Promoting Healthier Behavior

	Where Adolescents Get Their Information
	Sexuality Education in Schools
	Peer Education and Peer Counseling
	Reaching Out-of-school Youth
	Mass Media, Entertainment and Sports

Reaching Out-of-school Youth

Reaching adolescents who are not in school remains the greatest challenge. Some programmes have found a way to use peer educators for this target group. Other promising programmes sponsored by youth organizations combine informational efforts with income-producing and micro-enterprise activities. While these groups have learned important lessons, such programmes are typically small and difficult to expand because they lack an existing network or structure.

Family planning associations in Belize and Peru succeeded in reaching out-of-school youth through a drama/dance peer counselling programme and an income-generating strategy, respectively.(52)

In collaboration with the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, the Kenya Scouts Association developed a 72-hour family life skills programme that covered decision-making, health and hygiene, STIs and HIV, sexuality, relationships and reproductive health.(53) Scout leaders were trained to teach the lessons and to work with parents on improving communication with youth, including on sexuality. An evaluation showed that working with a homogeneous out-of-school group was more effective than mixing these young people with their in-school peers. In 1998, UNFPA supported the expansion of this programme to all scouting units throughout the country over a four-year period.

Like Homies Unidos (see box), Thailand’s Lifenet programme aimed to build support networks and peer education skills among young people at risk.(54) The programme combined various youth activities, linked itself to other organizations in support of youth, and engaged local leaders in overcoming negative attitudes towards young people. It worked with managers of bars and nightclubs and created educational opportunities in venues where youth spent time. Young people involved in this project eventually set up their own group, Cycle of Life, and established a newsletter, a mobile phone hotline and a drop-in centre.

Back to top

Previous

Next