The Right Here, Right Now project has been ongoing since 2016 and is currently in the second phase of its development. It is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Brac, 2024).
Problems and Purpose :
In many countries, such as Bangladesh, the youth experience sexuality through stigma and discrimination and being homosexual is punishable by law. This unfortunate situation prevents individuals from making informed choices about sex, their bodies and relationships. Furthermore, the lack of access to health care services and comprehensive sexual education leads to high mortality rates among young girls from child pregnancy and being infected with HIV (Hivos n.d).
The purpose of Right Here Right Now is to educate and emphasise the importance of sexual education in improving youth health and overall wellbeing. Comprehensive sexual education provides young people with accurate and age-appropriate information about sexuality and their reproductive health. It provides knowledge, skills and attitudes that protect youth health and help them build healthy social relationships with others around them (World Health Organisation, 2026). Evidence-based research shows that high-quality sexual education positively impacts youth health and further prepares them for puberty, while making them aware of respect and consent in sexual activities. As a result, this contributes to lower rates of violence and sexual abuse within communities (World Health Organisation, 2026).
Background History and Context
Various individuals play an important role in teaching the youth about their sexuality and reproductive health, whether they are delivered formally through schools or informally at home by parents and caregivers.
In Bangladesh, however, sexuality has been an avoided topic historically due to religious and cultural taboos that discourage open conversations about sexual health and well-being. As a result, there have been high rates of rape cases throughout the years, particularly child rape cases. Men in Bangladesh are predatory towards women, and women cannot walk the streets without being sexually harassed ( The Daily Star, 2026).
Parents in Bangladesh have to live in constant fear of their child's safety, and women are warned to dress conservatively, stay indoors and not go out during certain hours of the night ( The Daily Star, 2026). There must not be such extreme measures of victim-blaming, and initiatives towards sexual education must be implemented in the school curriculum because a lack of sexual education, paired with a patriarchal culture, leads to young men turning into sexual abusers ( The Daily Star, 2026).
Young men in Bangladesh are not equiped with sufficient sexual education, especially in rural areas where schools are single-sex, and boys have very restricted contact with their female peers ( The Daily Star, 2026). The gender roles that are embedded within society intensify when young boys experience social privileges reserved for men, such as autonomy, mobility, opportunity, and power, whereas women endure restrictions ( The Daily Star, 2026).
Young girls are monitored by their parents and sometimes withdrawn from school to prevent same sex interactions, which leads to misdirected masculinity rooted in male sexual dominance and sexist perspectives in attitude and behaviour ( The Daily Star, 2026).
Furthermore, the Universal Periodic Review for Bangladesh analysed that three key areas of sexual and reproductive health rights affect the youth population. Those include the absence of comprehensive sexual education in schools, lack of access to sexual and reproductive health (including menstrual regulation), and inclusive national policies for people with diverse sexual identities and orientations (ARROW, 2018). According to this review, the existing reproductive services do not cater for the needs of unmarried adolescents due to stigmatisation, structural barriers, and the lack of information, which makes the youth population vulnerable to serious diseases (ARROW, 2018). Bangladesh has the highest adolescent fertility rate, and young girls aged 15-19 years contribute one-fourth of the country's total fertility. However, the criminalisation of abortions and religious guilt surrounding the use of contraceptives cause barriers for young women to make informed and safe decisions regarding their sexual health (ARROW, 2018).
The sexual and reproductive health rights situation is worse for individuals with diverse sexual orientations and identities (ARROW, 2018). The review states that Bangladesh acknowledged "the third gender" in 2014, but failed to define and protect those under this identity, causing significant barriers, such as access to health care services and security of human rights defenders who work in support of these communities (ARROW, 2018). Furthermore, a recent analysis discussing the existing gaps in SRH interventions revealed that clinical service delivery is limited to only married women, as they require check-ups and family planning advice.
