The Likhaan Center for Women’s Health (Likhaan Center) is a non-governmental organization in the Philippines that has been serving poor and marginalized women since 1995. It was founded by health professionals and activists committed to providing comprehensive, rights-based, and community-driven sexual and reproductive health services. Likhaan’s core mission is to empower women—especially those in underserved communities—by giving them access to free or low-cost health services, education, and the tools to assert their rights. Over the years, it has expanded into a wide range of programs addressing everything from maternal health and family planning to gender-based violence, youth empowerment, and public health advocacy.
Its goal to promote health as a basic human right—not a privilege—and to offer free access to reproductive care, education, and protection from abuse are essential to building strong, resilient communities is quite valuable considering that many Filipinas, particularly those in poor urban and rural areas, face major barriers to healthcare and are often left unheard. With these programs, Likhaan Center directly responds to that injustice, effectively bridging the gap between policy and real-life health outcomes. If you are interested to know more about these programs not only to access services, but also to help spread awareness, challenge harmful norms, and support community-led change, then read on.
List of Likhaan Center Programs and Services
Likhaan Center for Women’s Health offers a wide range of programs aimed at improving the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of women, youth, and marginalized communities in the Philippines. These initiatives fall under several key categories, each addressing different but interconnected aspects of community health, empowerment, and rights. Each category reflects Likhaan’s holistic approach to health and development.
- Direct Health Services: These programs provide free or low-cost medical services to underserved communities, ensuring access to reproductive health care even in the most hard-to-reach areas. From walk-in clinics to telehealth options, these services prioritize women’s well-being and bodily autonomy.
- Community Empowerment & Advocacy: These initiatives train and mobilize women, youth, and community leaders to become advocates for health rights and social justice. They help build grassroots networks to fight inequality, raise awareness, and push for systemic change.
- Education & Youth Engagement: Focusing on young people, these programs provide life-saving information on health, relationships, and personal safety. They promote empowerment through knowledge, critical thinking, and awareness of one’s rights.
- Campaigns & Partnerships: Through partnerships, public awareness campaigns, and collaborative projects, Likhaan amplifies its reach and impact. These efforts build solidarity and strengthen the delivery of SRHR services across regions.
Each of these programs plays a critical role in realizing Likhaan’s mission: to ensure every woman, girl, and marginalized individual can access the information, services, and support they need to live healthy, empowered lives. To achieve this goal, Likhaan Center, as a group offers wide-reaching services—from personal health care to community transformation, and they are also open for support to make the programs reach more women and marginalized individuals.
To learn more about the Likhaan Center programs and services, you may start by checking the list below:
1. Community-Based, Women-Centered Sexual and Reproductive Health Clinics
This program operates 9 local clinics run by trained nurses and midwives. These clinics offer free and accessible reproductive health services like family planning, prenatal care, and STI treatment. Services also include support for sexual violence survivors and telehealth consultations.
Purpose: To give women and girls in underserved communities easy access to quality sexual and reproductive health care.
Features and benefits:
- Free contraceptive services
- Prenatal and postpartum care
- STI and reproductive infection treatment
- Emergency and psychological support for sexual violence
- Cervical cancer screening and cryotherapy (in some clinics)
- HIV counseling and testing
- Tuberculosis screening
- Post-abortion counseling
- Outreach services in nearby areas
- Tele-consultation available for remote patients
2. Community Organizing or Mobilizing
This program trains local women and youth leaders to educate and mobilize their communities on sexual and reproductive health (SRH). These organizers speak the community’s language and connect everyday health concerns with deeper social and cultural issues. They help raise awareness, spark collective action, and improve access to health services.
Purpose: To empower communities—especially women and youth—to understand their SRH rights and work together to solve local health and social problems.
Features and benefits:
- Trains community members as leaders and advocates
- Promotes SRH awareness and education
- Encourages collective action to address local issues (e.g., maternal death, teen pregnancy, gender-based violence)
- Builds community-run health and support groups
- Helps connect people to health services and government support
- Addresses broader issues like income, housing, and disaster response
3. Life Education Sessions – Likhaan
In 2022, Likhaan held its first in-person Life Education Sessions with first-year students of Guang Ming College in Tagaytay. This course covers key topics on youth health and development. It was previously conducted online during the pandemic.
Purpose: To educate young people about health, safety, and gender issues affecting their well-being.
Features and benefits:
- 8-part lecture series on youth health topics
- Focus on mental health, sexuality, and personal safety
- Discussion on teen pregnancy, contraception, and STIs/HIV
- Interactive sessions with group activities
- Self-evaluation tools to reflect on health awareness
4. Women Whole: Round Table Discussion on Formal, Informal, Care, and Migrant Work
This online roundtable explores what it means for women in poor urban communities to feel safe, valued, and whole. It focuses on the challenges faced by women in formal jobs, informal work, caregiving, and migration. The discussion also addresses issues like economic hardship, exploitation, and violations of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
Purpose: To raise awareness and develop solutions for the issues faced by women workers, especially those related to their rights, security, and wellbeing.
Features and benefits:
- Live roundtable discussion with experts and community leaders
- Highlights real stories and lived experiences of women workers
- Focus on SRHR and labor rights
- Commemorates 30 years of the Beijing Platform for Action
- Promotes community engagement and collective action
- Accessible online via Facebook Live
- Encourages inclusive dialogue for policy and program improvements
5. Telekonsultahan
Telekonsultahan is a free online health consultation service from Likhaan. It helps patients talk to a nurse without going to the clinic. This is especially helpful for those who live far or can’t travel easily.
Purpose: To give easy access to medical advice through online consultations, especially for patients in remote areas.
