Submission ID 117933
| Background | Youth and adolescents in developing countries face significant SRHR challenges such as early marriage, limited contraception access and high adolescent pregnancy rates because of systemic barriers such as access to services, restrictive policies, and social stigma. These challenges disproportionately impact girls, ethnic minorities and those in resource-poor settings. |
|---|---|
| Learning objectives | 1. Demonstrate effective strategies to reach marginalized youth in hard-to-reach areas, including remote mountains and urban slums 2. Showcase scalable youth-centred initiatives like photovoice and mobile learning labs that equip youths to lead advocacy and drive changes in SRHR 3. Highlight the role of youth networks including community action groups and school clubs in fostering sustained engagement and impact 4. Explore the co-creation and implementation of a youth-led community assessment to identify change enablers and challenges |
| Expected topics | Bangladesh: In the densely populated slums of Dhaka, there is a high unmet need for essential SRHR services. A featured project mobilized 1,000 youth volunteers including 100 community action groups to serve as SRHR advocates, raising awareness on SRHR and driving change within their communities. Nepal: In mountainous Karnali province, access to comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is limited and teachers face discomfort discussing CSE topics. We introduced SRH learning corners and mobile learning labs as alternative modalities to deliver CSE. These methods provide private and self-directed learning without requiring internet connectivity. Vietnam: Ethnic minorities in rural Son La province face marginalization, poor SRH outcomes, and higher child marriage rates than the national average. To address these, creative methods have been successfully used to raise SRH awareness, including SRH learning corners and school events featuring engaging competitions and role-play. Advocacy also resulted in development of a new national CSE curriculum. Vietnam: In Son La, ethnic minority youth played a pivotal role in assessing a project to reduce child marriage and improve SRH. Their engagement and adaptable data collection ensured broad, culturally appropriate input, allowing for refining activities for better impact. |
| Main messages | • Engaging youth as advocates and leaders enables them to challenge restrictive norms and drive systemic change to enhance SRHR. • Context-appropriate and innovative mechanisms to raise awareness on SRHR maximize participation and learning from youth. |
| Presenters and affiliations | Nished Rijal HealthBridge Foundation of Canada Cassandra Morris HealthBridge Foundation of Canada Behnoush Ahranjani HealthBridge Foundation of Canada Ziaul Ahsan Ipas Bangladesh Kamilla Pinter HealthBridge Foundation of Canada |
