In West Africa, Youth Ambassadors Serve as Family Planning Advocates

The objective is simple: to work with community leaders, religious leaders and government officials in building stronger communities and reducing the number of pregnancy-related deaths among youth. In educating young men, fathers-to-be also understand the high risk of unspaced births and possible health repercussions on women.Not only do local communities benefit, but so do individual ambassadors.Sociocultural barriers, however, often prove a lingering deterrent to contraception adoption in places such as Mali, where religious and community norms push women to average 6.1 children each. Religious pressure has made abortions and birth control controversial and difficult in certain communities. Access to condoms can also be limited.“The religious side usually causes the most problems but this is being improved by civil society groups that push the religious to accept family planning,” explained Edouard Keita, a Malian youth family planning ambassador. Here, civil society organizations work alongside religious leaders to re position family planning through organized trainings in mosques and churches.Conversations about sex are taboo in her community, youth ambassador Nina Kone of Burkina Faso said. “We don’t talk about this within the family, parents don’t speak about it with children and also in the society often the stigma [on sex] for youth for religious or cultural reasons,” she added.Beyond community outreach meetings, Kone and her peers work with the country ...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: news