Features and benefits:
- Free health consultation via video call
- Open to all patients
- Ideal for those who can’t visit the clinic
- First come, first served
- Wait for confirmation from the clinician after registering
- Register here: bit.ly/telikhaan
6. Support for Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE)
Hundreds of parents, youth, and advocates gather to support CSE and counter false claims. CSE teaches young people how to make informed, healthy, and safe choices. Defending it means protecting their rights and future.
Purpose: To promote and protect access to age-appropriate, fact-based sexuality education for young people in the Philippines.
Features and benefits:
- Empowers youth with knowledge to prevent abuse and make safe decisions
- Promotes health, respect, and consent
- Counters misinformation and harmful stereotypes
- Engages parents, teachers, and advocates in supporting youth rights
- Encourages the public to share messages of love and support using #LOVEforCSE
- Provides templates for social media messages to raise awareness
- Strengthens the call to pass Senate Bill 1979
7. “PhilHealth: Karapatan, Hindi Ayuda!” Mass Awareness Campaign
This program is a community-based health awareness campaign launched by Likhaan Center for Women’s Health and Equity Initiative in Malabon. It aims to educate people about their rights and benefits under PhilHealth. Over 200 participants from various sectors joined interactive booths and games to better understand and access PhilHealth services.
Purpose: To empower individuals—especially women and the underprivileged—with practical knowledge on how to use and maximize their PhilHealth benefits.
Features and benefits:
- Membership Check: Know if your PhilHealth status is active or inactive.
- Registration Guidance: Learn how to fill out the PhilHealth Member Registration Form (PMRF) correctly.
- Free Family Planning Services: Get info on IUDs and other contraceptives covered by PhilHealth.
- Simulation Games: Experience the real-life challenges in accessing PhilHealth services through fun activities.
- Case Rate Awareness: Understand how PhilHealth covers costs for various illnesses, including Z-Benefits for critical conditions.
- ID Assistance: Learn which IDs are accepted by PhilHealth and how to get them, including certificates of indigency.
- Free/Subsidized Medicines: Discover the medications available for free or at reduced cost through PhilHealth.
- POS Program Orientation: Watch a short film and demo on how financially incapable patients can get immediate health care through PhilHealth’s Point of Service.
- Digital Access: Get introduced to PhilHealth’s online portal for checking membership status, contributions, and benefits.
- Interactive Learning: Join quiz bees and life-sized board games to test knowledge and promote teamwork.
- Community Support: Likhaan commits to continuous support for health rights education even after the program ends.
8. Reproductive Health for Metro Manila’s Young Women
This program helps prevent unintended pregnancies among young women aged 15–24 in Metro Manila. It provides 700 contraceptive implants, each lasting up to 3 years. Services are offered through Likhaan’s clinics, with costs partly covered by PhilHealth.
Purpose: To reduce health risks and improve life opportunities for young women by giving them access to safe and effective birth control.
Features and benefits:
- 700 contraceptive implants for young women
- Free reproductive health services at Likhaan clinics
- Cost-sharing through PhilHealth to keep services sustainable
- Focus on low-income and underserved communities
- Promotes reproductive freedom and women’s health
- Helps reduce early pregnancies and maternal health risks
- Supports women in completing school or finding work
9. #KayaKoTo: Teen Pregnancy Prevention Campaign
Youth, volunteers, and health professionals join together under the #KayaKoTo campaign by Likhaan to empower young women to make informed choices about their bodies. The program aims to challenge gender stereotypes and clear up misconceptions about sexual and reproductive health. It promotes confidence and awareness to prevent unplanned teen pregnancies.
Purpose: To support young women in making confident, informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and to break down stigma and misinformation around teen pregnancy.
Features and benefits:
- Interactive booths on self-defense, contraceptives, and teen pregnancy realities
- Open discussions with health experts, educators, and policy advocates
- Activities promoting sexual positivity and gender equality
- Empowerment of youth to become champions for sexual and reproductive health rights
- Support from international partners like the Embassy of the Netherlands and Global Affairs Canada
- Community engagement to normalize conversations on sexuality and reproductive health
10. InterPares–Likhaan SRHR Collaboration in Eastern Samar
In November 2024, InterPares visited Eastern Samar with Likhaan to meet with local communities and agencies to discuss sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues. The visit aimed to strengthen support for a long-term SRHR project in the province.
Purpose: To improve access to sexual and reproductive health services and rights in Eastern Samar through partnerships, community engagement, and education.
Features and benefits:
- Focus on vulnerable sectors including women, youth, and the LGBTQ+ community
- Support from local stakeholders: PhilHealth, DepEd, and the Provincial Health Office
- Community-based insights to inform programs
- Push for stronger implementation of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE)
- Collaboration for better contraceptive access and services
- Part of a 7-year project aimed at reducing maternal deaths and improving overall SRH outcomes
Video: Understanding the Limits of Laws in Protecting Women’s Health
The Likhaan Center for Women’s Health is known for helping communities and standing up for women’s health and rights in the Philippines. For almost 30 years, the center has supported Filipino women—especially those affected by poverty, violence, and limited access to reproductive healthcare. Even today, as many women still face health challenges, Likhaan continues its mission by offering services and education, as the odds are against women and the youth in the Philippines, at least when it comes to protections offered by the law. You can leran more about these things by watching informative videos like this one below:
How to Reach the Likhaan Center
If you’re a woman or young person who wants to get involved, learn more, volunteer, or ask for help, you can contact the Likhaan Center through the following:
- Address: 27 Ofelia St., Brgy. Bahay Toro, Project 8, Quezon City, 1106 Metro Manila
- Phone: (02) 7116 6587
- Email: office@likhaan.org
You can also visit their official website for updates, online forms, and more details.