Two University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS) students, Ms Munayya Musah Seidu and Mr Abdul Aziz Alhassan, have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered WhatsApp chatbot called SafeSiso, meaning "Safe Big Sister." The chatbot aims to provide adolescents, particularly girls, with private and accessible information on sexual and reproductive health. SafeSiso was launched in Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality as part of efforts to address adolescent pregnancy and reproductive health challenges.
The SafeSiso initiative emerged from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Ghana AI for Her Future Hackathon and is being implemented in partnership with UNFPA, with funding support from the Government of Canada under the Adolescent Girls Programme. The chatbot allows young people aged between 10 and 19 years to ask questions on sensitive issues such as menstruation, relationships, pregnancy, and other sexual and reproductive health concerns in a confidential platform.
To access the services, users can save the dedicated contact number 0559883060 on their mobile phones and have a conversation with the chatbot like a regular WhatsApp contact. The developers believe that SafeSiso can complement existing adolescent health interventions by providing young people with a private first point of contact for information and referrals. This can help address the difficulty many young people face in discussing sexual and reproductive health issues with parents, teachers, and other trusted persons due to stigma and cultural taboos.
Ms Seidu, the Co-Founder of SafeSiso, said the initiative was conceived in response to the challenges young people face in discussing sensitive issues. She explained that the chatbot allows adolescents to initiate conversations privately through WhatsApp and receive information on issues they might otherwise be afraid or uncomfortable to discuss openly. SafeSiso is designed to detect conversations involving sensitive reproductive health issues and connect users to verified health and support services where necessary.
The platform has a referral component that can link users to health professionals and other service providers for further assistance when their concerns require human intervention. Ms Seidu said they are currently engaging some schools in the Upper East Region, with plans to expand the engagements to other schools and regions to equip young people with its usage. The platform can also be accessed by users outside the Upper East Region, provided they have a phone and internet connection.
Ms Theresa Fosuaa Yeboah, the Innovation Specialist at UNFPA, said the innovation is important because adolescents often face barriers such as distance from health services, misinformation, stigma, and fear of asking key questions. She cited data from the Ghana Health Service showing that 53,415 adolescent girls aged between 10 and 19 years had recorded pregnancies nationwide between January and July 2026. SafeSiso aims to provide a safe avenue for young people to ask questions they might otherwise be afraid to ask.
The launch brought together students from the Navrongo Senior High School, St John's Integrated Senior High School, and Navrongo Community Nursing Training College. Ms Yeboah emphasized that SafeSiso is not about technology for technology's sake but about using innovation to put the right information in the hands of girls at the right time, in a way that feels safe and accessible to them. The platform is designed to serve as a bridge between adolescents seeking information and human support services when their concerns require further intervention.
Key points
- UTAS students develop AI-powered WhatsApp chatbot to address adolescent reproductive health challenges
- SafeSiso chatbot provides adolescents with private and accessible information on sexual and reproductive health
- The initiative aims to complement existing adolescent health interventions and provide a safe avenue for young people to ask questions.
