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1.2 Locations:
The project will be implemented in Adana, Bursa, Diyarbakir and Istanbul
provinces. These cities were selected because of the organisational
capacities and success of the Youth Association for Habitat in these
cities. The youth in these provinces have already had ongoing, organised
and dynamic activities within the Local Agenda 21 (YG21) and Youth for
Habitat network, therefore they were chosen for the projects.
1.3 Summary:
The project’s target group is youth between the ages of 15-24. The
project has the objective of increasing the knowledge of this group on
SH/R H
issues and their access to services. Project activities will be carried
out in the provinces of Ankara, Bursa, Diyarbakir and Istanbul with the
collaboration of Youth Association for Habitat. The main activities of
the project are; peer education, setting up peer to peer drop-in centres
and advocacy training on SH/RH. Also advocacy campaigns will be
conducted in all the project provinces.
1.4 Objectives:
Aim of the project:
To develop services for, and to meet the needs of information of the
youth on SH/RH.
Long term targets:
·
To increase the awareness and the sensitivity of the youth towards SH/RH
issues,
·
To develop accessible and quality SH/RH services for the youth
·
To support the advocacy activities in developing new projects, programs
and policies, in which the youth would play an active role and will work
together within a sustainable organisation.
Short term targets:
·
To develop counselling and training activities about SH/RH. To this
end, 4 sessions on peer education activities to be conducted for the 80
participants selected from the local youth groups/ organisations in the
project provinces,
·
To enable these 80 young people, who would be take peer education
training, to reach 8,000 people in total through the peer to peer
drop-in centre, which will be set up in the youth centres.
·
To organise an advocacy training program in one of the project provinces
for the trainees who took SH/RH training to also take additional
training on how to carry out local advocacy activities.
·
To develop and improve a communication network to increase advocacy for
SH/RH activities in the project provinces.
 ·
To support the development of a plan of action for a joint advocacy
campaign in the project provinces.
1.5 Justification
a-
Relevance of the action to the objectives of the programme:
The general objective of the SH/RH program in Turkey is to improve the
sexual health and reproductive health of the people, particularly of
women and youth. To reach this objective, the program advocates the
improvement of service delivery and development of a political
atmosphere within which rights and choices on SH/RH are supported. In
this context this project is in congruence with the general framework of
the RH program as it targets the improvement of knowledge level of the
young people. Furthermore, the aim of increasing young people’s skills
of advocacy for RH also demonstrates the project relevance to the RH
program.
One priority project area is adolescent health. This project would
improve the knowledge level of youth, both school going and out of
school, through peer education. The project would also provide better
access to health services through youth consultation units. Through
advocacy training and advocacy campaigns, the project will also improve
the knowledge and determination of policy makers and service providers
to provide better services for young people.
Another priority item of the
program is the health of the adolescents. In this context, this
project, through peer education, will increase the knowledge and
information of the youth (Including the ones who are not in school) on
SH/RH. Advocacy program of youth from youth will enable the young
people to make use of the knowledge that they gain, and at the end help
increase the quality of reproductive health and family planning
services, improve the awareness and consciousness of the service
providers. All these achievements are in parallel with the project
priorities.
b-
Identification of the perceived needs and constraints in the target
countries
The adolescent and young population within the age group of 15-24 in
Turkey is quite high. It comprises 19% of the total population.
The Demographic and Health Survey of 1988 contains information about
young and adolescent women at reproductive age, chosen from a sample of
women at reproductive age group. But the information on men were from
married men and therefore we do not have any information on unmarried
men. In this survey, 15.5 % of the women with age group 15-19 were
married, and those who have given birth in this age group is 8%. 59, 3 %
of women within age groups 20-24 were married. The percentage of women
who became mothers within the last 5 years, at an age younger than 18,
is 4.4%. This proportion shows us that 50,000 young women or adolescents
were married and pregnant. Women at an age group younger than 18 who
got pregnant with an interval of less than two years is .5% which
amounts to 6000 women. It is known that pregnancy and birth care request
is very low with these early age pregnancies which carry high risks.
One of the three women at the age group of 15-29 use birth control and
5.5% of them try to abort the child.
Wanting to abort the baby at the age group of 20-25 is mainly because of
not wanting the baby.
This result leads us to believe that there is lack of information and
knowledge on the part of the women who have had babies at young age.
The same research shows that half of the husbands have indicated that
their first sexual experience was at the age of 19.2. Additionally men
interviewed indicated that they started their first sexual experience 4
years before they got married which is two years earlier than the number
in Western and Southern Turkey.
Turkey, although not very systematic, has a great deal of data on
adolescents and youth which help us believe that there is need to
improve the health and SH/RH knowledge level. A national sensitivity
on this subject is growing. This problem has also been given priority
in the 8thFive Year Development Plan where it is stated:
·
That the youth will be informed and equipped to be able to take care of
their health problems and inadequacies,
·
That the reproductive health and family planning service delivery and
its sust ainability
should be maintained and furthermore it should be expanded,
·
That the awareness in the society should be increased so that the demand
for better health services would increase and the co-operation between
institutions that deal with this subject should be strengthened,
·
That research on identifying the problems and solutions on the
education, training and health requirements of the youth should be
carried out for the betterment of those services given to the youth.
