We would like to share with you some of the amazing successes we have had with this programme over the past year.
DSW established the Youth-to-Youth Initiative (Y2Y) in 1999 to address the needs of young people aged 10 to 24 in East Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda). To achieve this, DSW works in direct and close cooperation with young people to improve their knowledge of their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and offers training and counselling on club management, leadership, and entrepreneurship to provide them with the skills and power to lead a self-determined future.
What has been achieved?
We have had great successes throughout the years and have reached hundreds of thousands of young people across the region. In 2014, through our network of over 400 clubs, the programme has succeeded in:
- – Reaching 12,000 youth who in turn have spread knowledge to their communities increasing demand and access to SRHR services. This has led to:
- – 90,000 youth accessing SRHR services in different health centres which included family planning services, pre- and post-natal services, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) care.
- – DSW has distributed over 1,000,000 condoms, and through our outreaches, we have created awareness on issues relating to SRHR, HIV & AIDS, and gender violence, to over 140,000 community members.
- – 20 dialogue forums were conducted at local and national levels to address ongoing issues relating to the provision of youth friendly health services, youth leadership, and youth unemployment. These were attended by youth and political leaders, health workers, village elders, parents, and community leaders.
- – In addition to the provision of health information and supplies, the programme was successful in supporting close to 400 income generating enterprises. Support came in the form of training and mentorship, provision of business advisory services, linkages to market and micro-finance services, and start-up income and materials.
- – 10,000 young people received referral services on family planning and STI care from Y2Y peers. In Uganda, the uptake of services in health units increased from 40 clients per day to 95 clients.
That’s amazing! Where can I find out more?
First of all via this blog, and you can access various youth publications from our site, and of course you can keep up to speed with our social media channels. Here are the links!
DSW’s Blog (youth segment): http://blog.dsw.org/?s=youth
DSW’s publications: http://www.dsw.org/publications-and-media/publications.html
Our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DSWDeutscheStiftungWeltbevoelkerung
Our Twitter account: https://twitter.com/dsw_worldwide
Happy reading!
