Join us on September 11 for the NextGen RH September meeting as we explore youth innovations in AYSRH! Youth are the driving force behind many creative programs and initiatives to […]
Though discussions around reproductive health services should be open to all, adolescent boys and girls experience often don’t get to take part in them, with their parents and guardians making most decisions about health on their behalf. Kenya’s health department is implementing various interventions focusing on young people. Through The Challenge Initiative’s (TCI) program, Mombasa County received funding to implement high-impact interventions that address some of the challenges young people experience in accessing contraception and other sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services.
In August 2020, Knowledge SUCCESS embarked on a strategic initiative. Responding to knowledge-sharing needs expressed by adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH) professionals, it established a robust global Community of Practice (CoP). It worked collaboratively with a group of AYSRH professionals to create the NextGen Reproductive Health (NextGen RH) CoP.
Over the course of 18 months, FP2030 and Knowledge SUCCESS hosted 21 sessions of Connecting Conversations. The interactive series brought together speakers and participants from around the world for dialogues around timely topics in adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH). Here we explore the answers to some of the series’ top questions.
Recently, Knowledge SUCCESS Program Officer II Brittany Goetsch chatted with Sean Lord, Senior Program Officer at the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (JFLAG), about LGBTQ* AYSRH and how JFLAG pursues their vision of building a society that values all individuals, irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In this interview, Sean details his experiences with centering LGBTQ youth when creating community programs, and supporting them through initiatives like JFLAG’s peer support helpline. He also discusses how JFLAG has helped connect these young people to health care services that are safe and respectful, and how JFLAG is currently looking for opportunities to share best practices and lessons learned with others implementing LGBTQ helplines around the world.
Approximately 121 million unintended pregnancies occurred each year between 2015 and 2019. When used correctly, female condoms are 95% effective at preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection. Male (external) condoms provide a nearly impermeable barrier to particles the size of STI pathogens and HIV and are 98% effective at pregnancy prevention when used properly. Condoms remain the most used family-planning method among youth and offer protection from unintended pregnancy, STIs, and HIV.
In September 2021, Knowledge SUCCESS and the Policy, Advocacy, and Communication Enhanced for Population and Reproductive Health (PACE) project launched the first in a series of community-driven dialogues on the People-Planet Connection Discourse platform exploring the links between population, health, and the environment. Representatives from five organizations, including youth leaders from PACE’s Population, Environment, Development Youth Multimedia Fellowship, posed discussion questions to engage participants around the globe on the links between gender and climate change. The one week of dialogue generated dynamic questions, observations, and solutions. Here’s what PACE’s youth leaders had to say about their experience and their suggestions for how the discourse can be translated into concrete solutions.
Brittany Goetsch, Knowledge SUCCESS Program Officer, recently chatted with Alan Jarandilla Nuñez, the Executive Director of the International Youth Alliance for Family Planning (IYAFP). They discussed the work IYAFP is doing related to AYSRH, their new strategic plan, and why they are champions for youth partnership around the world. Alan highlights why AYSRH issues are so important to overall discussions about sexual and reproductive health, and rights (SRHR) and reframing the narrative around young leaders and the intersectionality of SRHR.