Lofty goals mark program's beginning

The First National Youth Consultation is the result of a series of group meetings and activities involving more than 800 young people from all regions of Ethiopia.

The program began with hopes of developing a National Youth Charter that expressed Ethiopian young adults' visions for their future with regard to sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. The Youth Consultation also aimed to produce an action plan to mobilize Ethiopian youth for improved sexual health, reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS preventive behavior, care, and support.

National youth charter develops

Following the town meetings and activities, youth leaders of the programs developed Ethiopia's National Youth Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS.

The charter identified the following list of needs and areas for improvment around the nation:

• Creating an environment conducive to sexual and reproductive health for Ethiopian youth.
• Involving young men and women in the design and implementation of programs.
• Decreasing risk-taking behavior through education and communication activities.
• Promoting the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, STIs, and HIV infections.
• Enacting policies, programs, and enforcing laws that address the harmful social norms that negatively affect girls and young women in the country.
• Creating youth-friendly services at the local level.
• Developing programs for youth with special needs.

Three-year action plan developed to enact charter

To turn the plans developed in the National Youth Charter into reality, Ethiopian young men and women developed a three-year action plan.  The plan served as a practical map for government, donor agencies, religious leaders, and others.

To be effective, the plan suggested:

• Increasing self-risk perception and decreasing risky sexual behaviors among in and out-of-school youths.
• Enhancing communication between youth and their parents.
• Promoting new partnerships among youth and between youth and their communities.
• Expanding access to youth friendly reproductive and sexual health products and services.

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