Youths from Rwanda and East African member states have undergone training on advocacy and peer education to enable them deal with their challenges as youths.
The training was conducted at Hilltop Hotel recently coordinated by the East Africa Community secretariat.
The trainings on “Integrating Advocacy Components to Peer Education” are part of the joint EAC and DSW project “Invest in Adolescents.”
The project aims at building the individual competences, collective capabilities and overall capacity of adolescent and youth serving CSOs necessary to advocate effectively for the development and implementation of adolescent and youth sensitive SRHR policies, programs and budgets.
Adolescents’ and youth involvement in decision-making processes and advocacy strategies remains scarce. Often because young people lack the skills to comprehend, articulate and communicate their needs and their understanding of and ability to contribute to local and national civic processes.
However, involvement of knowledgeable and empowered adolescents is crucial to strengthen their sexual and reproductive health and rights and link and place them in decision and policy making processes. Young people remain an essential resource and potential force for change.
They are the most ideal agents to provide appropriate knowledge and information on decisions and policies to other young people as well as communicate the role and responsibilities of young people in implementation of decisions and policies.
The training “Integrating Advocacy Components to Peer Education Trainings” targets representatives of national youth organisations in the five project countries (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda)
The goal of the training was to ensure a wider and more sustainable participation of young people in meaningful dialogue as advocacy becomes an integrated component of peer education programs with youth organisations.
Objectives of the training targeted fostering skills on advocacy methods and process, including prioritizing advocacy issues.
The training also focused on increasing the understanding of pertinent approaches for young people’s participation in meaningful dialogue, including civic education and involvement in decision and policy making processes.
It also emphasised training youth organisations’ representatives on how to use the training modules and how to integrate it to peer education programs,
And training youth organisations’ representatives on criteria and procedures for selection of youth champions to participate in national trainings.
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