SRH Rights for the Youth

Society has always struggled with the issue of teen parenthood and of particular importance is the issue of teen motherhood. However, the agenda has always been on ensuring that adults should have access to contraceptive methods of their choice but not the youth. This entails that the adults will be able to choose whether and when to have children and in turn this leads to social and economic empowerment.

Sexual and Reproductive Health Services are available but we do not give room for the youth to access them and yet our wish is to empower them economically and socially.  While the idea is to get adolescent girls to acquire some education, we do not strongly deal with some factors that prevent them from going to school. One such factor is the issue of early pregnancies and parenthood.

It is quite saddening to think of single young mothers who are confronted with the struggle of making ends meet. Whether they come from a rich or a poor country, the single young mothers are unfairly regarded as a burden to the public purse. While each might provoke a different policy response, both suffer the same underlying prejudice and stigma.

There are a few (far too few) progressive comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) curricula which talk about motherhood and parenting, but, let’s face it,  most references to teenage motherhood in sex education are firmly negative. There is a consensus that economic and educational opportunity is limited by early childbirth and the question is what are we doing about it?

We want young people to know about the basic biology of sex and about taking care, taking precautions, taking responsibility and avoiding infections. We want them to understand options, understand emotions and the ways in which relationships work.

The solution to teen parenthood does not lie in stigmatizing teen parents but it lies within the minds of policy makers and the youth themselves. However, the youth cannot help to solve the situation unless they are equipped with the necessary information and services. This is where comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education comes handy. SRH education will equip the youth with knowledge pertaining to their sex and sexuality and avoid experimenting which brings out disastrous results.

On the other hand, policy makers need to emphasize on youth friendly health services where young people should be free to go and access sexual reproductive health services.  If we believe in empowering young people, we should not deny them their sexual and reproductive health rights.

Young people Demand Real empowerment

A lot of young people from different countries convene on the 10^th to 15^th November for a third International Conference on Family Planning that was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Among the key topics that were discussed was the issue of family planning methods and the factors that hinder young people from using them.

It was explained that Family planning services are usually available in health centers but some of  the youth shunning family planning methods due to lack of empowerment and  that the health service centers are not youth friendly.

 I would like to share with you, my fellow young people, the strategies that were conceived at the conference and I have outlined them below;

1. Comprehensive Sexuality Education

Education is a basic human right and is a fundamental tool for the empowerment of young people and the fulfillment of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.

What needs to be changed?

• Education should be free, available and accessible to everyone without discrimination.
• It should be comprehensive and it should facilitate inter generational dialogue.
• Comprehensive Sexuality Education should be made available to young people both in and out of school. It should be rights as well as evidence-based and meet the needs of all young people, including the most marginalized, regardless of HIV status, parental status, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other factors. It should be clear and understandable, broad-based and cover elementary to tertiary institutions.
• National and local policies must establish and support compulsory comprehensive sexuality education in schools and communities, and to establish clear connections between the education and health sectors.

Why is this important?

To promote sexual and reproductive health rights and to foster the ability of young people to make informed and free decisions about their health and sexuality, all young people should know where, when and how to access sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning.

 2.       Accessibility Barriers

 What needs to be changed?

• Eliminate punitive and restrictive laws and policies that restrict young people’s access to family planning and sexual and reproductive health services.
• Remove legal, policy, regulatory barriers and other practices which prohibit access to safe and legal abortion to ensure access to abortion and post abortion care services for all people, including young people.
• Eradicate cultural, religious, economic and social barriers that limit young people’s access to family planning and sexual and reproductive health rights and services.

Why is this important?

To guarantee that young people are able to exercise their rights to health and well-being, including access to family planning and other sexual and reproductive health services, in order to best protect their own health.

3. Meaningful engagement and participation of youth.

What needs to change?

• Young people, and especially key populations of young people, should be involved in law and policy making that relates to family planning.
• Young people should be seen as stakeholders who are consulted when designing family planning, and be involved in the design, delivery and evaluation of family planning services.

Why is it important?

Young people represent the largest proportion of the world’s population and are greatly affected by global decisions and trends, and are best placed to understand and communicate their own points and priorities.

4. Provision of youth friendly services

What needs to change?