In addition to this, in the report written by the Population Commission
for the same Five Year Plan it is included that the training on any
population related problem should start in early years of primary
education and, in collaboration with institutions that deal with formal
and informal education, also it should be expanded to a wide base in the
society.
Results of many surveys, like the Demographic and Health Survey show the
need for improvement of level of awareness, knowledge, attitude and
betterment of services not only on the general health issues of the
adolescents and the youth but also on SH/RH.
c)
List of target groups and estimated number of direct and indirect
beneficiaries
It is expected that 80 young persons will receive trainees training and
8000 young people will be reached through the training that these 80
young people give in the youth centres under the youth YG21 umbrella in
the project provinces. In addition many more people will be reached
through the friends and family member of the youth who are involved in
the project. As the YG21 Group has a well organised structure and
includes different groups (women, children etc.), it is expected to be
instrumental in expanding SH/RH knowledge to urban populations.
d)
Reasons for the selection of the target groups and activities
The target g roup
for the project is the youth in age group of 15-24 because this young
group’s knowledge on SH/RH is not at the desired level and they have
limitations and problems in both the level of information and the
quality of services they receive. The activities planned on SH/RH in the
project is to inform the youth through counselling and expand the limits
of the knowledge to a much wider base through this project. Additionally
it is planned that the best people who could actively work in the
implementation of the project would be the youth themselves because they
are involved with all the problems themselves.
e) Relevance of the action to the target groups
When the aim and methodology of the project is taken into consideration
one can see that it is identified to meet the needs of the youth.
Information given to them on SH/RH will supplement their knowledge on SH/RH
and the peer education is the preferred methodology used both in Turkey
and all around the world to reach the youth. Counselling services to the
youth is a natural supplement to the peer education for continuity and
the advocacy training will improve and develop the capabilities of the
trainees to work on the decision makers’ attitudes towards this problem
and also help to improve the overall awareness of the public.
1.7 Detailed description of activities
1.7.1 YG21 Youth Groups Project Meeting:
A meeting will be organised in the project provinces with the
representatives of youth organisations under the umbrella of YG21. The
aim of the meeting is to make a presentation about the project, explain
to them about the activities, and time-table, and the nature of
co-operation between the people and the groups. At the same meeting
activities will be carried out locally, and the working groups of SH/RH
will be formed and the plan of action will be discussed and decided on.
1.7.2 Peer education on SH/RH for the Youth:
The purpose of this training is to increase the knowledge and ability of
the selected youth who would be trained to be counsellors on SH/RH in
the youth centres. Peer education will be conducted in 3 phases, namel y:
“activities before training”, “during training”, and “after training”,
as follows:
Activities before SH/RH training:
·
Identifying local needs for peer education
·
Identifying the purpose and targets for peer education
·
Developing a training program and its content for peer education
·
Identifying selection criteria for the prospective trainees for peer
education
·
Identifying the plan of action (date, location, duration etc.) for the
participants
·
Preparing and making copies of the training modules and participants’
booklets in accordance with the program
·
Identifying and procuring the supporting tools for the training modules,
·
Identifying the facilitators for peer education
·
Organising the peer education training program
SH/RH Training activities:
Trainees will be selected for peer education in accordance with
selection criteria and 4 peer education training sessions will be
organised. The training sessions will be conducted under the principles
of interactive training. 20 people from each project provinces, 80
people in total, are planned to participate in peer education sessions.
Activities after SH/RH training :
·
Preparing reports on the training activities
·
Having weekly meetings with the trainers to plan the field activities.
·
Follow up meetings of the activities.
1.7.3 Youth to youth drop-in centres:
SH/RH drop-in centres would be organised within the YG21 Youth Centres
in the project provinces which will start giving services with the
participation of selected youth who took the peer education training.
These drop-in centres will give personal counselling and group
counselling, and these activities will be integrated into other youth
projects for the youth of 15-24 age group. Additionally in every project
province there will be a joint web site that each drop-in centre is a
connected to. This web site will give information about both the units
and the activities of these units. Additionally it will be a reference
point for both national and international SH/RH information, education
and communication works. On the other hand the same web site will be
planned to be used as an on-line counselling tool for SH/RH. We are
planning to reach 8,000 youths in those provinces projects after we do
the counselling and informative services following the peer education.
1.7.4 Communication network of SH/RH for the youth:
2 meetings will be held to bring together the people who have had peer
education and also the representatives from NGO’s that have activities
on SH/RH. These meetings will help identifiy the problems of the youth
on SH/RH, their priorities, solutions, and the actors who will take a
role in those activities. These meetings will also help develop the ways
and means to solve these problems. This way the advocacy communication
network for the youth on SH/RH will be developed. These meetings will be
in project provinces with approximately 30 people and with the inclusion
of related organisations.
With the inclusion of the local participants in every province a close
collaboration with YG21 organisations will be established.
