Jean Melaine Bitty | March 30, 2026
News Brief
In Adjamé, Abidjan, Mariam Ouattara, Executive Director of CAVOEQUIVA, works with visually impaired girls to improve access to sexual and reproductive health information. Since 2022, she has co-created inclusive digital materials such as videos in sign language, pictograms, and podcasts together with girls with disabilities, sharing them via social media and WhatsApp. Participants like Sia Salimata Koné now navigate these resources confidently and protect themselves from misinformation and abuse. CAVOEQUIVA’s approach empowers girls, changes household perceptions, and fills critical gaps in Côte d’Ivoire’s health system, showing that accessible information can transform lives.
It is 10 a.m. in Adjamé, a neighborhood in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Inside a small room, Mariam Ouattara sits with a group of visually impaired girls, discussing the quality of an audio clip on proper menstrual hygiene practices. Ms. Ouattara is the Executive Director of the NGO CAVOEQUIVA, which means “Let’s unite” in a local language. She says: “It is always a pleasure to work with them on sexual and reproductive health.”
Since 2022, Ms. Ouattara has been organizing sessions to create and share adapted communication materials on social media, aiming to improve access to sexual and reproductive health information for young girls with disabilities. She explains that these girls often face greater barriers because most existing materials are not designed to meet their needs. Ms. Ouattara says: “In a society where talking about sex remains a sensitive topic, disability adds another layer of invisibility.”
Ms. Ouattara co-creates the materials alongside the girls themselves. She regularly gathers small groups of young girls with disabilities—deaf, visually impaired, and others—to collaborate on developing weekly messages. Together, they design inclusive digital tools tailored to each audience, including educational videos in sign language, pictograms, and podcasts featuring the girls as the main presenters. These materials are then shared on social media, with Ms. Ouattara using platforms like TikTok and secure WhatsApp broadcast lists. She explains that these digital channels allow the girls to access information privately, away from prying eyes.
The impact of this approach is clearly visible in Sia Salimata Koné, a young hearing-impaired girl who participates in Ms. Ouattara’s awareness sessions. She recalls the frustration and confusion she once felt when watching television or browsing Facebook, where content often lacked subtitles or interpretation. Today, with her smartphone in hand, she navigates CAVOEQUIVA’s audio and visual materials with confidence and ease. For Ms. Koné, Ms. Ouattara’s work has been a true turning point—access to adapted information has transformed her daily life. She explains that the program has equipped her with the tools to protect herself from misinformation and abuse. She says: “Today, I know how to take care of my health without feeling ashamed. I am in control of my own future.” She is no longer just a beneficiary; she now uses her social media to share these tools with other deaf girls, becoming an ambassador for prevention.
This transformation is also felt within households. Kouassi Léontine, a mother, acknowledges that her perspective has radically changed thanks to CAVOEQUIVA’s awareness efforts. She says: “Before, I was ashamed to talk about these issues with my daughter who has a disability. Now I understand that my silence was opening the door to danger.”
Dr. Bakary Traoré, a public health expert at Cocody University Hospital, says that Ms. Ouattara’s work addresses a critical institutional gap. He points out that access to sexual and reproductive health information is often the most overlooked aspect of inclusion policies. Dr. Traoré recommends expanding this model, explaining that when a young girl cannot read a poster or hear a message about contraception, she becomes effectively invisible. Providing adapted information, he emphasizes, is the most effective way to reduce unintended pregnancies and prevent gender-based violence.
As Côte d’Ivoire strives to modernize its health system, the example of CAVOEQUIVA shows that digital inclusion is a vital necessity. By connecting these girls to knowledge, Ms. Ouattara restores their dignity. She does not intend to stop there and aims to see these tools integrated into every health center in the country. She concludes with deep conviction:
“Our mission is to turn every smartphone into a powerful tool of protection, because an informed girl is a girl who can no longer be broken.”
This resource was produced with funding from the PASSERELLE project, which is implemented in partnership with WUSC thanks to funding from Global Affairs Canada.