FHI Focus on Youth

FHI provides global technical leadership in addressing the critical reproductive health needs of youth, including HIV prevention, care, and treatment. We synthesize and disseminate the latest information on youth, identify and investigate key research issues, and promote innovative interventions. With partners that include the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Centers for Disease Control, and numerous other international and local stakeholders, FHI is spearheading major projects in Kenya, Tanzania, and Botswana, as well as important research and programs in many other African and Asian countries.

We are building on a long history of working with youth to address the disproportionate share of unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, sexual violence, and other serious reproductive health problems that youth face. Embracing youth as an asset rather than a liability, FHI works to strengthen youth involvement in programs, to scale up activities based on the best evidence available, and to build sustainable organizations that can continue this work beyond short-term project funding. Below are some of our major youth activities currently underway.

Global Programs

Interagency Youth Working Group: FHI functions as the secretariat for the new USAID-supported Interagency Youth Working Group (IYWG). The working group provides global technical leadership to improve reproductive health and prevent HIV/AIDS among young people ages 10-24 in developing countries. Find out more about the IYWG's recent activities.

YouthNet: USAID funded FHI to guide this five-year global program to improve reproductive health and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among people 10 to 24 years old. The publications, tools, reports, and training materials produced by the program provide valuable resources for the field and are widely used worldwide.

Contraceptive and Reproductive Health Technologies and Research Utilization Program (CRTU): Supported by USAID/global, FHI works to expand the range and support the use and availability of safe, effective, acceptable, and affordable technologies that prevent unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Research on youth-related issues is a key strategy under the CRTU, and work includes a study on peer education among Kenyan college students, education and skills training for house-girls in Kenya, and a study on which approaches to integrating HIV and family planning services might be most effective.

Country Programs

SAMARTH Project (India): Begun in 2006, SAMARTH stands for Strengthen Abilities to Manage And Respond effectively To HIV/AIDS. Funded by USAID/India, the project is managed by FHI, working with several other partners. The overall goal is to improve the response of the government and civil society for evidence-based HIV policy and programs in India. SAMARTH includes four demonstration projects that include a focus on adolescents: CHELSEA WAG, Sahara MCH, Salaam Baalak Trust, and the YWCA. FHI has provided technical assistance to these projects since 2002.

UJANA (Tanzania):  Funded by USAID/Tanzania, UJANA (Swahili for "youthfulness") works with influential adults and community members in Tanzania to help youth develop skills to abstain from or delay sex, remain faithful to one partner if engaged in a relationship, reduce their number of sex partners, or if appropriate, use condoms. UJANA focuses particularly on gender relations. It is building on lessons learned from FHI's YouthNet project to expand peer education and other activities.

Basha Lesedi (Botswana): The Basha Lesdi ("Youth are the Light") project, funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), focuses on youth ages 10 to 17 in Botswana. The project hopes to reach young people with HIV/AIDS prevention information and skills before they engage in risky behaviors, while also developing support from community stakeholders including faith-based groups.

AIDS, Population, and Health Integrated Assistance Program  (APHIA II) (Kenya): FHI is leading this USAID/Kenya-funded project in two parts of the country, Rift Valley and Coast Province. The program takes a family-centered approach that will help meet the prevention, care, and treatment needs of people living with AIDS, as well as support their family. The program includes a series of activities focused on youth.

"Meeting Adolescent Reproductive Health Needs" (Egypt): This project is a collaboration between the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Egyptian Family Planning Association (EFPA). FHI's role is to ensure the delivery of standardized high-quality services in youth-friendly clinics, working through the EFPA clinics. FHI has designed interventions targeting health care providers and peers as well as monitoring and evaluation systems. These activities seek to build the capacity of the clinics to serve adolescents and to build and promote a referral network for adolescents' RH needs. Some of the tools used in this project are available here.