• Sexual and reproductive health services should be available to everyone, especially to young people. They should respond to our needs and concerns without judgment and at the same time also respecting our privacy and confidentiality.
• Price and economic limitation should not be a barrier to access sexual and reproductive health services.
• SRH services, especially Family planning methods, should meet the needs of key populations including Young People living with HIV (YPLHIV).
• Youth-friendly services should be available in all service delivery facilities. Where culture or stigma prevents young people from accessing services in shared facilities, they should be made available through dedicated facilities or other outreach strategies. 

Why is it important?

Family planning for young people is a high-profit investment both socially and economically and youth-friendly health services are the best way to address young people’s needs.

Integration of FP and HIV service delivery will enable YPLHIV to also have a chance to enjoy their Sexual Reproductive Rights. 

In conclusion we agreed to come up with a Plan of Action on how best we can implement these activities in our respective countries.

Family violence and Wellbeing of Children

The question that I always ask myself is, ‘do parents know that domestic violence affect their children in many different ways?’

‘Family violence’ famously known as domestic violence takes several forms and it maybe physical, psychological or sexual. Sadly still, older members of a family are usually the ones who inflict violence either on each other or upon younger family members. It is heartrending that in some households a day cannot pass without parents or relatives getting themselves into a violent scenario.

Whether domestic violence is instigated upon the older family members or upon the younger ones the result is roughly the same to the children. The impact that family violence has on children is too great to care whether it is the child, the mother or aunt who is under such fire. Seeing different scenes of violence between their parents or the people they love and trust can affect young children as much as the one being victimized.

Thus, I feel that children are always at the receiving end of such violence and the price of it is too bad and cannot be easily estimated. Children who witness regular acts of violence in their homes have greater emotional and behavioral problems than other children from peaceful households. Such children are profoundly frightened and disturbed.
In most cases, children who are growing up in an abusive household learn to solve problems with violence. Their young minds are trained by either their violent parents or relatives that peace is a waste of time- a very sad notion to be in the mind of an otherwise innocent soul.

The seeds of violence are planted in early stages of children’s lives. As they grow up, the violent nature that is instilled by the conduct of older violent family members also grows and sometimes it even exceeds the levels of whom they copied from. They cause problems in their adult relationships and marriages.

Children learn at a tender age and think that it is acceptable and normal to behave in a brutal and degrading way to other people, as they have witnessed violent episodes each and every day of their lives.

Children who are psychologically affected by exposure to violence could still be treated and all they need is appropriate support and counseling. There are professional, reliable organizations and institutions that help partners to confront and change their destructive behaviors. YONECO is one of the leading organizations that provide counseling and guidance to the affected and survivors of domestic violence.

Do you know that you can protect children who are affected by family violence by reporting to the rightful authorities? You are part of the solution, please report domestic violence!

 

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Happy 20th Birthday to the Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action

 

I will start this entry by congratulating all the men and women of unusual learning, judgement and insight who convened in 1993 for a World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, Australia from the 14^th to 25^th June. I am solemnly thankful to them for coming up with one of the most wonderful documents in the world that we all happily call the Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action. It is because of this document  and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that we globally join each other on every tenth day of the month of December in celebration of the achievements that have been made so far within the human rights arena.

Special mention also goes to the UN General assembly that convened on 10 December,1948 in Paris for coming up with the  Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document paved way for the outset of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna where the Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action was proclaimed and adopted.

The two documents have greatly facilitated human rights activists and organisations to lobby and advocate for fairness and equality in various stratum of society. I bear witness to the fact that several milestones in the promotion and protection of human rights have been achieved . However, I also bear witness to an ugly truth that there are some other human rights issues that have not really been addressed despite untiring efforts on the ground.  It is a battle  that all individuals and CSOs which strive to promote and protect the rights of people will definitely win in the end. It is somehow a matter that only needs comprehensive planning, strategizing and setting priorities right. Seeing how YONECO plans and set its priorities, I am always ready.

 Sadly, there are also some other novel human rights violations that need to be tackled- come what may. The aforementioned brains behind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Vienna Declaration and plan of Action did not just assemble for nothing. They offered a legal backing and the morality aspect of it is also explicitly underlined.

Respect for each other’s rights is one most characteristic that totally separates us from wild animals. A contrary trace to the acceptable and firmly established behavior lenders one to be considered depraved.

