Realizing the potential of every young person
“To realise universal health coverage, we have to transform how health systems respond to the needs of adolescents and young people,” said Ms.Felister Bwana, Program Specialist, Health Systems, UNFPA Tanzania.
Advocates of Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR) in Tanzania met this week to sharpen their focus on delivering quality services to youth amid a changing environment.
UNFPA Tanzania, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, supported a two-day meeting in Dar es Salaam that deliberated policy, legislative and accountability priorities on ASRHR in Tanzania. The spotlight focused on climate change, universal health coverage and evolving SRHR needs for boys. Advocates of ASRHR underscored the importance of engaging more sectors including health, education, environment and community development. Health services play an important role in reducing preventable poor health and supporting young people to make a healthy transition into adulthood.
Climate change may cause a rise in child marriage and gender-based violence. Youth led and youth serving organizations, researchers and other stakeholders in the meeting underscored the need for robust and coordinated effort to address these interconnected issues. They appealed for a comprehensive ASRHR education at family level to sustainably resist negative impacts of emerging issues on gains made on ASRHR.
“Parents must have knowledge and skills to engage in open conversations with their children about sexual health,” said Ms.Fatina Kiluvia, Program Analyst. Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health, UNFPA Tanzania
Therefore organisations serving youth should focus on equipping parents with the knowledge and skills to engage in open, age-appropriate conversations with their children about sexual health, relationships, and responsible decision-making.
By focusing on family-level education, fostering multisectoral involvement, and securing adequate financial resources, stakeholders aim to create a comprehensive framework that addresses diverse challenges that adolescents faced.
Participants shared and discussed key challenges and priority solutions in improving quality of sexual and reproductive health for adolescents and youth, deliberated on refocussing and increasing coverage of key cost-effective interventions for new-borns, child and adolescents.
The meeting also looked at existing research evidence on adolescent's reproductive and maternal health and identify a bridged gap between researchers working on adolescent's health and policy makers, development partners and NGOs in Tanzania. The meeting noted that by bringing together diverse sectors, communities can work towards holistic solutions that not only protect the environment but also safeguard the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents.
The forum also highlighted the necessity of allocating sufficient funds to support ASRHR services, promote the use of research evidence on adolescent's reproductive and maternal health. By allocating sufficient funds, policymakers can demonstrate a tangible commitment to prioritizing the health and well-being of adolescents, paving the way for the effective implementation of ASRHR programs.
About Safeguard Young People (SYP) Programme
The Safeguard Young People (SYP) Programme is being implemented in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar with a focus on regions with poor adolescent social, reproductive health and rights indicators including teenage pregnancy, HIV, child marriage, and gender-based inequalities.
The program complements the nation's priorities in general and is aligned to the UNFPA 9th Country Program Documents. The overall goal is to contribute to Tanzania’s efforts to improve the health and well-being of adolescents and young people aged 10-24.
The programme has three-dimensional objectives focusing on Enabling the environment, that is; Supporting the government to create a conducive environment and scale up implementation of policies that promote and protect adolescent and young people’s rights; Demand, that is; create awareness to adolescents on informed decision-making on sexual reproductive health and rights and Supply, that is; increase access to quality adolescents and youth-friendly integrated SRHR, GBV, and HIV services.
The Safeguard Young People is a co-funded program by UNFPA and the Embassy of Switzerland in Tanzania, implemented in Tanzania on a three-year phased modality.
For further information please contact:
Warren Bright,
Communications Analyst,
UNFPA Tanzania,
Email: bwarren@unfpa.org,
Mobile: +255 764 43 44 45
