AYA PROGRAM AREAS

Policy and Advocacy — AYA will review laws, policies, and practices related to adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and provide policy makers and community leaders with findings from this review to garner support for youth-friendly services. The program will help develop a national advocacy strategy and functional advocacy committees at the district and national levels. The central component of AYA's advocacy strategy is the formation of a media coalition, and training for youth advocates to work through the media for better results.

Behavior Change Communication — All of AYA's messages, materials and campaigns will reflect community-identified needs and concerns. Audience research will precede mass media activities; and a rapid needs assessment will determine support and technical assistance to local partners implementing behavior change activities. Program activities will include peer education, life-planning skills training, enter-education activities, guidance counseling, and parent training in more effective communication with adolescent children about ASRH. A key feature of all of AYA's behavior change activities will be referrals to youth-friendly services.

Youth-Friendly Services — AYA will help the Botswana Family Welfare Association provide better youth-friendly services at its facilities and through community outreach activities conducted by youth. To complement this initiative, AYA will also work with the Family Health Division of the Botswana Ministry of Health to set up youth-friendly services.  AYA will also help improve the institutions' quality of service by assessing clinics, training trainers and facility staff, and working with clinics and service sites to improve the youth-friendliness of their programs. Outreach activities at alternative community health service sites, such as schools and sports facilities, will also involve social marketing.

Institutional Capacity Building — All of AYA's in-country partners will receive capacity building assistance specific to their technical areas. Additionally, a limited number of partners will receive intensive institutional capacity building assistance in such areas as financial management and strategic planning, based on the findings of organizational assessments.

Integration of ASRH into Livelihood Skills Development Programs — By providing ASRH information to youth involved in vocational programs, AYA will be able to have a great impact on many young people's lives, even with limited resources. Teaching youth how to be economically self-sufficient, and giving them vital ASRH information is critical to their leading long, productive and healthy lives. AYA will produce livelihood skills planning materials and training modules for teaching trainers at the district and national levels. The young people attending such integrated programs are expected to leave with greater confidence in their ability to abstain from sex, to negotiate condom use with their partners, and to use condoms more consistently.

Coordination and Dissemination — AYA will foster better integration of ASRH activities among government offices at the national and district levels. At the district level, the government will include and integrate ASRH issues in their activity plans, and the Ministry of Health's Family Health Division will have a national, integrated ASRH activity plan. AYA will set up youth advisory committees and develop guidelines for collaboration between these committees and in-country partners so young people can have a voice and meaningfully participate in these development activities. AYA will establish a documentation and dissemination center, housed at the Botswana National Youth Council, to provide ASRH information to partners and other interested parties.  At district level, the district youth offices will establish ASRH information corners in their offices.

Youth Participation — In AYA, youth are the key spokespersons for their own needs and programs. In addition to specific youth participation guidelines to be followed by in-country partners, young people -- through the youth advisory committees -- will be members of the village, district, and national coordinating groups. They will also be active participants in many of the program areas -- including peer education, outreach programs and condom promotion -- serving as advocates for all ASRH-related policies.

Sustainability — AYA's program work will continue even after the coalition is dissolved, as it has involved the community from the beginning. AYA's work in enhancing institutional capacity, greater stakeholder involvement at all levels, youth participation, and more government collaboration and program ownership will help ensure that programs addressing ASRH keep going.