The government in Bangladesh tried addressing this concern by initiating the Adolescent Friendly Health Centres (AFHC). However, they were unsuccessful with the quality of services and staff, and immediate action must be taken because abortions can only be legally performed if it is necessary to save a pregnant woman's life (ARROW, 2018). This puts young adults through an accelerated mental crisis and creates a hostile environment for women, where they feel hesitant to access services that are provided for them due to social and cultural shame around such topics (ARROW, 2018).
The government should implement programmes and support funding of projects regarding sexual education to ensure knowledge, policies and services that are affordable and free of stigma. Comprehensive sexual education must be implemented in the curriculum and accessible across different school systems in Bangladesh, including general education, Bangla-medium schools, English-medium schools, and religious schools (ARROW, 2018). The development of the curriculum must engage with women, girls, young people and relevant members of society to ensure all content is being covered and is progressive.
The Right Here, Right Now project has been ongoing since 2016 and is currently in the second phase of its development, which will progress until the end of 2025. It is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Brac, 2024).
The project is partnering with 7 local grassroots organisations, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is providing accessible healthcare services through research organisations, action research, and operational research to guide the government's involvement (Brac, 2024).
The Project aims to integrate sexual education into the school curriculum in Bangladesh since the country avoids topics such as social and gender norms, sexuality, safe sex, abortions, and pregnancy. This project is not an abstinence-based program, which instructs the youth not to participate in sexual activities outside of marriage (Kohler et al., 2008). Instead, the purpose of this project is to address safe sex and prepare the youth with careful decisions they make in their intimate relationships with increased contraception use and lower long-term sexually transmitted diseases (Kohler et al., 2008).
Comprehensive Sexual Education does not promote shame or stigma around private topics but rather acknowledges the stigma being harmful to individuals' long-term health and tries to resolve the issue by providing age-appropriate information accurately and creating a safe environment.
Organising, Supporting, and Funding Entities
Sexual and reproductive health rights are denied in many countries, leaving the youth population uninformed about their body and health. The Right Here, Right Now Project is coordinated by Rutgers, an international NGO that primarily focuses on sexual health and advocating for reproductive rights (Rutgers, 2024). The program is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, and this funding helps collaboration amongst countries, activities, and programs for the youth, youth engagement, and advocacy campaigns (Rutgers, 2024).
In Bangladesh, the project is implemented through various partnerships with organisations such as BRAC, Nagorik Uddyog, Naripokkho, oboyob, Wreetu Health and Well-being Foundation, and the Youth Policy Forum (BRAC, 2025). These partnerships aim to collaboratively ensure that young people's sexual and reproductive health is addressed, implemented and accessible (ARROW, 2026). Currently, as of 2025, 88 youth groups across 26 districts in Bangladesh, with over 2200 individuals from various backgrounds, are gaining in-depth SRHR education through hands-on advocacy experiences (BRAC, 2025).
Furthermore, the Right Here Right Now project also works with civil society organisations to encourage young advocates to hold the government accountable for implementing progressive, socially inclusive programs. These efforts and policies will implement comprehensive sexual education in school curricula and decrease stigma (ARROW, 2026).
The program follows a Theory of Change framework, where these partnering organisations collaborate with Rutgers and aim to contribute to youth leadership, research, and sustainable advocacy, working towards long-term outcomes.
There are four long-term outcomes illustrated on a Theory of Change visual :
Long-term outcome 1: Empowered youth make their own decisions on their sexuality and can claim their rights (Rutgers, 2024).
Who is in charge, and what would it cause? Young people are the agents, and they will have the capacity to navigate social, physical, and emotional challenges regarding their sexuality. Youth living in marginalised communities will have access to sexual education and information that positively impacts their well-being (Rutgers, 2024).
Long-term outcome 2: Reinforcing Positive norms and values on gender justice (Rutgers, 2024).
Who is in charge, and what would it cause: Key influencers, media and young people speak and work towards mobilisation, which would positively impact their environment and communities, would be more accepting of gender diversity and gain more knowledge about harmful gender expectations (Rutgers, 2024).
Long-term outcome 3: The government would adopt and implement policies that focus on human rights and laws that enable sexual and reproductive health and gender justice (Rutgers, 2024).
