Related Health Topics: MAQ Bulletin, Issue 2

A Checklist for Success in Designing Adolescent Reproductive Health Education and Counseling Programs

Studies to determine the reasons for success of certain adolescent programs—and the failure of others—worldwide have established a list of important elements. These elements (drawn from leading publications on adolescent health^{6, 7, 10, 12}) have been adapted to provide the checklist below.

Does the program?:

Address sexuality and focus on reducing high-risk behavior (When adolescent reproductive health education and counseling programs focus on gender roles, parenthood and dating instead of sexuality and high-risk behavior, they may weaken their impact on curbing unintended pregnancy and its consequences.)

Convey:

How to recognize risk

How to avoid risk

The belief that abstinence or condoms will protect against pregnancy and STDs

The belief that youth can use abstinence or condoms effectively

Provide good specialized training to those who implement youth programs—as well as to those who provide family planning services—that will help them as communicators:

Avoid didactic language and approaches

Offer privacy and confidentiality in counseling

Remain nonjudgmental

Offer active learning methods (e.g., small group discussions, games or simulations, brainstorming, role plays, coaching, exercises such as locating condoms in the market, visiting the clinic, interviewing parents)

Provide educators and counselors (including service providers) with accurate information

Use well-trained peer educators or youth-friendly adults to convey this information to adolescents

Address social or media influences (and allow time to analyze and discuss them)

Reinforce clear and appropriate values and strengthen individual and group norms against unprotected sex

Provide modeling and practice of communication and negotiation skills (including refusal)

Involve youth in planning, implementation and evaluation

¹²Senderowitz J. 1995. Adolescent Health: Reassessing the Passage to Adulthood. World Bank Discussion Paper 272. World Bank: Washington, DC, USA

Pregnancy-related deaths in Africa
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one African woman in 25 will die as a result of one of her pregnancies—by contrast, in an industrialized country only one woman in 10,000 will die as a result of pregnancy.³

Why are pregnancy-related deaths so high in Africa?

Reasons include:

Poor access to safe delivery services and emergency obstetric care of complications

High prevalence of conditions and factors aggravating pregnancy (e.g., early marriage and early fertility, short birth intervals, high parity, undernutrition of women and girls, female genital mutilation, malaria, diabetes and other complicating chronic conditions, unsafe abortion, women’s low status)

Ethiopia Hosts Adolescent Reproductive Health Forum

More than 500 Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH) practitioners and activists from 48 African countries met at the United Nations Center in Addis Ababa from 20–24 January to attend the Africa Forum for Adolescent Reproductive Health—Preparing African Youth for the Next Millennium: Challenges for Reproductive Health. The conference — organized and funded by CEDPA, UNFPA and USAID — addressed a wide range of topics including IEC, policy, media, culture, the legal environment, family life education, sexuality and gender. Recommendations were developed and endorsed by Forum participants to address the various areas affecting ARH needs. In addition, debates were held on such controversial topics as abortion, female genital mutilation, polygamy and homosexuality. Youth activists attending the forum played an active role in defining the concerns of young Africans, and showcased youth programs to address these problems.

PRADO Peer Youth Educators for ASDAP (a Malian NGO) create a viable link between adolescent reproductive health education and access to services.

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