JOICFP | Development Issues

ASRH/Youth

Overview of JOICFP's ASRH Activities

(JOICFP eNEWS Aug, 2007 )

According to UNFPA, half of the world's population is under age 25, and this includes the largest-ever generation of adolescents - 1.2 billion people between the ages of 10 and 19.

To achieve the Millennium Development Goals, as well as other international agreements such as the ICPD Program of Action, as well as to ensure these young people have a healthy and rewarding life, adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) needs to be of paramount concern for GOs, NGOs and civil society.

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Background & Issues
Nearly 50% of all people in the world are under the age of 25, and about 20% are adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 (the World Population Report 2003). 62% of them live in Asia. Lack of supportive policies and programs results in large numbers of young people to face sexual and reproductive health (SRH) related risks, such as HIV/AIDS, unprotected sex leading to pregnancy, abortion and early childbearing, and sexual abuse.
Ensuring SRH information and services to adolescents and youth to prevent them from SRH related risks is critical and urgent to achieve ICPD PoA, Beijing Platform of Action and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for well-being of these individual as well as our better future generation. It is also the right of young people to protect and enjoy their SRH.

JOICFP Strategy & Goal
JOICFP’s key strategies toward ASRH are (1) creating an enabling and supportive environment, and (2) youth initiative. In accordance with the ICPD PoA, we aim at contributing to increasing young people’s access to SRH related information and services, helping them make informed and responsible choices and decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health, and participate in decision making processes which are related to them.

(1) Creating an enabling and supportive environment
JOICFP has been making efforts toward human resource development, community mobilization, education to adult stakeholders to create youth-friendly environment for ASRH to increase young people to access to SRH information and services.
(2) Youth Initiative
JOICFP supports young people’s initiatives in their taking actions toward better ASRH and making their voices widely heard at the community, national and regional levels. National ASRH policy should reflect the voices from the grassroots level and be incorporated into the actual program implementation at the grassroots. As people who know their needs better than anyone else, young people need to be empowered as active players and initiators for change.