Who is in charge, and what would it cause: Decision makers have the political capacity to advance sexual and reproductive rights for the youth, and there must be regional and international agreements that are maintained accordingly. Furthermore, there must be national, bilateral and multilateral stakeholders that ensure accountability and meaningfully engage the youth in decision-making (Rutgers, 2024).
Long-term outcome 4: Strengthened civil society for young people's sexual and reproductive health and gender justice (Rutgers, 2024).
Who is in charge, and what would it cause: Young people are the advocates of this movement, ensuring inclusivity and building a foundation for comprehensive sexual education that is sustainable at a national, regional and international level (Rutgers, 2024).
Participant Recruitment and Selection
The Right Here, The Right Now project in Bangladesh ensures that young people are at the centre of the project through Meaningful Inclusive Youth Participation (BRAC, 2025). Youth from marginalised and minority groups that are often excluded from decisions involving sexual and reproductive health are recruited through schools, youth organisations, and community networks (Bangladesh Post, 2025). This participant recruitment is effective because youth-led initiatives reflect on lived experiences. Furthermore, capacity building in advocacy, digital campaigns and rights-based approaches gives the youth a platform which develops sustainable youth-led organisations (BRAC, 2025).
The youth choose to participate in Bangladesh to educate themselves about their rights, and have the confidence to voice out their concerns and opinions that would positively impact the community, since topics about sexual health and reproduction are surrounded by silence and stereotypes due to cultural norms (BRAC, 2025). It allows the youth to speak up with confidence and builds leadership skills so they can claim their rights (BRAC, 2025).
Methods and Tools Used
The Right Here Right Now process began in April 2021, when webinars were held with participants from each country to develop a country-specific line report that outlines requirements, objectives, timelines, and processes (Rutgers, 2025). Later, a country-level baseline guidance document was developed to provide countries with tools for data collection (Rutgers, 2025).
The baseline studies used a mixed-methods approach consisting of desk review, policy analysis, validation of the theory of change and various discussions with the countries involved in the project (Rutgers, 2025).
Desk review :
This method consisted of secondary data sources and the Demographic Health Survey, along with the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. Additionally, Grey reports and articles were reviewed to align with the four pathways of the project (Rutgers, 2025).
Policy Analysis :
Every country requires an in-depth understanding of the existing laws and policies to promote advocacy, so each country conducted a policy analysis. This method included a review of relevant policy documents and interviews with the government and youth activists (Rutgers, 2025). The findings from this helped each country to further understand the existing gaps and ways to address them.
Digital Content Analysis :
This tool is useful to further understand the situation of the digital environment in the countries involved in this project. The countries use the Right Here Right Now Media Digital Country Context Analysis Template to look at the situation from an interpersonal, community, local and national perspective (Rutgers, 2025).
The countries were instructed to select digital context analysis research questions that best suited their circumstances, then analyse them using secondary data and previous key informant interviews (Rutgers, 2025). Furthermore, several baseline studies interviewed policy experts, government officials, locally elected officials and representatives of Dutch embassies. They also interviewed digital rights advocates, religious leaders and former members of the Right Here Right Now project who were involved in phase 1 so they could share their experience (Rutgers, 2025).
Validation of the Theory of Change :
One of the objectives of the baseline studies was to validate the Theory of Change at the country level. To carry out this procedure, countries used several methods such as surveys, participatory workshops, and focus group discussions about the program's objectives and goals (Rutgers, 2025).
Formative Research: The countries involved in this project identified priority areas for formative research by addressing existing gaps in information. The research topics included sociocultural norms, diversity in youth and safety and security challenges and methods such as youth consultations and surveys were used to explore these themes (Rutgers, 2025).
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
Meaningful and Inclusive Youth Participation is one of the key elements of the Right Here Right Now Project. It leads to legitimacy and quality of sexual and reproductive health for the youth, because it ensures that young people have a safe space to participate and voice their human rights (Rutgers, 2025).
