being one of the most typhoon-prone in the country.

What the Numbers Show So Far

Since its 2022 launch, the results in Southern Leyte have been substantial. Adolescent birth rates dropped 29 percent, from 35.8 to 25.4 births per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19, within 22 months. The province is now on track to surpass the program's 2026 target of 21 births per 1,000 if the current pace continues. Contraceptive use among young people also increased, and local government budgets for adolescent health more than doubled, from 3.8 million pesos in 2022 to 6.6 million pesos in 2024, with 48.6 million pesos projected for 2025.

Samar's progress has been slower but still meaningful. Adolescent birth rates there decreased by 5 percent, while modern contraceptive use surged by 70 percent. Samar began the program with higher baseline rates and greater socioeconomic challenges than Southern Leyte, but its local governments boosted adolescent health funding more than sevenfold, from 6 million pesos in 2022 to 45.7 million pesos in 2025.

What Youth Leadership Looks Like in Practice

A flagship component of JPARAP is the Expanded Youth Leadership and Governance Programme, which invests directly in young people's capacity to lead rather than treating them only as recipients of services. Sangguniang Kabataan youth leaders participate in planning and implementing projects in their own barangays, working alongside local officials and health workers.

The program also runs targeted outreach efforts like TrucKabataan, a youth-led mobile health service that brings sexual and reproductive health information directly into communities in Samar and Southern Leyte, and Masayang Pamilya, a parent engagement initiative in Samar designed to address the cultural and generational barriers that often keep adolescent reproductive health from being discussed openly at home.

That reflection came from Emilio Galangue, a 23-year-old Sangguniang Kabataan youth leader from Barangay Mabini in Basey, Samar, describing how the program changed what was possible at the barangay level.

Real Progress, With Real Challenges Remaining

The program's gains are genuine, but they have not erased every challenge. Officials running JPARAP have flagged a persistent and concerning trend: rising births among girls aged 10 to 14, a younger and more vulnerable group than the 15 to 19 age bracket where most of the measured progress has occurred. This suggests that the interventions working for older adolescents may need to be adapted for younger children facing different risks and circumstances.

The program runs through 2026, covering 18 municipalities and one city in Southern Leyte and 24 municipalities and one city in Samar, more than 1,400 barangays in total. Whether the gains seen so far can be sustained, and whether they can be extended to the youngest and most vulnerable adolescents, will determine how much of a lasting model this becomes.