HOW CAN WE IMPROVE YOUTH FRIENDLINESS OF OUR SRH SERVICES? by Telesphore Nambajimana YFPA Rwanda

The concept “youth-friendly services” have been being used for several years now by SRH programs but it is not always easy to capture what it is in practice. Too often, organizations embark on providing youth-friendly services as an additional activity to simply include on list of their program and don’t carefully explore their readiness to listen to young people’s complex and diverse voices in the matter. Program reports focus on the number of services provided and young people served, paying less attention to how friendly those young people were served. From my experience, interactions with my fellow young people, service providers and SRH experts, and review of existing literature on SRH I am happy to give the following advice for our services to be qualified as youth friendly. 

• Empowering young people and giving them options for choices: Our services should not exclusively address needs of young people but also empower them to exercise and enjoy their rights. Limited options and lack of empowerment enforce young people’s vulnerability. Being rights-based means that services should support the overall development of young people, create a sense of entitlement, raise awareness on their rights, promote their participation, give freedom of expression, serve accountably and reach the underserved ones. 

• Accepting young people’s sexuality: Our services and messages are often limited to only some aspects of sexuality such as abstinence, risk management or prevention of consequences of sex  rather than openly exploring issues of sexuality in a broader way. The meaning of sexuality and sex vary according to young people. Our clinic clients vary widely and they include pregnant girls, HIV positives, heterosexuals, bisexuals, sexually active, sexually inexperienced, believers, etc. Focusing on only some options may be unhelpful to some of them. Service providers  and communities should understand that young people are human beings and have sexual desires. In expressing their desires, some of them may engage in sexual activities, other may postpone it and the others may abstain. Drivers of having sex are not unintended pregnancies, but other factors such as love, economic reasons, and peer pressure. If we are to attack factors of sex we need to openly discuss all possible options of safer behaviors, including concerns in negotiation of safer sex and pleasure, and encourage responsible choices among young people.
•  Responding to diverse realities of young people’s lives: Too often SRH services rely on what providers believe young people want and this results in them not trusting and feeling that they are there for their needs. Additionally, young people’s perceived need and knowledge of available services often remain low. Providers should  be able to understand particular difficulties that young people face in accessing and using services, such as gender expectations that girls should not be sexually active, being treated with disrespect at health facility, concerns about confidentiality, fear of discrimination, affordability of services, etc. and create services that they trust.  To be able to understand the realities of young people, it is important to create demand from the widest possible audience in their particular communities with a particular focus on the vulnerable, poor and minorities. 

• Ensuring community support: The more an issue is raised as a community priority the more young people will feel comfortable to partner in finding solutions for it. Youth friendly services need to go beyond service delivery points to include community acceptance of young people’s sexuality and related services. Data on magnitude of unintended pregnancies can serve as a good starting point to mobilize community support. 

When talking about youth-friendly services it is as important to look at their quantity as at the quality of their delivery. Despite youth-friendly services being context-specific, some standards are common such as being affordable, respecting confidentiality,  giving choices, being demand-driven, not judging, and being provided by competent providers. It is important to partner with young people in order to know what the services mean for them and what they exactly want in them rather than relying on what providers think young people need.

Youth and Family Planning by Mutale Kaimba YFPA Zambia

Young people usually face new and peculiar challenges, which require appropriate support for them to survive and grow into healthy and responsible adults.  These challenges are largely related to vulnerability to risks associated with behavior change, which could have life-long implications on health, social and economic life of their life.  In this respect, it is generally recognized that appropriate planning and management of young people’s health has significant potential to contribute to overall socio-economic development at both country and global levels.

 

There are three major arguments why it is important to focus on the health of young people and to ensure that young people are fully involved in addressing issues that affect them

1)    Young people are therefore a major demographic force

For many of the countries in Africa and other less developed countries young people

Constitute the larger percentage of the population. Those who are below 25 years for example may constitute up to 75% of the population making it imperative for governments to pay attention to the health and well being of such populations.

 

2)    Young people are a major socio-economic force:  Young people are the future of any country. Adolescents form a major proportion of the socially and economically active populations and contribute significantly to the socio-economic well-being of their families, communities and countries, through paid and unpaid labour, sports and entertainment; A young person represents the adult in perpetuation. Eventually they take over the mantle, become in charge of the cities, take over the boardrooms, parliaments, and everything.

