For the JICA Project for Strengthening ARH in Nicaragua, JOICFP dispatched two staff as JICA experts to Nicaragua from 26th August to 15th September to assess the actual ARH situation in the selected communities of Diria, Granada District, and Boaco, Boaco District.

Both in Diria and Boaco, collaborating with the respective health centers, a one-day workshop was organized, inviting adolescent and adults to evaluate existing ARH resources and problems using 'social mapping' and brainstorming.

For the participants, it was an exposure to a new method how to conduct such workshops and carry out in-depth interviews using the information generated.

The perceived problems generated were then used as an orientation in two days of in-depth interviews with people such as local officials, teachers, priests, medical personnel, pregnant teenagers, and single mothers.

The interviews were carried out by JICA experts and a counterpart from the health center.

The results of the workshops and interviews were shared at the local administrative level (SILAIS).

The issues raised from the interviews included

• Lack of communication and interaction between adults and adolescents
• Lack of proper and practical sex education, partly because of parents' objections
• In rural areas, lack of health support, resources and information
• Despite the above, adolescents are willing and able to learn to teach others but need more adult support.