Background
Young people from the Hurungwe district in Northern Zimbabwe face high rates of teenage pregnancies, child marriages and HIV infections. Lack of information about sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and limited opportunities to discuss these issues on a community level have been identified as two of the main reasons for the health challenges youth are subjected to. The Zimbabwean government has developed a National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy to respond to the needs of young people, but adolescents still lack participation in the implementation and evaluation of the SRHR programmes.

About the project
This project was created to strengthen the capacity of young people and empower them to access and demand SRHR services. 16 leaders and members from eight different youth associations in Hurungwe district participated in a training where they engaged in sessions on peer education, SRHR advocacy, sexual violence and SRHR from a local and global perspective. To bridge the gap between young people and decision-makers from the adult community, the project team also facilitated dialogues between youth, local leaders and parents. The topics discussed included parent to child communication, gender-based violence legislation, HIV/AIDS, early marriages and peer education.

Results
This project created a noticeable increase of engagement in SRHR activities, both from young people and the rest of the community. The community dialogues contributed to an improved communication on SRHR between young people and key stakeholders – including community leaders, NGOs, schools, courts and religious institutions. By the end of the project, local youth and health centres also reported a noticeable increase in the number of young people visiting them to seek out SRHR services. This increase can also be attributed to the youth associations that are working to create demand for SRHR services in the district.

Year: 2015