Research has shown that peer education can increase knowledge, change attitudes, and sustain and improve behaviors related to HIV prevention and reproductive health. Launching a network among stakeholders will ultimately help improve the health of young people by ensuring quality implementation and coordination of a widely used approach in Tanzania - peer education.
Y-PEER (Youth Peer Education Network) is a collaborative project initiated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and supported by FHI. It is designed to build the capacity of NGOs implementing youth peer education by bringing together stakeholders through networks, making quality tools and resources widely available, and providing training and holding consultative meetings, with meaningful youth participation throughout. To date, 27 countries have developed networks across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In the coming year, 12 more countries from the Middle East, and Northern and Eastern Africa, including Tanzania, will expand Y-PEER and launch new networks. (Information about Y-PEER can be found online at: www.youthpeer.org.)
A two-day workshop was held from December 5 - 6, 2005. Fifty youth and adult representatives from 21 NGOs implementing youth peer education activities, the Ministry of Labor, Youth, and Sports, and the Ministry of Education and Culture attended.
During the workshop, YouthNet disseminated results from an assessment of youth peer education activities in Tanzania from 19 organizations, and introduced Y-PEER activities, tools, and methodologies. Represented organizations shared their local experience in youth peer education and resources used in the field. All participants proposed ideas for Y-PEER Tanzania Network activities, discussions will continue among a task force. (A detailed summary report is forthcoming.)
Family Health International (FHI)/YouthNet launched the Y-PEER Tanzania Network with initial support from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
For more information, contact the Tanzania office or email youthnet@fhitz.org.
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