YouthNet's study protocols are reviewed for integration of gender issues.
All research results are disaggregated and analyzed by sex, where possible.
Three studies examine gender-related issues that will assist in improving reproductive health services offered to young women. They focus on post-abortion care, VCT and reproductive health, and services related to prevention of mother-to-child transmision of HIV.
Another study looks at early sexual debut, sexual violence, and sexual risk-taking.
Two other studies include components that measure the effect of interventions on gender norms. One focuses on peer education, while the other evaluates a global mass media campaign.
Participatory research methods are used to increase involvement of study participants and key stakeholders, especially girls and young women.
YouthNet's technical assistance to country programs incorporates gender concerns and aims to improve gender norms and reduce inequity and inequality between young women and men, where appropriate and possible.
In Tanzania, YouthNet is working with the Health Information Project to produce a bi-monthly magazine, Si Mchezo!, that includes articles on youth, gender, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, STIs, and violence prevention. Each edition is disseminated to over 27,000 youth in the Iringa Region.
In Namibia, YouthNet collaborates with two faith-based organizations to implement Christian family life education programs for youth ages 8-16 and 14-24. The programs emphasize HIV prevention and include exercises on gender roles and responsibilities within the context of the epidemic.
In Zambia, YouthNet is working with the Foundation for African Women Educationalists of Zambia (FAWEZA) to address the safety and security of beneficiaries of the U.S. Ambassador Girls Scholarship Program. It provides secure, appropriate, and girl-friendly accommodation to the girls, which increases their potential to remain in school and improves their chance of preventing HIV and unintended pregnancy.
YouthNet's Assessment of Youth Reproductive Health and HIV Programs in Nepal addresses the negative reproductive health effects of gender inequality for girls and young women (e.g., lack of education, poverty, early marriage and childbearing, early sexual debut, and lack of access to information and services) and discusses in detail how these gender disparities might be overcome in that country.
YouthNet promotes an institutional culture that supports equal opportunity, participation, and decision-making for males and females alike.
Its management pays attention to gender equity issues with regard to staff composition, professional advancement, salaries/benefits, job qualifications, and job performance.
Training and technical updates on gender are provided to YouthNet staff, at Headquarters and in the field, on a regular basis.
YouthNet is also an active member of the USAID Interagency Gender Working Group (IGWG). Its gender specialist serves on the IGWG Technical Advisory Group, assists with trainings, and has co-authored an IGWG manual on gender integration.
The IGWG, established in 1997, is a network comprising non-governmental organizations, USAID, and Cooperating Agencies. The group aims to promote gender equity within population, health, and nutrition programs with the goal of improving reproductive health and HIV/AIDS outcomes and fostering sustainable development. http://www.igwg.org/