 

3)    Young people lack services: In many countries youth do not adequately access health services more so reproductive health and family planning services. The services are simply inadequate in comparison to the growing numbers of young people who need them. Coupled with this most of the service providers may not be trained to provide services that are youth friendly. Even institutional set ups in many health facilities are not designed with a young person in mind.  Young people therefore become vulnerable to risky behaviors, which could lead to long term health and social problems.  In Zambia, by the age of 18 years, about 60% of girls and 51% of boys are reported to have had sex, and only about one quarter of adolescents aged between 15 and 19 years use condoms at first sex . Globally, about 16 million women aged between 15 and 19 years give birth each year, representing approximately 11% of all births worldwide.   In Zambia, 3 in 10 young women aged 15 to 19 years have either given birth or carrying a pregnancy.  Between 2004 and 2007, about 36,000 girls dropped out of school due to pregnancies. It is evident that adolescent pregnancy is dangerous for both the mother and the child, contributing to high maternal and neonatal moralities.

 

From the above, it is easy to see why young people need sexual and reproductive health services including family planning. This therefore calls for the need to more effectively target and serve the youth with quality accessible family planning health information and services in and out of school. Every young person needs to be empowered with accurate information and services. For this to happen a three pronged approach must be put in place by various countries

 

1)    Create a conducive environment for young people to access family planning information and services;  The major stumbling block for young people to access information and services are the gate keepers, law and policy makers, government and traditional leaders, churches, parents and guardians and to some extent service providers. These should be a primary target for change of mindset. The sleeping dogs are not lying. Young people have sex, get infected with sexually transmitted infections and young women get pregnant, have unsafe abortions. All this happens because the gate keepers have not yet seen the importance for young people to have unfettered access to information and services.

 

2)    Improve access to family planning information and services for young people; Create demand for services, more awareness programmes both for in and out of school young people. Let young people realise that family planning information and services are a right. This should be coupled with sexuality and gender  education where with emphasis on gender equality for boys and young men where there are taught to be and grow into good partners, agents of change in their communities by promoting health and users of reproductive health services available in their communities including family planning.

 

3)    Build the institutional capacities of health facilities to provide youth friendly family planning services; Ensure that family planning services are fully integrated into the health delivery system. Being innovative. Training service providers to provide non judgmental services. Addressing bureaucratic tendencies that dissuade young people from accessing services and ensuring rights based approach in the provision of services.   

 

We must therefore strive to position family planning youth friendly services as a key strategy for young people’s empowerment, development and well being 

Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MESSAGE ON WORLD POPULATION DAY 11 July 2013

There are over 600 million girls in the world today, more than 500 million of them in developing countries. They are shaping humanity’s present and future. The opportunities and choices girls have during adolescence will enable them to begin adulthood as empowered, active citizens.

 

With the right skills and opportunities, they can invest in themselves, in their families and their communities.  However, pregnancy jeopardizes the rights, health, education and potential of far too many adolescent girls, robbing them of a better future.

 

About 16 million girls aged 15-19 give birth each year, and complications from pregnancy and child birth are the leading cause of death among girls in this age group, especially in developing countries.

 

Adolescent pregnancy is not just a health issue, it is a development issue.  It is deeply rooted in poverty, gender inequality, violence, child and forced marriage, power imbalances between adolescent girls and their male partners, lack of education, and the failure of systems and institutions to protect their rights. To bring these issues to global attention, this year’s World Population Day is focusing on adolescent pregnancy.

Breaking the cycle of adolescent pregnancy requires commitment from nations, communities and individuals in both developed and developing countries to invest in adolescent girls. Governments should enact and enforce national laws that raise the age of marriage to 18 and should promote community-based efforts that support girls’ rights and prevent child marriage and its consequences.

Adolescents and youth must be provided with age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education to develop the knowledge and skills they need to protect their health throughout their lives. However, education and information are not enough. Good quality reproductive health services must also be readily available in order for adolescents to make informed choices and be healthy.

At the local level, communities should provide the infrastructure to deliver reproductive health care in a youth-friendly and sensitive way.

Underlying all these efforts is the understanding that the dignity and human rights of adolescent girls must be respected, protected and fulfilled.  Today, we call on governments, the international community and all stakeholders involved to take measures that enable adolescent girls to make responsible life choices and to provide the necessary support for them in cases when their rights are threatened.  Every young girl, regardless of where she lives, or her economic circumstances, has the right to fulfill her human potential. Today, too many girls are denied that right. We can change that, and we must.

