Love, Sexual Rights and Young People: Learning from our peer educators how to be a youth centred organisation (original) (raw)

The main report was written by Dr Vicky Johnson, lead for research for this A+ assessment. She is senior research fellow at the Education Research Centre at the University of Brighton. Valuable inputs were contributed by Beryl Leach, project director of the assessment and head of programme development, evaluation and impact at Panos London, and Hannah Beardon, team researcher and independent consultant. The main report draws on in-country guidance on methodology, lead author Vicky Johnson, a desk review written by Hannah Beardon, an online survey, and country case studies researched and written by Hannah Beardon (Kenya and Nicaragua) and Vicky Johnson (Nepal). In the case of Benin, Dr Clodagh Miskelly did the field research and wrote initial report notes. Magda Rossmann, project officer at Panos London, managed the implementation of the online survey and analysed the results, with inputs from Hannah Beardon. Mark Covey oversaw the editing and design of the main report and country case studies. Peer educator speaking with young woman, Benin Youth assessment team during participatory workshop, Nicaragua ' We may not be able to change cultural beliefs but at least we can edit them…' Young male peer educator, Nepal Abstinence sign at school, Kenya Teenage mother, Nicaragua The timeframe would be decided by those designing the theory of change, mechanisms and therefore the time needed to reach agreed objectives and milestones on the journey. 4 A change-scape model (Johnson 2011) was used in the A+ assessment and was further developed by Vicky Johnson with the South Asia Regional Office (SARO) staff, Manish Mitra and Dr Praween Kagrawal. 13 4 Becoming youth-centred: A journey of change The assessment presents a theoretical tool, the socio-ecological model, to help Member Associations develop and adapt to the challenge of strengthening their youth programming 3. They are encouraged to adopt this model when designing youth-centred and youth-led activities, and to take into consideration their social context. Young people are placed at the centre of this approach as key agents of change. 4 A+ objectives 3 and 4: Expanding access to youth-friendly services and comprehensive sexuality education It is essential to bring services to young people through mobile and outreach projects, especially to reach marginalised young people. Young people can help make services more youth-friendly services, for example by inputting to design of entrances and waiting rooms for clinics. In such settings information can also be provided. Peer education was an effective mechanism for community-based sexuality education used by the programme and could be scaled up. New programme objectives are needed on peer education, capacity building and human resource development. The role of gender and other social and structural drivers need to be better understood in Member Associations. Extending comprehensive sexuality education within schools through continued advocacy and work with educators and government education officials was suggested by young people and teachers. Community-based comprehensive sexuality education interventions was prioritised by young people. Working in the non-formal education sector would extend the reach of comprehensive sexuality education to more marginalised populations. Documentation of evidence of change associated with comprehensive sexuality education across all Member Associations would be useful for both advocacy and youth programme implementation.