When it comes to sexual and reproductive health, young people often find themselves on the front lines of risky behavior. Few teens feel comfortable talking about sex openly or know where to find helpful answers to their health questions. In South Africa, Ipas recently completed an innovative two-year project designed to reach and educate 20,000 adolescents about their sexual and reproductive health and rights in the country’s North West province.

Ipas South Africa partnered with the North West Department of Health in 1996 to create youth centers that provide sexual and reproductive health information, training in project development and management, as well as career development and skills-building opportunities to young people between the ages of 10 and 35. The national unemployment rate in South Africa is 39 percent, so combining job skills with sex education makes the youth centers more attractive to young people. Each youth center has a Special Interest Youth Club where young people can get help starting their own businesses in areas of their interest, such as catering, agriculture, security, and art and design.

Young people tend to prefer getting information on contraceptives, sexually transmitted infections and other sexual and reproductive health issues from their peers, with whom they can relate and feel comfortable. Youths who are out of school are trained as peer educators and work with the department’s staff to provide sexual and reproductive health information at the youth centers. Peer educators work with other mentors and coordinators trained by Ipas and the Department of Health to lead classes on a variety of areas, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, job skills, performing arts, counseling and family planning, and efficient client referral for services in larger facilities. In one year, the project reached more than 13,000 youth with sexual and reproductive health information and services.

In addition to helping others, peer educators also benefit from their role, becoming more confident and organized in their own lives as they become resources for their communities. The youth participants’ mantra, “Nothing for us without us,” illustrates how the project creates ownership and shares responsibility among clients and staff alike by building networks, providing opportunities and regarding young people as valued partners.

In a culture that often encourages boys to be “macho” and brag about their sexual conquests, Ipas South Africa introduced a helpful campaign to engage young men in conversations about sexual and reproductive health called “Boys Talk.”

“Boys get the impression from their environment that they should want to have sex, whether they are ready or not. We’ve put role models in front of them who say, ‘I am comfortable with not having sex yet’. It’s about behavioral change,” said Dr. Makgoale Magwentshu, Ipas’s North West project manager.  During the “Boys Talk” sessions, boys talk with their peer educators, youth mentors and other community role models about when to have sex, abstinence, virginity, penis size, contraceptives, drugs and self-esteem.

While Ipas South Africa’s involvement is coming to an end, the project will continue running under the auspices of the North West Department of Health. The peer educators trained by Ipas South Africa will help recruit and train an additional 100 youth peer educators to volunteer in 17 youth centers across the province, reaching even more young people in rural and suburban areas with essential messages about their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

 

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For more information, contact media@ipas.org