In Bangladesh, only 20% of the youth are represented. However, they aim to use approaches such as building online and offline forums. This increases network building and motivates youth to exchange and discuss sexual education information, leading to a youth-run advisory committee (Rutgers, 2025).
In Bangladesh, offline approaches include meetings and workshops, individual counselling, courtyard meetings, community radio shows and the distribution of leaflets (Rutgers, 2025). These are delivered to community groups, schools and drop-in centres.
The online approaches are delivered through Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, YouTube, and websites (Rutgers, 2025). This is very beneficial since most of the youth population in Bangladesh relies on offline resources such as textbooks and newspapers that often lack adequate sexual education information (Rutgers, 2025).
Furthermore, as mentioned above, the Right Here Right Now Project has four long-term outcomes. Each of these long-term outcomes has approaches that benefit the youth in Bangladesh.
The first goal is engaging the youth by placing them at the centre for meaningful and inclusive youth participation.
Under this long-term outcome, Bangladesh addresses that adolescents lack psychosocial support during their puberty stages, which causes stigma around mental health concerns and unhealthy coping mechanisms (BRAC, 2025).
Since 2023, till now, a partner known as Nagorik Uddyog has been delivering psychosocial workshops in secondary schools to prepare the youth with healthy coping mechanisms and open up a space to discuss mental health (BRAC, 2025). These workshops engaged students in butterfly hugs, anger management, peer appreciation and self-encouragement with the support of schools and teachers (BRAC, 2025).
The youth in Bangladesh also lack a safe and reliable space to access sexual education information due to the cultural and religious norms surrounding the topic. Wreetu created a website known as 7teen- a digital platform that offers sustainable and innovative materials such as: The Adventurous Journey of Adolescent Boys Comic book, along with blogs, video games, and animated content (BRAC, 2025). This was effective in Bangladesh because it grew into a community of 44,000+ members that includes children, parents, healthcare officials and gynaecologists within the country (BRAC, 2025).
The second long-term outcome that focuses on gender injustice was addressed by Nagorik Uddygog as well, and a holistic community-based model was implemented to empower the youth in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka (BRAC, 2025).
Awareness sessions were carried out to address sexual education concepts through intergenerational dialogue, which opened channels of communication between parents and the youth (BRAC, 2025). This enabled the youth to become trained and independently engage within communities, along with support from teachers and community leaders.
Bangladesh further addresses that adolescents are often neglected from formal advocacy spaces and traditional ways of spreading information, such as leaflets or newspapers, are not as stimulating for them in comparison to digital spaces. BRAC partnered up with social media influencers and Dr Tasnim Jara, a physician and public health communicator with millions of followers, to deliver sexual education content on TikTok and Facebook by producing videos and reels (BRAC, 2025).
Bangladesh youth also experience high rates of boundary violations in public spaces, so Oboyob developed COSMOT (Conflict and Consent Management Team), which aims to embed care within the community by closely working with lawyers, PSEA specialists and youth with lived experiences who will promote the importance of understanding consent and seeking help when needed (BRAC, 2025).
The third long-term outcome is that governments implement rights-based policies and laws to enable the youth.
BRAC and the Right Here Right Now project have developed a Whole School Approach Model to ensure the implementation of sexual education in Bangladesh schools (BRAC, 2025). Bangladesh addresses that frontline providers lack the skills and sensitivity to deliver services to the youth due to limited human resources.
RHSTEP in Bangladesh has invested in building capacity and sexual education training within several districts in Bangladesh that involve trained nurses, FWV'S, SSNs, paramedics and emergency staff to work collaboratively (BRAC, 2025).
Lastly, the fourth long-term outcome is that there is a strengthened civil society for the youth in Bangladesh.
Through BRAC, there are currently 16 youth-led organisations in Bangladesh that are highly trained and connected with government bodies and platforms, such as Youth for Change, Bangladesh Youth Coalition, which ensure legitimacy and grants for these organisations (BRAC, 2025).
There is also a Protection from Sexual Exploitation Policy that has been established in Bangladesh, which installs an anonymous complaint letterbox, displays posters regarding consent throughout the city and visual reminders in offices and youth-dominated spaces to hold abusers accountable (BRAC, 2025).
