By Holo Hachonda
The Youth Activists Organization (YAO), a non-governmental youth organization, was formed in 1995 by high school graduates. Managed almost entirely by youth, its goal is to empower Zambian youth through a variety of interventions, including civic, environmental, economic, and health education.
Sixty-three percent of Zambia’s population is under the age of 25. The estimated prevalence of HIV/AIDS among urban youth ages 15–19 is between 17 and 23 percent. Many young people lack information not only on reproductive health but also on critical life skills such as negotiation, decision making, and communication.
Program objectives
YAO developed the following objectives to address these issues:
- Increase young people’s knowledge of sexual and reproductive health (SRH), including sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV/AIDS, and family planning (FP).
- Increase the negotiation, decision-making and communication skills of youth.
- Advocate for the acknowledgment of young adult reproductive health rights at the national level.
YAO pursues its objectives through the following activities:
- professional football training;
- leadership training;
- communication skills training;
- participatory methods on education training skills; and
- knowledge and awareness campaigns.
Program success
Most successful among YAO’s programs are its Football Camp, the Inter-Faith Peer Educators project, the School Outreach program, and the Training of Trainers in communication skills. Youth involvement in program structuring, implementation, and management has been the cornerstone of this success. This involvement ensures that YAO’s activities and messages are relevant, appropriate, and interesting to youth.
YAO’s biggest initiative is the Youth Football and Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) Camp, targeting 14- to 24-year-old boys and their parents in five Zambian districts. It promotes male responsibility in sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning, and child health. Awareness and educational messages are integrated, by a professional coach, into football (soccer) training and competition. Other activities include video shows and discussions in the community.
YAO launched its Inter-Faith Peer Educators project in 1997. It focuses on SRH/STI/HIV/AIDS and FP awareness and targets youth in religious communities. The objective is to encourage youth leaders to discuss sexuality issues in religious environments. The program has reached over 300 young people ages 14–24.
The School Outreach program encourages young people to participate in SRH activities. To do this, YAO created an awareness curriculum that employs interactive techniques such as drama, testimonies, and discussions with celebrities from a youth radio program (Club NTG); anti-AIDS clubs in schools; and a youth theater group. Participants spend two days building communication, facilitation, and program design skills and three days applying the methodology in a practicum. This outreach program has reached over 3,000 pupils in 15 schools in three districts of Zambia.
After students complete the School Outreach program, YAO invites two anti-AIDS club leaders from participating schools to a five-day Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop in facilitation and communication skills. The objective of the program is to equip anti-AIDS club leaders with important communication skills. Youth from religious groups are also invited. The TOT has trained 30 young people from 15 schools and 30 more from religious groups, including those in the Muslim community.
Challenges
Zambia has 73 languages and ethnic groups. Language and cultural barriers are a great challenge to YAO’s initiatives. Sustainability is an equally important challenge. The donor-dependent program is facing increasing donor ambivalence toward funding adolescent reproductive health programs. The absence of reliable data on these interventions exacerbates the problem, as does the lack of private-sector support.
Meeting the challenges
U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) have helped YAO bridge language and culture gaps. Information, Education and Communication (IEC) specialists from collaborating institutions such as Johns Hopkins University/Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP) and Zambia Information Services/Population and Communication (ZIS/POPCOM) have also been helpful in minimizing the impact of these barriers.
With regard to sustainability, YAO is taking steps to better evaluate its activities, as well as working more aggressively to solicit support from the commercial sector. To ensure the sustainability of the Youth Football and Sexual Reproductive Health Camp, YAO works with PCVs and local neighborhood committees. In the interfaith project, YAO works with key organizations to monitor the networking progress of trained interfaith leaders and supplies technical assistance where necessary.
Lessons learned
For successful implementation of school- and church-based programs it is important to:
For successful training of peer educators:
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Training should include skills in communication, project planning and design, monitoring and evaluation, and management.
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Peer educators should be trained not only as representatives of the reproductive health organizations but also as IEC specialists and potential organization managers.
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Peer educators should be recruited and trained only when there is already an established organization or institution to provide logistical and technical support. Trained peer educators are effective only if they have a base from which they can work.
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It is important to provide motivational incentives such as reimbursement of travel expenses, meals, graduation ceremonies, and career guidance to educators to prevent high drop-out rates.
Contact Information:
Mr. Holo Hachonda
Projects Manager
Youth Activists Organization
Private Bag RW 491X
Lusaka, Zambia
Tel: (260-1) 772604
Fax: (260-1) 253839
Email: yao@zamnet.com
Web site: www.yao.itgo.com
