Development Programmes
DSW helps people to protect themselves from illnesses and unwanted pregnancies and fight their way out of poverty. For this reason we implement and support family planning and information projects in Africa and Asia. Youth plays a special role: they are the parents of tomorrow and the key to the development of their countries. Investing in their health means investing in a better future. DSW is deeply concerned about the promotion of girls, since girls are hit particularly hard by poverty, disease and injustice. They bear a great burden, while at the same time play a key role for sustainable development.
“I’ve been empowered” - Assessment of DSW’s Youth-to-Youth Initiative in Kenya and Ethiopia
Over ten years ago, DSW developed the Youth-to-Youth (Y2Y) Initiative as a unique approach to empower young people by offering a comprehensive and integrated response to their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and socio-economic needs in developing countries. Today, the Y2Y Initiative comprises a network of over six hundred consolidated youth clubs in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. At these clubs, young people have access to SRH information and advice in a trusted environment, actively engage in community work and peer education, and participate in life skills, SRH, leadership and entrepreneurship trainings.
In early summer 2011, the GIZ “Programm Gleichberechtigung und Frauenrechte fördern” commissioned an assessment of the Youth-to-Youth Initiative conducted by an external consultant. While the Initiative is currently implemented in four East African countries, Kenya and Ethiopia have been selected as exemplary settings for the study’s implementation.
The aim of the study was to assess the results of the Y2Y Initiative for young people with an emphasis on gender equality both at individual level for participating young women and men as well as at the level of potentially changed perceptions of, and attitudes towards them in their social environment.
The comprehensive assessment provides a significant insight into various positive results and remaining challenges of implementing a youth-focused and integrated SRH programme.
It particularly highlights the valuable contribution that DSW’s Youth-to-Youth Initiative has made “in terms of informing and educating young people about SRH and rights, and to developing their own capacity in many ways”. The interviewed young people, but also representatives of the local government, health professionals and policy makers all noted a perceived increase in the demand for condoms as well as the up-take of HIV testing and other health services by young people and community members.
As regards gender-related changes, the assessment reveals that particularly girls relate enhanced life skills and self-esteem to their youth club experience. Many girls stressed that the comprehensive trainings offered in the framework of the Y2Y Initiative helped them to develop their personality, and in a number of cases, to generate income for themselves and their families.
The publication of the assessment has been accompanied by two public events in Kenya and Tanzania in late September. In Nairobi, DSW Kenya organised a workshop that convened political stakeholders, representatives from GIZ and NGOs, as well as current and former youth club members who shared their experiences as beneficiaries and key actors of the Youth-to-Youth Initiative. The workshop ended with participants leaving the event encouraged by strong, meaningful and honest speeches, discussions and comments.
The formulated results and recommendations outlined in this publication serve as a valuable and appreciated source of inspiration to further improve and thus strengthen DSW’s Youth-to-Youth Initiative.