1.7.5. Advocacy training for communication network for the youth on
SH/RH:
The training programs prepared for the communication network
participants will include the whole process of the definition of what
advocacy is, its purpose and targets, tools, and develop their
capability to implement this process. In the development of the
training program and its implementation “advocacy handbook” which was
prepared by the “POLICY PROJECT” will be used.
The final outcome of this training is that the participants will have
developed the knowledge and develop their capabilities to put local
priorities to the front line and make a sample advocacy campaign. The
advocacy training which will last for 5 days in the project provinces
will have approximately 40 participants, with 2 facilitators.
1.7.6 Meetings
for the development of advocacy campaigns on SH/RH: 2 meetings
will be held in the project provinces for a joint advocacy campaign with
the inclusion of participants who have had advocacy communication
network training programs. 2 meetings, for 2 days each, will be
organised and 30 participants will take part. The purpose is to work on
the details of a joint plan of action and to choose one of the subjects
included in the advocacy campaigns. Additionally the messages developed
during the activities of the plan of action and the choice of messages
and the tools are among the conference target activities.
1.7.7. SH/RH advocacy campaigns:
The campaign which will be developed in the meeting, explained in the
1.7.6, will be implemented in the project cities. Responsible bodies for
the implementation of the campaign activities are representatives of
advocacy network and Youth Association for Habitat, and peer educators
in each city. During the campaign, which is developed in the meeting,
the activities such as theatre performances, concert, promotional work
etc, will be implemented.
1.7.8. Information materials:
1.7.8.a
Participants’ files and peer education training modules:
The subjects to be covered by the training program to cover the needs
and the priorities of the local youth for the peer education are below:
·
Communication and counselling
·
Reproductive anatomy and physiology
·
Hygiene
·
Sexually transmitted diseases
·
HIV/AIDS
·
Sexual identity and tendencies
·
Sexual violence
The training module will help those people who would do the training and
help the meetings to carry on in a systematic and planned way.
The participants’ files will include the basic knowledge of the youth
who attended peer education training which will be used in their
counselling activities.
1.7.8. b Brochures:
Information material which will support the basic topics in the peer
education module will be published as information sheets and will be
handed out. The subjects in the brochures will include STD’s, AIDS, and
methods of family planning. In this context 24,000 brochures will be
produced on 3 different subjects. The brochures will be distributed to
the youth in the drop-in centres for the face to face peer education and
group counselling activities.
1.7.8.c Models:
5 sets of anatomic models and will be procured to be used both in
training activities and as support material in drop-in centres. After
the peer education training courses these models will be transferred to
the drop-in centres and will be used in training and counselling
activities in the project provinces.
1.7.8.d Posters and atlases:
A series of posters and atlases will be prepared to be used in peer
education and also for local information and counselling activities on
SH/RH. The content of these posters and atlases will be congruent with
the training model. 2 atlases and 3 posters will be prepared both for
the trainer and the trainees, 500 for every province, 2,000 in total.
1.7.9. Campaign tools:
The tools to be used in the advocacy campaign in the project provinces
will
include
posters, brochure, booklet and information files. 1 poster, 2 brochures
or booklet, 1 information file will be prepared to support the campaign.
The poster, brochure/booklet for every project province 2,000 copies
will be produced, but the information files will be 1,000 copies for
each province.
1.7.10 Project bulletin:
This project bulletin will include theoretical articles and articles on
past experiences about SH/RH and 2,000 copies will be published every 4
months to be distributed among the related people in the project
provinces. Additionally it will be distributed to all the related NGO’s
and government offices who work on SH/RH.
1.7.11 Web site:
A web site which will give on-line counselling service on SH/RH
including information, experience, news and giving information about the
activities of the project will be developed.
1.7.12 Evaluation activities:
2 meetings will be organised to evaluate the local activities in the
direction of 1 person from the project team. A report will be prepared
after each meeting.
d)Process of Internal Evaluation
The project team will get together every month under the supervision of
project co-ordinator, for reviewing all the activities of the past
month, make the program of the coming month’s activities, identify the
problems and develop solutions for these problems.
The basic activities of the project and the problems faced will be
explained by the responsible team member to the project co-ordinator and
the project director. The trainers training program, the program, the
profile of the participants and the method of evaluation of the
activities will be planned by the project co-ordinator and his/hers
assistant.
Another report from the drop-in centres will be about the number of
applicants and their gender, the suggestions made to the drop-in centre
about both problems and solutions, the number of condoms, brochures and
booklets distributed, etc. This report will be prepared with the help of
the people working in the drop-in centre who had taken the trainer’s
training program. Additionally, the number of project bulletins and
brochures that are distributed will also be will also be taken into
consideration.
e)Level of involvement of other organisations in the action
The project will be carried out in co-operation with Youth Association
for Habitat in Istanbul, Adana, Bursa and Diyarbakir. The following
activities required from them are:
·
To reach the youth platforms which are organised within their youth
networks and secure their participation?
·
Allocate room for the SH/RH drop-in centres in the youth centres
·
Organise and plan the training meetings and workshops in those provinces
·
Participate in and contribute to the advocacy activities in those
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