Background

Current Programs

Advocacy and Policy Implementation

Background

In 2002 YouthNet conducted an assessment of youth HIV/AIDS programming to identify unmet needs and gaps, strengthen HIV prevention programs for young people, and develop a strategy proposal for the USAID Mission in Namibia. The greatest threat to Namibia's development is the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. HIV prevalence ranges from 9 percent to 43 percent, with an overall prevalence of 22 percent among pregnant women, ages 20-24. HIV prevalence among young pregnant women, 13-19 years, is nearly 11 percent, and the rate of transmission is still increasing. AIDS already accounts for 50 percent of the deaths among individuals aged 15-19 and for 75 percent of all hospitalizations in public facilities. YouthNet, together with key stakeholders in Namibia, is implementing a program for youth that concentrates on faith-based initiatives, school-based education, and advocacy and policy implementation. 

Churches in Namibia are well organized from the national to the community level and have high rates of attendance by both adults and youth. They also commonly have special youth officers assigned to conduct outreach to young people. At the time of YouthNet's assessment, several churches were involved in HIV care and support issues. However, many felt ill-equipped to address HIV prevention with young people. YouthNet saw this gap in programming as an opportunity to expand the work of Namibian faith-based groups to address the reproductive health and HIV prevention needs of youth. As such, the project developed two background documents on how to work with faith-based organizations (FBOs):  Ten Reasons to Involve Faith-Based Institutions and How to Strengthen the Church's Response to HIV Prevention for Youth. In 2003, a participatory learning assessment (PDF 516 KB) was conducted with youth from churches, faith-based organizations, youth councils, and youth centers.   

Current Programs

Abstinence and Faithfulness Messages for Younger Youth

In an effort to reduce the spread of HIV among young Namibians, YouthNet/Namibia works with influential adults to teach Christian family life education (CFLE) to youth to improve their HIV prevention knowledge and skills. The program emphasizes abstinence and faithfulness messages as its main strategy, implemented primarily through churches and FBOs. Change of Life Style (COLS), a YouthNet partner, works with 19 churches and one FBO in Khomas and Erongo regions. COLS developed a CFLE curriculum and trained 75 educators, including parents, teachers, and church leaders, in use of the curriculum. The program has reached more than 500 adults and youth and will reach an additional 2,000 youth, ages 8-16, in 2005.

YouthNet works with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) and the German Evangelical Lutheran Church (GELC) to implement a joint program for HIV prevention among older youth. The new ECLIN-GELC Youth HIV Prevention Project is being implemented in 40 congregations in northern Namibia. A Lutheran HIV prevention curriculum for 14-25 year olds has been designed and accepted by both churches and includes special sessions for adults  This "behavior formation/behavior change" curriculum is based on Christian values and contains accurate and important information on reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, gender, communication, and empowerment. 

The project will work with 300 parent mentors and 150 youth educators who have participated in "master training of trainer" workshops to train their peers in the use of the curriculum. These mentors and youth educators will then reach a total of 1,000 youth (14-25 years) with the curriculum. In addition, youth camps, weekend activities, and sensitization meetings for church leaders and members compliment these youth activities.

A third YouthNet/Namibia initiative, implemented by Development Aid from People to People, targets 15-19 year olds in 25 rural schools in the Omusati region. The 22-week comprehensive education program addresses the basic facts about HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, drug and alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, sexual relationships, and voluntary counseling and testing. To date, the course plan has been finalized and 22 teachers and a second set of 12 peer educators have been trained. Youth clubs have been established to reach more youth and encourage greater participation. The project works in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Regional AIDS Committees for Education.

Advocacy and Policy Implementation

Namibia's national reproductive health policy calls for the integration of reproductive health content in all youth programs, including youth vocational training programs. To support the implementation of this policy, YouthNet and its partners in Namibia are working together to integrate and strengthen reproductive health and HIV/AIDS education into youth vocational training centers (VTCs).

Under the leadership of a multi-sectoral steering committee that includes youth leaders, the project completed a situation analysis that determined how youth reproductive health and HIV/AIDS education was being addressed at VTCs, and identified the remaining needs of the students/trainees. Findings of the situation analysis were shared and discussed at a workshop "Mapping the Way Forward: A Strategic Planning Workshop to Review and Plan the Role of Vocational Training Centers (VTC) in RH and HIV/AIDS Education," held from May 31 to June 2, 2005, in Windhoek. The key findings included:

• Despite reproductive health and HIV/AIDS issues affecting the trainees, there is an overall lack of education and services available at VTCs.
• Although VTC management is aware of the policy for integration of reproductive health content into VTC, there is no strategic plan to activate the policy except for limited activities in some HIV/AIDS clubs.
• Libraries at many centers lacked RH/HIV/AIDS resource materials. In some cases, the centers did not even have library facilities.
• An overall lack of income-generating projects and job opportunities augmented poverty conditions, resulting in transactional sex that makes some people vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.
• There is a lack of recreational activities at the VTCs, which trainees felt resulted in alcohol/drug abuse and other risky behaviors.

At this workshop, participants developed a draft plan of action that focused on integrating and strengthening reproductive health and HIV/AIDS education and services into youth vocational training programs. Specific strategies include:

• Strengthening the capacity of the VTC Trainee Representative Council to advocate for the rights of the trainees and staff members to provide reproductive health and HIV/AIDS education to students.

• Strengthening existing health clubs at VTCs, and establishing new ones in VTCs that do no have health clubs.

• Establishing a library which includes reproductive health and HIV/AIDS resources.

• Ensuring condoms and vouchers for voluntary counseling and testing are available.

Following the workshop, the project will work closely with the Ministry of Education, the HIV/AIDS Management Unit (HAMU), and other partners to mobilize technical and financial resources to support the implementation of the draft plan of action. Immediate actions include:

• HAMU will host a meeting with representatives and stakeholders to further explore strategies, next steps, and resources to address findings of the analysis and the draft plans of action developed at the workshop.
• The New Start Voluntary Counseling Center will organize educational events at VTCs, and offer free counseling and testing services to VTC trainees.

• FHI will facilitate arrangements to ensure that VTCs have access to free reproductive health and HIV/AIDS materials from NGOs and UN agencies.