Going to scale in Ethiopia: Mobilizing youth participation in a national HIV/AIDS program
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This 2004 study documents a successful youth-adult partnership that used youth-led Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) as an effective methodology for empowering young people to communicate with each other and with adults about their sexual and reproductive health needs.
Ethiopia has a young population. Forty-six percent of all Ethiopians are younger than 15, and 30 percent are 15 to 24 years old. HIV prevalence is estimated to be 6 percent to 9 percent among young men aged 15–24, and 10 percent to 13 percent among young women in the same age group. This age group also has the highest prevalence of sexually transmitted infections, indicating high rates of unprotected sex with multiple partners.
The primary objective of this study was to facilitate the participation of Ethiopian young people in development of a National Youth Charter—to express their reproductive and sexual health needs for the future—and to lay out a Plan of Action to mobilize youth to seek better sexual health and HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support services. The Charter and Plan were to be presented to the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture. The project also aimed to build a national youth network and to increase community and political support for youth sexual health and HIV/AIDS programming issues. The project served as an excellent model of partnership between adults and youth for addressing HIV infection in adolescents and young people.
Successful implementation of the study was made possible by the enthusiastic participation of 51 young women and men facilitators at the grassroots level through regional meetings and, finally, a national plenary.
