Our Youth Need SRH&R Information Now!

Our youth need SRH&R information now!

By Jaco-Nico Phiri (Project Officer at YONECO)
Edited by Praveena Naguleswaran (ICS Volunteer)

Malawi is a landlocked country based in Southern Eastern Africa, the country is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique to the south, southwest and southeast. The total current population of the country is 18,348.442. Malawi is divided into 3 regions which include; Southern, Central and Northern regions. The Southern region comprises of approximately 50% of the population, the central region has 40% of the population and the Northern region has around 10% of the population. The people of Malawi are proudly known as Malawians, and a majority of the population live in rural areas and a minority of the population living in urban areas. In Malawi the education enrolment is at 13.4% out of the total population. This indicates that only a small number of the people living in urban areas have full access to education which includes learning about Sexual Reproductive Health Rights information. However, the people living in rural areas have limited access or no access at all to such kinds of important information.

Women and youth after a Netball game and an SRHR session

                                                            Ntcheu is one of the biggest districts in Malawi. In Ntcheu, most of the population is made up of youths rather than adults and the majority of the population depend on farming for a living. Most of the youth in Ntcheu live in rural areas and due to this there is limited access to SRHR information, therefore the youth end up engaging themselves in unprotected sexual practices. The consequences of this lead them to contract STIs including HIV (which affects 10.6% of the total population in Malawi). Others get themselves into unintended pregnancies which can cause various infections in their bodies and may not be able to conceive in their tender ages. In order to tackle this problem, Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO) and International Service have a partnership and conducted many SRH&R activities. The UK Volunteers and In Country Volunteers have come together to reach out to parents and youths on the topic of SRHR. The partnership aims to integrate sports and Sexual Reproductive Health Services in YONECO drop in centres. The purpose of this is to give out SRH&R information in rural areas such as Traditional Authorities (T/As); Kwataine, Phambala and Tsikulamowa.

The photo shows volunteers being welcomed by the community

The sessions are targeted at youths and parents in order to educate them on SRH&R i.e. we train parents to understand the concept of SRH&R and start training parents in how to discuss SRH&R issues with their children and also orientating the youth on ways to prevent themselves from contracting STIs including HIV as well as preventing unplanned pregnancies that can affect their careers. The sessions conducted so far, have enabled some youths and parents to understand the concept of SRH&R. e.g. condom use, contraceptives, self-esteem, career guidance, sporting activities and parenting skills. Through these sessions we hope the results will include youth making better informed decisions and to focus on an improved path to for their careers and livelihoods.