Y-PEER lets youth educate youth about Reproductive Health [Archives:2008/1144/Health]

Yasmine Al-Eryani
For Yemen Times
A global initiative launched by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has its eyes on the future by educating Yemen's youth, which constitute more than half of the population.

The program is called Y-Peer, or Youth Peer Education network, and was created to support reproductive health through peer education for young people aged 17 to 27-years-old in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and now the Arab States. One of its missions in Yemen is to raise awareness to prevent sexually-transmitted infections with an emphasis on HIV/AIDS, which has become a significant to public health in Yemen, as well as introducing family planning methods.

Y-Peer was launched in April 2004 to help coordinate 185 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in 22 participating countries, allowing them to access shared Y-Peer training materials and learn from each other's experiences.

The Y-Peer network has so far trained three young Yemenis abroad at the UNFPA's international training of trainers and has selected 20 more young volunteers in Yemen to be part of the network.

These 20 teens and young adults will help educate their at-risk peers through distributing materials containing information about HIV/AID S and other dieases through local training for young people in different areas of the country. The Yemeni Y-Peer program will be launched sometime in the next few months and will commence with a kick-off event to be held in Sana'a.

The program's goal is to raise awareness, share knowledge, and promote behavioural change to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and to reduce the rate of HIV/AIDS cases. The network includes education on reproductive health and drug awareness for young people. There is an increasing demand for information about these issues among young people throughout the world, and the network focuses on promoting this health-sustaining knowledge.

The network facilitates trainings for peer educators through a new CD-ROM designed for distance learning. Once the Y-Peer in Yemen is launched, more young Yemenis will be trained and can spread the word to their friends and colleagues.

According to the UNFPA, the peer-to-peer teaching methodology has proven to be the best way to reach young people, since it allows them to talk freely about private subjects with people who are dealing with the same issues. It also promotes life skills such as leadership, communication, mentoring opportunities and future job contacts.

The network will focus on promoting knowledge especially in areas where there is a high percentage of early marriage and lack of knowledge about reproductive health, which may result in high mortality in young child bearing women. If you would like to join the network and you are 17 to 27-years-old or you would like more information about Y-Peer in Yemen, please don't hesitate to contact or visit the UNFPA Country Office in Yemen or write directly to [email protected]. You can also visit the official Y-Peer website at www.youthpeer.net.
——
[archive-e:1144-v:18-y:2008-d:2008-04-07-p:health]