Project Empowers Youth With Sexual Health Services in Malawi
The project is implemented through a consortium including Population Services International, Act Alliance, Family Planning Association of Malawi, and Family Health Services.
NTCHISI, Malawi— A collaborative project by Norwegian Church Aid and DanChurchAid is transforming access to sexual and reproductive health services for young people in Ntchisi district, targeting adolescent girls and women aged 10-24, writes Esther Banda.
The N'zatonse project, funded by the German Development Bank, works through 45 youth clubs across 12 traditional authorities to address cultural barriers preventing access to sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) services.
Omega Kachingwe, a netball clinic mentor, highlighted the project's impact.
"We have benefitted so much from this program because, in the past, most of our lives were in danger due to early pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Even the number of school dropouts has been minimized," she said.
The project uses innovative approaches like pig rearing and netball clinics to engage youth and disseminate critical health information.
Harrison Phiri, treasurer of Zafika Youth Club, noted that these activities have helped young people become more responsible community members.
Local leadership has also embraced the initiative. Group Village Headman Chipokosa shared the community's transformation.
"Here at Chipokosa village we had a lot of maternity death cases, and it disturbed us so much as we had no idea about SRHR services," he said.
Francis Nyasulu, the project coordinator, emphasised the importance of youth engagement.
"Without any interventions to mobilise the youths becomes a problem. So we are using rearing of pigs and Netball Clinic as tools in making sure that the youths receive SRHR messages in their respective clubs," Nyasulu explained.
The project is implemented through a consortium including Population Services International, Act Alliance, Family Planning Association of Malawi, and Family Health Services.