December 2010
Dole Corporation’s Fundación Dale and 4th Sector Health signed an alliance in September 2010 to promote responsible reproductive health behavior among youth in the Guayas, Los Rios, and Manabi provinces of Ecuador.
The Alliance for Youth Reproductive Health in Ecuador will support reproductive health education in schools located in Dole’s workplace communities, reaching the children of Dole’s employees as well as youth from the broader community. Preventing unwanted pregnancies among youth is critical because it prevents high-risk births and gives girls more opportunity to stay in school. The Dale alliance is filling a critical gap in reaching Ecuador’s youth with reproductive health services and information.
Though overall use of modern contraception has increased in Ecuador over the past 10 years, unwanted and mistimed pregnancies among girls ages 15-19 have increased by 10 percent. Recognizing that girls’ lives and livelihoods depend on safe and responsible reproductive health, Dole hopes to eventually extend this activity to other Latin American and Caribbean countries where Dole operates.