Youth4CARMMA Campaign Launched

 

Young leaders from different youth serving organizations in Africa have launched a social media campaign to support the Campaign for Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa. The campaign in being spearheaded by the African Youth and Adolescents Network on Population and Development (AfriYAN) in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund and the African Union Commission Youth Division. More information is available from http://www.y4carmma.org .

Funding Opportunity from the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS) in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS) in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a new funding opportunity under its Request for Proposals (RFP) to provide grants to enhanceresearch sites in high-burden countries for studies of pregnancy and preterm birth.

Letters of grant inquiry can be submitted to identify and develop research sites in low- and middle-income countries as part of a collaborative, multicenter research initiative to investigate causes of and novel strategies for prevention of preterm birth and stillbirth through prospective studies of pregnant women.

This Request for Proposals (RFP) is the second phase of the Preventing Preterm Birth initiative, part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Grand Challenges in Global Health. The objective of this RFP is to identify global health research sites to serve as part of a research network to conduct well-characterized, standardized, prospective studies of pregnant women, conducted in partnership with investigators already funded by the PPB initiative. It is intended that these multi-center investigations will examine the multiple and complex causes of preterm birth in an effort to identify innovative strategies for preterm prevention in low- and middle-income countries.

GAPPS will fund 3-5 existing research sites in low- and middle-income countries with a maximum of USD $1,300,000 each.

The deadline to submit letter of inquiry is 15 January 2013. For more information, visit this link.

 

Youth on the mouv à Garoua

 

La caravane de sensibilisation et de prévention contre le VIH initiée par l’Association Camerounaise pour le Marketing Social (ACMS) s’est achevée le mercredi 06 décembre au lycée de Pitoa. Durant près de deux semaines, elle a mobilisé les jeunes à l’occasion de la semaine camerounaise et la journée mondiale de lutte contre le SIDA.

Au Cameroun, le SIDA frappe encore de nombreux jeunes. Les chiffres et les analyses des experts montrent que la jeunesse est d’avantage touchée par cette pandémie et constitue la tranche la plus vulnérable au sein de la population camerounaise. Les chiffres qui le démontrent sont alarmants. En effet, bien que la prévalence du VIH soit passée de 5,5% à 4,3% dans la population générale selon les résultats de la dernière Enquête de Démographie et de Santé (EDS IV), les adolescents et les jeunes continuent de payer encore un lourd tribut à la maladie. Le taux de prévalence chez  les jeunes âgés de 15 à 24 ans est estimé à 3,4%. Il demeure encore très élevé chez les filles, du fait de nombreux facteurs de vulnérabilité individuels et contextuels, qui doivent être examinés de façon spécifique en ce qui concerne cette cible. En plus du VIH, les jeunes sont également exposés à d’autres risques qui les empêchent très souvent de poursuivre normalement leurs études : grossesses précoces, viols, IST, traumatismes dus aux relations sexuelles avec des personnes plus âgées, etc.

                          

Pour lutter efficacement contre le VIH et aider à atteindre l’objectif zéro, l’ACMS à travers son projet 100% Jeune, a décidé de passer à l’action en organisant dans les établissements d’enseignements secondaires de Garoua et Pitoa une caravane de sensibilisation dénommée ‘’Youth on the move’’, avec le concours de ses partenaires au Nord qui sont l’UNFPA, VSO et le Réseau des Artistes Hip Hop du Septentrion. Au Collège Moderne de la Bénoué, au Lycée Classique et Moderne de Garoua, au Lycée Technique de Maroua ou encore au Lycée de Pitoa,  les pairs éducateurs de la caravane ‘’Youth on the Move’’ ont diffusé des messages en direction des jeunes pour encourager l’adoption de comportements responsables qui limitent l’infection au VIH, réduire la stigmatisation et la discrimination des PVVIH, et encourager les jeunes à connaitre leur statut sérologique. Un dépistage volontaire et gratuit du VIH a été organisé à cet effet au Lycée Technique de Marouaré le mercredi 28 novembre ainsi qu’au Lycée de Pitoa le mercredi 05 décembre 2012 en direction non seulement des élèves mais également des enseignants. Lors de chacune de leur escale, les caravaniers en lutte contre le VIH ont réussi à susciter l’adhésion massive des jeunes, cela à travers des sketchs, des jeux concours et les shows des artistes conviés pour accompagner l’évènement.

