Evidence and Rights-based Planning and Support Tool for Empowering Approaches to SRHR Education with Young People

This tool is designed to help organisations working in HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) to plan or improve their HIV prevention and SRHR education programmes for young people. The toolkit reflects up-to-date research findings and has translated this evidence for practical use. It can be used to plan new interventions, but also to analyse existing interventions.

This document was first published in 2009, with the aim of presenting, in a practical way, evidence about effective SRHR work with young people, and related academic principles and topics. Following its publication STOP AIDS NOW! and Rutgers, with financial support from Oxfam Novib, Cordaid, HIVOS, ICCO, Educaids, and Dance4Life trained local trainers to enable organisations to use the tool. The trainers have supported over 150 organisations in Africa, many of whom have used the tool to improve the quality of their SRHR interventions for young people.  In 2015, STOP AIDS NOW! and Rutgers realised the tool could usefully be updated with new evidence and feedback from users, and by taking a broader approach to SRHR and widening the focus from Africa to include Asia. This revised Planning and Support Tool is the result.

This manual is closely connected to the Essential Packages Manual: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Programmes for Young People (which has also been updated) as it gives all the background, evidence, approaches, guidelines, and resources for the different SRHR intervention issues that are central to this tool.

The toolkit is divided into the following sections:

1. Introduction - this section explains the meaning and aims of sexuality education. It also sets out more information about this tool, including its aims and uses, how it was developed, its 6 step structure, and how to use it.
2. Rights Evidence and Empowerment -  this section explains how a rights-based approach starts not with what young people’s needs or problems are, but with the rights that they are entitled to. It sets out key elements of a rights-based approach to SRHR work with young people, definitions for sexual and reproductive rights, the need to address diversity and gender and to take a holistic approach.
3. Planning and Support Tool - this section contains the self-assessment tool. It follows the 6 steps of intervention mapping, and asks users to assess their intervention through 28 questions and sub-questions relating to characteristics of effective SRHR projects. 
4. Background information for the 28 characteristics - this section provides backgroundi nformation for each of the 28 characteristics in Section 3. Most of it is based on evidence but sometimes the publishers included information that has little or no proof that it works, but is relevant to mention in terms of young people attaining their rights.

The new evidence outlined in the manual is as follows:

• Be explicit about power and gender and help create an enabling environment.
• Focus on empowerment; self-esteem, self-confidence and agency are pre-conditions for young people to take their own development and sexual life more in own hands.
• Involve young people via youth participation and increase citizenship for encouraging young people to stand up for their rights in their own communities and help and advocate for creating an enabling environment.
• Broaden goals beyond health.  Include a focus on the real needs of young people and aim on quality of life, including sexual health and wellbeing.
• Apply gender-transformative working as it is one of the most effective preconditions for achieving quality of life and a better SRHR status of youth.

For training by equipped African Master Trainers, or to receive support or more information, please contact: Vilmer Nyamongo vnyamongo@csakenya.org or Mgroenhof@stopaidsnow.nl or j.reinders@rutgers.nl