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FP/RH Champion Spotlight: South-East Asia Youth Health Action Network (SYAN)


Knowledge SUCCESS loves feedback from our readers. We want to hear how our resources benefit your work, how we can improve, and your ideas for the site. Recently, you’ve mentioned wanting more insights specific to your countries and the context you work in. Say no more! We’ll be featuring organizations working at the national level in a series called “FP/RH Champion Spotlight.” Our goal is to spark new partnerships and give well-deserved credit to those advancing family planning and reproductive health with a regional focus.

This week, our featured organization is South-East Asia Youth Action Network (SYAN).

FP/RH Champion Spotlight banner with blue highlights behind the words FP/RH Champion Spotlight. Spotlight graphics are in the four corners of the rectangular graphic.

Organization

South-East Asia Youth Health Action Network (SYAN)

Location

South-East Asia region (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Timor Leste, Sri Lanka)

The Work

The South-East Asia Youth Health Action Network, or SYAN, is a WHO-SEARO-supported network that creates and strengthens the capacity of adolescent and youth groups in southeast Asian countries for effective advocacy and engagement in national adolescent health programs as well as regional and global policy dialogue platforms.

Currently, SYAN consists of 17 member organizations/youth groups across nine countries. The YP Foundation (TYPF) has held the regional secretariat of SYAN since its inception in 2020. As the regional convener, TYPF has equipped network members with the skills and knowledge they need to advance their work on adolescent health and well-being and engage with national programs. For this work, SYAN follows the guidelines and recommendations provided in the Global AA-HA! Guidance and the Global Adolescent Wellbeing Framework along with existing national-level health frameworks.

SYAN

Through SYAN, member organizations, networks, and groups have been actively engaged under the following domains: 

1. Capacity Building on Effective Advocacy

Train country networks in defining and sustaining their roles in advocacy and engagement for adolescent health, and facilitating implementation of their activities. 

2. Engagement in Policy Dialogue Platforms

As a network of experienced youth organizations and advocates, SYAN is well-positioned to represent adolescent and youth interests in international platforms.

3. Research and Evidence Generation

Undertake research in southeast Asia-region countries to identify challenges and opportunities for enhancement with reference to adolescents and young people.

4. Adolescent Health and Advocacy Resource Creation

Build capacity of the country to prepare country-specific knowledge and advocacy briefs.

5. Creation of Knowledge Exchange Platform

Establish and maintain a website-based collaborative learning platform for communication. House a repository of tools and knowledge products co-developed and shared within the regional network as well as technical resources from outside. 

Check back soon for a new FP/RH Champion Spotlight organization!

Tykia Murray

Former Managing Editor of Digital Content, Knowledge SUCCESS

Tykia Murray is a former Managing Editor of Digital Content for Knowledge SUCCESS, a five-year global project led by a consortium of partners and funded by USAID’s Office of Population and Reproductive Health to support learning and create opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange within the family planning and reproductive health community. Tykia holds a BA in Writing from Loyola University Maryland and an MFA from the University of Baltimore's Creative Writing & Publishing Arts program.