FRONTIERS
Publications/Resources

Multisectoral Engagement Increases Support for Youth RH
OR Summary no. 65

Background

In 1999, FRONTIERS launched the Kenya Adolescent Reproductive Health Project (KARHP). This study tested a multisectoral approach to improving young people’s reproductive health knowledge and behavior at community, school, and health facility levels in two pilot districts in Western Province. The intervention involved three ministries—Education, Science, and Technology (MOEST); Health (MOH); and Gender, Sports, Culture, and Social Services (MGSCSS)—with input from community leaders, parents, and youth. The positive findings from the study (see FRONTIERS OR Summary no. 33) convinced the three ministries and USAID to institutionalize and scale up selected elements from the pilot project.

A student actor portraying AIDS at a school play, Vihiga District, Western Province, Kenya. Photo credit: Joanne Lewa, Population Council/Kenya

In 2003 FRONTIERS and PATH began providing technical assistance aimed at mainstreaming and expanding cost-effective adolescent reproductive health (ARH) strategies (peer education for in- and out-of-school youth, youth-friendly health services, community mobilization, and a standard ARH curriculum and training materials). The technical assistance included development of a cadre of core trainers at each ministry, creation of a management information system, revision of materials, and integration of ARH into work plans, policies and procedures, and budgets.

Major Factors in Sustainability

Several key undertakings contributed to the institutionalization and sustainability of the KARHP activities. These include the following:

• Multisectoral government involvement. The involvement of several ministries in planning, implementing, costing, and monitoring KARHP pilot activities enhanced the ministries’ commitment and attention to ARH.

• Inter-ministerial coordination group set up to guide KARHP activities in Western Province. These linkages facilitate networking within and among the ministries, reduce duplication of effort, and make it easier to leverage technical and financial resources.

• Incorporation of youth reproductive health into ministerial work plans. The MOH, MOEST, and MGSCSS incorporated ARH into their work plans and staff performance requirements. Districts with prior experience of implementing KARHP have been able to produce stronger workplans.

• Training. Over 2,000 officials from MOEST, MOH, and MGSCSS received training as implementers of KARHP activities. During the scale-up phase, the number of ministry officials trained expanded to nearly 2,000. Over 7,000 adults (ministry officials, community and religious leaders, provincial administrators, and leaders of youth and women’s groups) and 30,000 students in Western Province have received orientation on the Tuko Pamoja [We Are Together] life skills curriculum.

• Regular monitoring of program activities. The monitoring system allowed the ministries to track KARHP activities as well as their own progress toward set goals. Routine participation in implementation and monitoring allowed the ministries to plan effectively, budget for program activities, and leverage support.

• Cascade training. Experience showed that training a “critical mass” of staff and representatives from about one-third of the district’s primary and secondary schools built sufficient capacity for the MOEST to provide reproductive health and HIV information to the remaining schools within the province.

• Community support. At the division and community levels, social development assistants mobilized key community leaders, including chiefs, religious leaders, parents, and community members, to support the program.

• In early 2006, the Tuko Pamoja life skills curriculum was approved for reproductive health education in all schools in Western Province. The Provincial Education Board approved and funded the expansion of the curriculum from one-third of schools (880 schools in the scale-up phase) to all schools (over 2,500) in the eight districts in the province.
• USAID and PEPFAR provided funding to expand KARHP activities throughout Western Province, and to introduce and replicate KARHP in Eastern and Nyanza provinces. Plans are underway for the USAID bilateral projects to sustain KARHP in these provinces, and for FRONTIERS to introduce KARHP into two additional provinces (Central and Nairobi).
• Parents’ ability and readiness to discuss adolescent reproductive health issues increased due to KARHP community mobilization activities by the MGSCSS. Initial religious opposition to the program diminished after sensitization. Religious groups sponsoring schools (including those in the new provinces) have endorsed the program for their schools, including the Catholic Church, which has committed funds to roll out the program into 49 schools in Eastern Province.
• The three ministries have revised and endorsed the Tuko Pamoja life skills curriculum. The revised materials are also being used by international organizations, including World Vision, Population Services International, and USAID bilateral projects, in Western, Nyanza, and Eastern provinces.

Source: Askew, Ian, and Humphres Evelia. 2007. “Outline of the Kenya Adolescent Reproductive Health Project,” FRONTIERS Report. Washington, DC: Population Council. See also: Askew, Ian et al. 2004. “A multi-sectoral approach to providing reproductive health information and services to young people in Western Kenya: The Kenya Adolescent Reproductive Health Project,” FRONTIERS Final Report. Washington, DC: Population Council. (PDF, 1.5 MB) and "Kenya: Communities support adolescent reproductive health education," FRONTIERS OR Summary no. 33. Washington, DC: Population Council, 2003. (full text)

This publication is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of Cooperative Agreement No. HRN-A-00-98-00012-00. The contents are the responsibility of the FRONTIERS Program and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
 

For more information contact:
Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS)
Population Council
4301 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Suite 280
Washington, DC 20008 USA
Telephone: +1 202 237 9400
Facsimile: +1 202 237 8410
E-mail: frontiers@popcouncil.org

 

---

Print this page

@ E-mail this page

This page updated 3 May 2007

---