YONECO always perceives the 10^th of December not only as a day to celebrate the achievements that the organisation together with its partners and supporting institutions have made.  It also takes it as a moment to reflect on what we still need to accomplish in terms of achieving human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal footing in Malawi.

Malawians cerebrate the day with several packages in their hands as the citizens, CSOs  together with our representatives in the August House passed the 2012 Gender Equality Bill into law on 28 February, 2013. The act offers itself as a shield towards the violation of the rights of women and girls.

In addition, we saw a new National Youth Policy, which YONECO advocated for with a lot of zeal and vigor, being gazetted several years after the expiry of a similar document.

Fellow Malawians, these and many other such milestones will take me and you to reflect on some insightful questions on human rights situation in our communities;

Firstly, are our cultures and their attendant rituals accommodating and respecting personal choices and views?

Secondly, what have we, as individuals, done to assist others whose human rights have been or are still being violated?

The third question is; do we allow other people to exercise their various freedoms  and do we stop others who don’t?

Fourthly, are we ready to take and respect the principles that are set forth in the Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action into 2014 and into the next coming years?

If your answers to these and many similar questions that were coming into your head are positive, I only have two words for you- “welcome aboard!”

My mathematics tells me that there is a difference of 20 years from 1993 to 2013  and so, it is a happy 20^th Birthday to the Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action!!

For Children with Special Needs

This first time I am writing about this and I wanted to write about mental disorders that are affecting the youths nowadays. Each and every child born is special, which includes children born with complications or disorder.

Everyone has a right to have a proper childhood, if you know what I mean. Children really need a lot and among the most basic provisions are to have proper nutrition, good education and effective healthcare systems.

 Apart from all the things I have mentioned above, children also greatly need love and care for them to grow up into adulthood and this is where parents come in. Being a parent is not an easy thing and it is more challenging to raise a child with a physical or mental disorder. This is because children in this group need special treatment or resources to help them so that they should have similar opportunities with other children.

Parents should shower their children with love and the parents also need to be very patient with their children. Parents should never look down on their children's potential and should never be ashamed with their children no matter what. The society should also be more open-minded and come forward with initiatives that are aimed at supporting children who have special needs.

It’s time to advocate for the Protection of Children with Special Need’s Rights…

Consider youth friendly health services…….

A youth accessing health services during YONECO YFHS outreach programme

As children grow up into adolescence, they face new sets of health challenges and dilemmas. Sometimes these challenges are more linked to behavior and negative influences from the environment they are growing up in.

Usually, the youths in this age group are faced with so many temptations to indulge in unhealthy behaviours and practices like smoking tobacco, substance abuse, alcoholism and experimenting with sex. The aftermath of all these seemingly joyful deeds are sexually transmitted infections, early pregnancies as well as physical and psychological imbalances.

Sadly, the direct costs of such loose behaviours contribute highly to deaths of young people within the age range of 15 to 24 year olds.

Despite the overwhelming magnitude of health related problems among the youths, most young people are not aware of the specific health and risk factors that are out there.

This situation calls for intensified efforts to increase awareness on health issues that affect the youths. Young people, especially those in rural areas, encounter in accessing health services.

 Many health facilities do not have confidential and accommodative health services where the youth can feel comfortable to seek the services. The services that are accommodative and responsive to the needs of the youths are called ‘youth friendly healthy services’. These are services whereby the youths are always sure that they will not be confronted with negative attitudes from health-care service providers.

In addition to this, many young people do not have strong financial muscles to enable them to seek health services from privately owned hospitals. Thus, they suffer in silence due to the prohibitive nature of our public health service centers’. Furthermore, the existing policies that are followed by health service personnel often require a parent or husband’s written permission for a person to access some particular services.

Thus, YONECO with funding from UNFPA conducted a number of outreach campaigns in an effort to increase awareness on youth friendly health services. The campaigns were conducted in 5 districts namely Chikwawa, Chiladzulu, Mangochi, Machinga and nkhatabay.

 In all these districts, the youth were able to access different health services like HTC as well as information concerning Sexual Reproductive Health and some youths were able to come to the open and talk about their sero status.

 Youth clubs were also established for married adolescents and for adolescents living with HIV.

A lot of young people revealed that they are always afraid to go to the hospitals to access health services because they feel shy to explain what they want because some health service personnel have negative attitudes towards young people who seek SRH or HTC.