Pour les promoteurs de l’activité, l’objectif général  de la caravane ‘’Youth on the move’’ était de facilité l’accès à l’information sur la santé reproductive et encourager la connaissance du statut sérologique auprès des jeunes à travers l’organisation des tests de dépistage gratuit et anonyme du VIH. Et au terme de cette première édition clôturée le 06 décembre à Pitoa, plus de 300 jeunes ont été dépistés et ont retirés leur résultat, près de 1000 jeunes ont été sensibilisés lors des causeries éducatives dans les établissements sillonné. On note par ailleurs que  plusieurs artistes locaux ont associés leur nom et leurs images au projet en prestant lors des différentes animations de masse.

By: Abdouraman Nafissatou (YFPA Cameroon)

 

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 25 November UN Secretary-General’s Message for 2012

Millions of women and girls around the world are assaulted, beaten, raped, mutilated or even murdered in what constitues appalling violations of their human rights. From battlefield to home, on the streets, at school, in the workplace or in their community, up to 70 per cent of wo   men experience physical or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime. As many as a quarter of all pregnant women are affected.   All too often, perpetrators go unpunished. Women and girls are afraid to speak out because of a culture of impunity. We must fight the sense of fear and shame that punishes victims who have already endured crime and now face stigma. It is the perpetrators who should feel disgraced, not their victims.  

 

My UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign is engaging governments, international organizations, civil society groups, the media and ordinary citizens. Last year, when UNiTE asked young people around the world how they intended to help advance this critical cause, I was very encouraged by the responses. Many youth called for an end to ignorance. They said we should not condone negative attitudes. They demanded that we raise our voices to promote human rights, and join forces to help victims. One young man said simply that boys could fight violence against women “by growing up to be responsible and respectful fathers and husbands.” The United Nations is working on all of these fronts. We are raising awareness through public outreach programmes. Our UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women just this month announced plans to disburse $8 million to local initiatives in 18 countries. Members of my expanding Network of Men Leaders are addressing violence by raising public awareness, advocating for better laws and holding governments accountable.   As we build on these efforts, we must fundamentally challenge the culture of discrimination that allows violence to continue. On this International Day, I call on all governments to make good on their pledges to end all forms of violence against women and girls in all parts of the world, and I urge all people to support this important goal.   Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General’s Message for International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women – 25 www.un.org
Secretary-General’s Message for International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women – 25 www.un.org Whether in developing or developed countries, the pervasiveness of violence against womenshould shock us all.

 

 

Mutale Kaimba – Zambia Youth Family Planning Ambassador

Mutale Kaimba is a young Zambian lady aged 21 years. She was born on the 7th of February, 1991 and her interests are reading, dancing and interacting with different kinds of people. She is currently pursuing a degree in Demography and Development Studies with the University of Zambia.

Her journey to becoming a Youth Family Planning Ambassador started when she became a member of the Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia (PPAZ) Youth Action Movement (YAM), Lusaka Branch. In this movement she took the responsibility of being a peer educator, interfacing with young people like herself in issues of Sexual and Reproductive Health including Safe Motherhood, HIV/AIDS and Abortion. From there she became actively involved in her community and took part in outreaches where she sensitized community members on sexual and reproductive health.

Due to her exceptional leadership and commitment to the Youth Action Movement, in June 2010 she was voted into office as Committee Member for the YAM Executive. Her role as a member of the executive enabled her to contribute more meaningfully to the work of the group, particularly in harnessing her innovative ideas for more effective and youth-sensitive programmes.

Her journey as a youth leader and advocate continued as she was introduced to a group called ‘The HIV/AIDS Response’ at her university, of which she became a full member. She used the platform to learn and to volunteer in administrative work and in sharing crucial sexual and reproductive health information with students at the university.

As a stepping stone to a new dimension of leadership and youth advocacy, in July 2012 she was appointed as the Youth Family Planning Ambassador for Zambia by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Through this and other local level responsibilities, she has been given a broader platform to disseminate information on sexual and reproductive health and help fellow young people make informed decisions. This is all in alignment and in pursuit of her belief that Sexual and Reproductive Health is a right to which each and every person is entitled.

