Voces Vitales de Panama is working to improve the future of adolescent mothers

Exclusion, poverty and violence affect millions of women around the world. Panama is no exception to this reality, despite its high rates of economic growth and the country’s high levels of human development. The situation is especially difficult for girls and adolescents condemned to repeat and perpetuate cycles of poverty and violence when they become pregnant, in most cases due to abuse and early or forced illegal unions.

Voces Vitales [Vital Voices] in Panamá recognizes that one of the determining factors that compromises the transformational leadership of many Panamanian women is early pregnancy. That is why the organization is working to establish new conditions to help overcome the barriers that adolescent girls face in this situation and which prevent them from fully enjoying their human rights.

The program also touches the families and partners of the beneficiaries, meaning that the organization has had a positive impact on the entire community.  The center from which Voces Vitales de Panamá carries out its work has become an educational benchmark in the country. For their part, the adolescents at the Center have managed to become models of achievement and self-improvement: many of them are pursuing university degrees while at the same time collaborating with prestigious companies.

The project “Unleashing the potential of teenage mothers” is a comprehensive 360º intervention. Through psychology, early stimulation and social work, a multidisciplinary team ensures that these mothers achieve the individual empowerment they need to achieve their personal goals, allowing them to achieve the self-sufficiency necessary to support themselves and their families.