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
The Right Here, Right Now Project, through a Theory of Change Framework, has empowered young people in Bangladesh because youth-led campaigns reflect on lived experiences that help them feel a sense of familiarity, and advocacy is impactful. This project has been motivating the youth to become leaders in society and in youth-led committees through BRAC. BRAC has invested in creating Youth-Led Organisations that ensure regular mentorship, monthly meetings, and long-term support from other organisations working on the same cause (BRAC, 2025).
In Bangladesh, the Right Here Right Now youth members have also successfully influenced national policy discussions with the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, which will be effective in implementing sexual education across schools in Bangladesh (Rutgers, 2025).
BRAC, a partner of this project, has developed the Whole School Approach Model, which also implements sexual education nationally and is effective because it is embedded in the existing curriculum and co-creates solutions with government stakeholders (BRAC, 2025).
Healthcare workers, along with support from the government, are trained in this project through RSTEP, and it has improved the quality of adolescent sexual health services since staff are educated and trained to provide services and avoid discrimination. Additionally, the psychological workshops being delivered and the sexual education being provided through a holistic community-based model address mental health and self-empowerment within the youth.
Furthermore, the sustainable and well-funded digital campaigns created, such as 7teen, are youth-centred in design and reflect their experiences with sexuality and reproductive health, providing a trusted digital ecosystem where public health practitioners in Dhaka can connect virtually with the community and expand reach.
Bangladesh has had high rates of rape cases through the years, and the project addresses this by developing a Conflict and Consent Management Team, which is effective because it creates an environment where a victim can report concerns regarding their safety.
Additionally, Oboyob, a partner of the project, has developed a survivor-centred PSE framework that opens up a space for victims to talk about their sexual harassment experiences without shame weighing them down. This framework is survivor-centred and prioritises confidentiality, dignity and accountability with trained staff, volunteers and youth leaders mobilising towards gender justice.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
The Right Here, Right Now Project helped the Youth in Bangladesh gain confidence, leadership skills, and the ability to claim their rights through initiatives implemented by partnering organisations and the government. It emphasised the importance of comprehensive sexual education and created a safe environment for the youth to access information and services that are well-funded and sustainable. Healthcare experts monitor these services, and training is mandatory with monthly check-ins to ensure that there are no accessibility issues and gaps in information, because that would prevent policies from being curated. The youth are often neglected when they try advocating for issues that affect them due to a generational gap, and this is why the project is youth-centred and ensures participation of the youth is inclusive, effective and encourages mobilisation towards gender justice.
See Also
References
Ahmed, M. (2019, July 18). Breaking harmful taboos in society. The Daily Star. https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/society/news/breaking-harmful-taboos-society-1772890
ARROW. (2018). Universal Periodic Review of Bangladesh 30th Session. https://www.sexualrightsinitiative.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/2019-05/UPR-Bangladesh-RHRN-Final-Submission_0.pdf
Arrow. (n.d.). Right Here, Right Now. https://arrow.org.my/project/right-here-right-now-rhrn/
Bangladesh Post. (2025). Naripokkho’s RHRN unites youth in four districts. Bangladeshpost.net. https://bangladeshpost.net/posts/naripokkho-s-rhrn-unites-youth-in-four-districts-161041
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Kohler, P. K., Manhart, L. E., & Lafferty, W. E. (2008). Abstinence-Only and Comprehensive Sex Education and the Initiation of Sexual Activity and Teen Pregnancy. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42(4), 344–351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.08.026
Rutgers. (2024, July 29). Right Here Right Now - Rutgers International. Rutgers International. https://rutgers.international/programmes/right-here-right-now/
Rutgers International. (2025). Right Here Right Now Consolidated Baseline Report - Rutgers International. Rutgers International. https://rutgers.international/resources/right-here-right-now-consolidated-baseline-report/
World Health Organisation. (2023, May 18). Comprehensive sexuality education. World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/comprehensive-sexuality-education
