PADet has been engaged on the following sexual and reproductive health activities with the aim to prevent adolescents from harmful traditional practices, and improve family planning uptake & nutrition coverage:
- Educating children and adolescent girls and boys, as well as mothers, about reproductive health and informing them about relevant facilities available. Education takes place in schools, market places, public gatherings, etc. Often, peer educators, trained by the projects serve as educators.
- Reduce adolescents’ exposure to pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs),
- Increase the cognitive and emotional maturity of adolescents to make informed decision to delay sexual intercourse and birth, including those of married and unmarried girls (e.g. access to menstrual hygiene products and services, male and female contraception, risks related to FGM/C and early child bearing) to be able to better support their rights to health and sexual and reproductive health, in particular.
- Improve access to sustainable and affordable menstrual hygiene products, as well as simple ways to help adolescent girls track their menstrual cycle, and separate latrines, water supply and dedicated (private) spaces in schools so that girls can change sanitary products as needed during the course of the school day.
- Design and deliver campaigns to support adolescent awareness of the risks of substance use.
- Provide programming for parents of adolescents (at school through Parent/Teacher/Student committees, through social workers to address parental mis-understandings, and position–and encourage and support– parents to be able to answer their children’s questions.
- Improve access to WASH facilities at school, including water, toilets, and changing rooms.
- Provide iterative, age-appropriate, comprehensive CSE that covers reproductive biology, contraception, STD prevention, gender power relations, and communication.
- Continue messaging about birth spacing and family size–using messages and messengers tailored to local needs.
- Invest in stepped-up awareness raising about STDs, including renewed attention to HIV/AIDs– targeting prevention, testing, and ARV uptake.
- Scale up adolescent friendly SRH services– paying attention to hours (include evenings), location (to facilitate confidentiality), staffing and supply availability information and contraception.
- Ensure access to reproductive health information and services for boys and girls to delay first pregnancy until age 19, promote the use of adolescent friendly reproductive health services, integrate nutrition assessment and counseling into youth friendly reproductive health services, strengthen mobile health and nutrition teams to improve access to nutrition services in implementation areas.
HIV Prevention, Care and Support
PADet undertakes prevention activities aiming at controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS, along with promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health, and strengthening the target beneficiaries’ financial capacity. PADet’s activities under this theme include:
- Sensitizing the community about the modes of HIV Transmission, need for ART adherence, etc
- Availing VCT and PICT services
- Strengthening IDIRs (community Based Organizations) to cater for Orphans
- Establishing and strengthening institutions such as Associations of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), School Based Anti-HIV/AIDS clubs, as well as Networks of such associations at Woreda and Zone level
- Providing support (education, health, nutrition support etc for orphans)
- Training peer educators, Home Based care givers, and facilitating for the provision of home based care and
support for patients - Supporting PLWHA to engage in income generating activities.