Initiative to Save Young Generation’s Health Today (INSYGHT) Programme

Organised in Ethiopia by Save the Children, the Initiative to Save Young Generation’s Health Today (INSYGHT) Programme is a collaborative effort, including government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community and youth, to implement a reproductive and sexual health information and services programme in Addis Ababa and the Oromia region.

The INSYGHT programme trains three population groups to work with youth:

• Youth - providing reproductive and sexual health (RSH) training for in- and out-of-school
  youth, formation of Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH) clubs which implement youth-focused activities to involve and
  educate their peers.
• Parents/Guardians - providing youth-related RSH information for parents/ guardians and advising them on communication skills so that they are able to serve as parent peer educators to disseminate the information to other parents.
• Health Providers- training in youth friendly services (YFS) Intervention for health providers in 38 health facilities in Addis Ababa and Oromia so that they are able to provide services tailored to the unique needs and concerns of adolescents. By forming quality improvement teams (QIT), youth and providers collaborate to identify, design and implement quality improvements within health facilities.

ARSH club formation, a main vehicle for reproductive health (RH) communication, begins with an orientation session with the school principals. Printed materials for training and for club functioning for the club are provided by INSYGHT. Special mobilisation events are a strategy used by the clubs to encourage them to find creative ways to convey RH and HIV/AIDS information to peers. A competition to choose model clubs is an INSYGHT tool to motivate clubs. Youth are reached through a variety of channels including songs, literature, audio/visual media, school and community assemblies, and mini-media. The report further details that youth club members frequently initiate the dialogue for discussions, while also involving adults during school club special events and in-school programmes.

The out-of-school youth club members mobilise and teach the community during social gatherings and in marketplaces, and invite the community and religious leaders, government representatives, elders, traditional healers, shopkeepers, pharmacy owners and parents by organising special events and creating a forum for discussion. Home-to-home RSH education for youth is initiated by the out-of-school youth club members to reach the married youth who are confined in the house with little or no access to RH
information. The report details that through this action, they are also reaching other youth who are busy and/or do not have the opportunity to visit the youth centre or access the health centres for counselling or services. This has led to increased community participation and parents’ involvement in RH education and has triggered a continuous dialogue involving various stakeholders. During the summer, youth are encouraged to participate in RH education sessions provided in their locality. To gain more community support, clubs collaborate with parent peer educators and, for example, organise events together or host drama presentations for the community.

Parent training is provided for a group selected for communication skills, prior civic activity, commitment to youth, and those filling the role of comnunity elders (Idirs). These parents became peer educators for other adults with the role of fostering RSH discussion in their communities through face-to-face dialogue and radio panel discussion.

Health service facilities with YFS-trained providers are promoted by youth club members both for married youth seeking RH services and for HIV/AIDS testing. People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), when identified, receive specially tailored programmes, and youth under 18 and their families receive counselling, treatment and nutritional support.

Save the Children's multi-faceted programme works to gain the trust of communities and leaders in government and at the community level, allowing it to start its programme as early as elementary school. It complements direct programme implementation with advocacy to influence the social environment for youth RH issues.