This programme builds local capacity to strengthen life skills for adolescents in Navoi Oblast, Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Tajikistan. These projects are implemented in partnership with Project HOPE's child survival project in Navoi, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Bosnia and Mission East, Tajikistan.

Adolescence is a time for opportunity and change.  It is also a time of heightened vulnerabilities, reflected partly in the increasing number of pregnancies and abortions by girls under 18.  Adolescent reproductive health is an increasingly important component in the health care system.  The development of life skills is crucial to the future of this age group.

Conducting a baseline survey, September 2003

• Early pregnancy and childbearing, with elevated risks of injury, illness and death for both mother and infant;
• Unintended pregnancy, often leading to unsafe abortion and its complications;
• Sexual transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS; and
• Sexual violence and coercion, including rape and sexual abuse.

Tajikistan is one of the 20 poorest countries in the world with 24.7% of the population between 15 – 24 years.  Girls are increasingly dropping out of school and enter marriage or informal partnerships at younger and younger ages.  12.9% of births are to women under 20.  Use of contraceptives is very low, and abortion rates are increasing in adolescent girls.  Adolescents have inadequate knowledge to protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections; 86.1% of reported cases of HIV are in young people 15-29.  The primary mode of transmission is sexual followed by intravenous drug use, an increasing challenge faced by Tajik society.  National Plans have identified youths as the primary target group for reproductive health and HIV prevention education, but activities have only reached few of the young people.

Mission East, a Danish NGO with more than 10 years of development activities in Tajikistan, is implementing the project with technical guidance from FPH in one of its target areas covering four rural communities already participating in Mission East’s water and sanitation programme - Ziddi, Roj, Ravot, and Shingak in the Penjikent District (Oblast Sugh).

The Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, communities, and religious leaders are involved in activity development and implementation

Main Activities of this project

• Assessment of knowledge, attitudes and practices of youth via focus group discussions with youth, teachers, community leaders and parents (completed)
• Training of teachers of the local schools in adolescent reproductive health, and medical providers of the small community clinics in youth-friendly health services (completed)
• Training of youth as peer educators (completed)
• With youth involvement, development of a reproductive health booklet for youth
• Orientation and involvement of community leaders, parents, and elders in adolescent reproductive health
• Youth reproductive health education within and outside of the school system reaching close to 1’000 youth during this pilot phase

Religious and community leaders, youths, teachers and health providers brainstorming barriers, needs and solutions (left & middle) . Health providers training in youth-friendly reproductive health services, Penjikent (right), July 2009.

Donors: Fedevaco, Christian Bachschuster, Stiftung Picket

The programme goal was to empower the youth of Bosnia & Herzegovina to become free decision-makers about their sexual and reproductive health, through education, information and enhancement of youth-friendly SRH services, dedicated and adjusted for young people. This has been achieved through the introduction of innovative Information Centres in Banja Luka, Bihac and Mostar, initiating peer education presentations and media promotions, engaging public health experts, local government and NGOs and, importantly, community awareness events to reach the wider population and reverse what was historically a culturally sensitive issue. 

The great success of 2008 was reaching double the population of students compared to previous years.    

Information Centre activities and results: 

• 305 peer presentations given at primary, secondary, grammar,  economic and technical schools; youth centres and student dorms

• 6249 youths reached

• 43 Community events attended by 12,625 participants

• One-to-one sessions at information centres

• Female clients were double those of male - 563 female to 254 male

• 97 follow-up referrals to medical centres numbered 97 for counseling, contraception advice or gynaecological examination

• Media awareness events - web presentations and TV promotions

• Month long “Creative development for children and youth” event in Banja Luka City

• Over 4,000 condoms given out Centres, during presentations and events

• 1,804 leaflets, brochures, stickers and posters distributed

Donor: UNFPA

As a result, some of the achievements from the programme includes:

• Development of a curriculum package in Russian and Uzbek for teachers, peer educators and medical providers
• Production of several short films
• Booklet on reproductive health for adolescents and training manual developed by adolescents for their peers
• Training of  64 peer educators
• Training of Trainers (TOT) of 88 school teachers and medical providers; and
• Establishment of an adolescent-friendly reproductive health clinic in Navoi City
• 3500 adolescents reached by the programme

Donors: Care and Aid Foundation, Fedevaco

Additional information:
Factsheets	(Tajikistan 154Kb) (BiH 226Kb)(Uzbekistan 1704Kb)
Pictures	Gallery of pictures

If you would like to know more about this programme or to contribute to it, please contact us.
Fondation PH Suisse - Partnerships in Health
60 Route des Coudres, CH-1298 Céligny, Switzerland
Tel:   +41 (0) 22 776 78 81/87/89
Fax:  +41 (0) 22 776 79 27
Email: contact@partnershipsinhealth.ch