Report of the Workshop for the Prioritization and the Dissemination of Best Practices in Adolescent and Youth
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Report of the Workshop for the Prioritization and the Dissemination of Best Practices in Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health (AYSRH) in Niger March 17-18, 2015, Niamey, Niger, Grand Hôtel ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS Agir-PF Advance Family Planning AIDS Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ANBEF Niger Association for Family Well-Being AYHD Adolescents and Youth Health Department AYSRH Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health BCC Behavior Change Communication BP Best Practice CIPD International Conference on Population and Development CARMMA Campaign for Accelerating the Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa CORRECT Credible, Observable, Relevant, Relative advantage, Easy to install, Compatible, Testable CSO Civil Society Organization DHS-MI Demographic and Health Survey with Multiple Indicators E2A (Project) Evidence To Action FP Family Planning HDP Health Development Plan HV Home Visit IHC Integrated Health Center MCSD Mother and Child Survival Department MDG Millennium Development Goals MHERI Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation MPH Ministry of Public Health MSI Marie Stopes International MVT Ministry of Vocational Training MYS Ministry of Youth and Sports NGO Non-Governmental Organization NHIS National Health Information System NRHP National Reproductive Health Program SG Secretary General STI Sexually Transmitted Infection TFP Technical and Financial Partner REACH Reflection and Action for Change UAM Abdou Moumouni University ULC University Leadership for Change UNFPA United Nations Population Fund USAID US Agency for International Development WASH Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene WHO World Health Organization YFC Youth-Friendly Center YFS Youth-Friendly Services AD O L E SC E N T & Y O U T H SE X U A L & R EPRODUCTIVE H E AL T H (AYSRH) IN N IGER 1 | P a g e Contents 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………...………………………………4 2. WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................5 Objectives ......................................................................................................................................................................5 Methodology .................................................................................................................................................................5 3. ADOLESCENT AND YOUTH SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH: CURRENT SITUATION, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES ...................................................................... 5 3.1 Current Situation by the Ministry of Public Health ......................................................................................5 3.2 International agencies’ interventions in AYSRH in Niger............................................................................7 3.3 “Visit to the Marketplace” ..................................................................................................................................8 3.4. Results of a survey on CSOs’ activities in AYSRH ......................................................................................9 4. STRENGTHENING OF STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE AYSRH IN NIGER .......................................... 9 4.1 A decision-making tool for designing youth-friendly services ...................................................................9 4.2 Overview of elements for systematic analysis ............................................................................................ 10 4.3 Screening of the movie “Binta’s Dilemma” .................................................................................................. 12 4.4 ExpandNet/WHO Methodological Framework for Scaling-Up Successful Innovations ................... 12 4.5 Group work ........................................................................................................................................................ 13 Main problems identified in the regions: ............................................................................................................. 13 Target-groups most affected by AYSRH issues ................................................................................................. 14 The package of essential services offered to young people in regions ........................................................ 14 Priority barriers to overcome in AYSRH ........................................................................................................... 14 Availability of infrastructure and human resources in the regions ............................................................... 14 5. RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................. 14 6. NEXT STEPS ................................................................................................................................... 15 ANNEX 1 – Agenda ........................................................................................................................ 17 ANNEX 2 – Participant list .............................................................................................................. 18 ANNEX 3 – Posters from the Marketplace ..................................................................................... 20 ANNEX 4 - Evaluation ................................................................................................................... 21 AD O L E SC E N T & Y O U T H SE X U A L & R EPRODUCTIVE H E AL T H (AYSRH) IN N IGER 2 | P a g e 1. INTRODUCTION Niger, like many countries in West Africa, has a large and growing population of young people (aged 10 to 24 years), representing 32% of the country’s inhabitants. 1 The fertility rate in Niger is the highest in the world, with an average of 5.6 children per woman in urban areas and 8.1 children per woman in rural areas, resulting in a national average of 7.6 children per woman. 2 This high fertility rate is exacerbated by a shortage of resources for the health system, a conservative sociocultural environment and a large population underserved in health services and with very limited access to points of services. In addition, Niger also has the highest rate of early marriages and early pregnancies in the world with 75% of young women currently aged 20 to 24 married before the age of 18 and 30% before age 15. 3 At the same time, only 13% of women aged 20 to 24 uses a contraceptive method. This proportion is even lower among adolescents with only 6% of married girls and young women aged 15 to 19 using contraceptives. 4 Many young women in Niger have very closely spaced pregnancies, with approximately 23% of pregnancies being less than 24 months apart. 5 Closely spaced pregnancies are associated with a 51% increase of premature births, as well as a 61% higher neonatal mortality rate if the birth interval is less than 24 months. 6 Over the past few years, donor interest in Niger has increased and many organizations have been working to address those challenges and implement various interventions to improve Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health (AYSRH). Given the proliferation of these interventions, the number of competing priorities and the insufficiency of resources available to the Ministry of Public Health (MPH) in Niger, there is an urgent need for better coordination and concentration of actions to efficiently meet the specific needs of the youth. In this vein, USAID’s E2A project, led by Pathfinder International, has worked with the MPH to address these challenges. Several meetings have been organized to ensure better coordination of actions such as the Regional Meeting for best practices in AYSRH in West Africa held in Dakar, Senegal, in January 2014 in collaboration with Pathfinder and IPPF. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ouagadougou Partnership member countries and sought to improve the governments’ commitment to introducing and/or scaling-up best practices that would increase the impact of their AYSRH programs. This conference gave countries a good opportunity to strengthen their understanding in AYSRH and to 1 Population Reference Bureau (PRB). The World’s Youth 2013 Data Sheet. PRB: Washington, DC, 2013. 2 Population Reference Bureau (PRB). 2013 World Population Data Sheet. PRB: Washington, DC, 2013. 3 The World’s Youth 2013 Data Sheet. 4 Ibid. 5 Niger DHS 2012. 6 Kozuki L, et al. BMC Public Health, 2013. AD O L E SC E N T & Y O U T H SE X U A L & R EPRODUCTIVE H E AL T H (AYSRH) IN N IGER 3 | P a g e discuss their needs and priorities. Another example is the national workshop on the Harmonization of AYSRH practices in Niger held in June 2014 by Pathfinder International and ANBEF (Niger Association for Family Well-Being) the IPPF affiliate in Niger. One result of this workshop was the creation of a general directory of organizations working in various AYSRH areas in Niger. Following these meetings, the MPH expressed an interest in holding a national workshop to explore more thoroughly the best AYSRH practices in Niger in connection with the existing national plans, roadmaps and activities. Therefore, the E2A project, in partnership with Niger’s MPH, organized the Workshop for the Prioritization and the Dissemination of Best Practices in Adolescents and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health (AYSRH) in Niger, March 17 and 18, 2015 at the Grand Hotel in Niamey (see agenda in Annex 1). Approximately 70 people from various government agencies, international institutions and civil society