Youth-to-Youth Programme in Ethiopia














Target group:

More than 50 per cent of Ethiopia's largely rural population is under the age of 25. Adolescents and youth aged 10-24 constitute 33 per cent (i.e. more than 25 million) of the total population.

Project aims:

• To improve the reproductive health (RH) of adolescents and youth by supporting and strengthening youth self-help initiatives (SHIs) and related activities throughout Ethiopia;

• To change reproductive health (RH) knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of adolescents and youth in target areas;

• To improve management capacity of youth self-help initiatives (SHIs);

• To establish up a stable network of adolescent reproductive health (RH) clubs in all areas in Ethiopia and establish a referral system between youth clubs and health facilities;

• To increase co-operation and involvement of community based organisations (CBDs) and government departments in project sites;

• To improve young people's reproductive health (RH) by providing supplementary RH care services, such as counselling, voluntary counselling and testing, STI treatment and contraceptives;

• To produce youth friendly quality reproductive health information, education and communication (IEC) materials to inform adolescents about HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancy;

• To enhance sustainability of self-help initiatives (SHIs);

• To improve monitoring and evaluation capacity of clubs;

• To develop a replicable self-help initiative model.

Progress made:

• With the help of mass edutainment and intensive information, education and communication (IEC) programmes, DSW Ethiopia reached more than 1.5 million young people with messages about HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections in 2005;

• 225 youth clubs are operational and running smoothly;

• About 1,900 peer educators were trained in 2005;

• In the year 2005, alone a total of 6,160 young boys and girls made use of the telephone hotline;

• In 2005 alone 480,000 copies of the Youth-to-Youth newspaper were produced and distributed.

Partners:

Save Your Generation Association (SYGA), Organization for Social Services for Aids (OSSA), Hiwot Ethiopia, Professional Alliance for Development in Ethiopia (PADET), Dynamic Youth Enterprise (DYE), Oromiya Development Association (ODA), Amhara Development Association (ADA), Association for the Rehabilitation of Girls (ARG), FARM Africa