European Union/UNFPA Reproductive Health Initiative
for Youth in Asia (RHIYA)
Adolescents and youth make up a significant portion of the populations of South and Southeast Asia . As the age at marriage rises, a gap is emerging between physical maturity and cultural expectations of pre-marital abstinence. Estimates show that approximately 50 per cent of the HIV/AIDS infections in these countries are among those aged 15-24. However, while lifestyles are changing rapidly in the programme area, attitudes towards the sexual and reproductive health needs of youth and adolescents have not, resulting in a large population with unmet needs.
In response, the three-year Reproductive Health Initiative for Youth in Asia emphasizes the creation of a supportive environment for addressing adolescent sexual and reproductive health issues. Built on the achievements and lessons learned of the first phase of this major EU-UNFPA collaboration (Reproductive Health Initiative for Asia - RHI), RHIYA encourages community participation and ownership, advocacy, government involvement, and the sharing of knowledge and information. It focuses on behavioural changes, health counselling and widening access to services. It works mostly throu`gh national NGOs and mass organizations in order to benefit from the comparative advantage they have in reaching the most vulnerable youth at the grass-root level. At the same time, RHIYA is helping build the capacity of local NGOs to meet the needs of adolescents and youth.
The EU has committed €18.5 million, with UNFPA and partner NGOs each contributing an additional €1.85 million.
The activities of the RHIYA will focus on:
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Increasing awareness and improving knowledge and behaviour among youth and adolescents
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Improving access to and utilization of youth-oriented sexual and reproductive health services
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Enhancing technical, planning and managerial capacity among national NGOs and community-based organizations in the provision of sexual and reproductive health information and services for adolescents
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Increasing political and community support for adolescent sexual and reproductive health policies an interventions
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Improving understanding of critical adolescent health issues in specific country contexts
There is a strong emphasis on developing networks among the RHIYA partner organizations and on promoting inter-project and inter-country collaboration in order to achieve synergies that may help increase the quality, accelerate and improve the final programme results. Knowledge sharing will be key to the RHIYA in order to ensure effective and timely access to information on the technical aspects of projects and their management, and to strengthen South-South cooperation. Another important aspect of the programme is that each of the projects will develop strategies for sustainability early on.
More information on the RHIYA can be found at: www.asia-initiative.org 
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