Adolescents as First Responders in Nepal and Sri Lanka

Location:

Introduction:

South Asia is prone to natural disasters that have been growing in frequency and intensity in recent years. This includes the devastating earthquake in Nepal in 2015 and a huge landslide in Sri Lanka in 2016; these events affected a large number of people especially women and children.

Project Description:

Among the various crises in the region to which IPPFInternational Planned Parenthood Federation has responded, its notable work in provision of timely life-saving SRHSexual and reproductive health services outlined under the MISPMinimum Initial Service Package in Nepal and Sri Lanka received special attention from various partners due to proactive involvement of trained adolescent youth volunteers. With support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade under Australian Government, IPPFInternational Planned Parenthood Federation provided more than USD 137,000 to its Member Associations for response work in Nepal and Sri Lanka. In both the responses, IPPFInternational Planned Parenthood Federation mobilized and engaged its trained adolescent and youth volunteers who actively participated in strategizing the response and providing services in the field to undertaking risk reduction activities in the affected communities. Undergirding the effort is a belief that talking with young people about contraceptive use, safer sex behaviors, and gender-based violence helps in reducing their vulnerabilities and understanding better issues that are part of their day-to-day lives.

Results:

Trained youth volunteers in both responses supported provision of SRHSexual and reproductive health services to over 22,849 people. More than 2,000 RH KitsInter-Agency Reproductive Health Kits were distributed in the two countries. Adolescent volunteers actively participated in camp management and the rapid assessment for the WHOWorld Health Organization health cluster and also attended the reproductive health cluster meetings. This helped in designing adolescent- and youth-friendly responses and in further liaising with other youth groups and partners.

Lessons Learned:

Adolescents and youth can act as catalysts for response work. Involvement of youth in planning and designing the intervention can improve the quality and effectiveness of the emergency response. Furthermore, capacitating youth in disaster risk reduction and SRHSexual and reproductive health service provision including counseling, peer education, and referrals can play a pivotal role in saving lives.