Contact Details of Family Planning Ambassadors

Get in touch with our dynamic team of Ambassadors:

1. Christella Mberi – Congo Brazzaville: yemima_brumme@yahoo.fr
2. Kouadio Amoin Beatrice – Cote d’Ivoire: kouadioamoinbeatrice@yahoo.fr
3. Christian Bayingana- Rwanda: oftenice@gmail.com
4. Souadou Ndoye – Senegal: souadou124@hotmail.com
5. Telesphore Nabajinama – Rwanda: nambatel@yahoo.fr
6. Yemurai Nyoni – Zimbabwe: yemurain@gmail.com,
7. Margarida Leila Jeiambe – Mozambique: mjeiambi@hotmail.com
8. Fadhili Msuri – Kenya: fadhili@kenyamuslims.org
9. Kolawole Oreoluwa – Nigeria: saveourworld2000@gmail.com
10. Jaquelyne Alesi – Uganda: jalesi@youthcaravan.org
11. Mutale Kaimba – Zambia: mutalekaimba@yahoo.com
12. Adbouraman Nafissatou- Cameroon: abdou8naffi@yahoo.fr
13. Barwani Msiska – Malawi: barwanimsiska@gmail.com

STATEMENT BY H.E Dr. NKOSAZANA C. DLAMINI ZUMA CHAIPERSON OF THE AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION ON AFRICA YOUTH DAY 2012

Today, 1st November 2012, we are
celebrating the 7th African Youth
Day, since the adoption of the Decision by the AU Heads of State in Banjul in 2006.

The theme for this year is;
“Africa Must Deliver as ONE to
Empower African Youth For Sustainable Development.”
This theme has been chosen to
encourage youth to be involved in
the decision-making processes at
national, regional and continental
levels for their own development, as well as the achievement of Africa’s agenda for sustainable development. It is also dedicated to highlight the current progress and efforts made to ensure that Africa can speak with one voice on issues of youth development.

It is worth noting that major decisions that have a bearing on Youth Development were recently made by the Assembly of African Heads of State and Government. These include:
– the operationalization of African Union Youth Volunteers Corps (AU-YVC) and its scaling up;
– the establishment of the Pan
African University (PAU)
– the promotion of youth
employment within the reduction by 2% of the youth unemployment rate
– the revitalization of the Pan
African Youth Union (PYU)

Other major achievements include
the following;
– The acceleration of the Decade
Plan of Action on Youth development with the involvement of the Regional Economic Communities and the visible role of the Member States,
– The quick entry into force of the African Youth Charter and other relevant instruments on the
Continent
– A Rio+20 Conference Development Conference that
assisted in positioning the Commission as the framework in consolidating the world-level interactions on-behalf of African Youth around the Green Economy negotiations with a Youth perspective on the common African Union Position.
– Many more actions following the
memorable July 2011 Summit on
accelerating youth empowerment for sustainable development in Africa in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

The African Union believes young
people should be an integral part of social and economic development. Today, Africa is the youngest continent in the world and is projected to begin experiencing a demographic window for the next decades should we make the right investments in our youth. This
population dynamic must appear as
the strength for the continent that
must work as a collective to deliver on youth development and empowerment.

To deliver as one on youth development and empowerment, Member States, that yet need to do so, must expedite their efforts to sign, ratify, domesticate
and implement the African Youth
Charter and national youth development plans must be aligned with the youth decade (DPoA) together with ensuring data and information on young people is available to inform sustainable
actions and progress reports. The
commission commits to continue
providing the requisite technical assistance to this end to member states and the concerned stakeholders.

The African Union Commission wishes to associate itself to the celebration of the African Youth Day 2012 to congratulate the African youth for their respective efforts in the capacity building process, and to all its partners and stakeholders working closely with us to build robust institutions to empower our greatest resources that are the youth, I express my deep gratitude.

Finally, on the auspice of the
celebration of the African Youth Day 2012, I call upon all stakeholders including Member States, the Pan-African Youth
Union, Regional Economic
Communities, Private Sector, NGO’s, UN agencies, bilateral and multi-lateral and development partners to synergize efforts
in delivering as ONE on Youth
development and empowerment in
Africa.

The African Union Commission
commits itself to work together with its key partners to deliver as ONE on Youth development and empowerment and ensure
that Africa’s young people are playing their role in the decision-making process by working side by side with their leaders in the Member States, the Regional Economic Communities and at continental level.

Long live Africa!
God bless the African youth!