Networks advocate for youth services
Cedpa Network 1998: 3
1998
PMID: 12294636 Document Number: 279734
This article discusses the role of networks in promoting reproductive health for youth in Ghana. The Suhum-Kraboa-Coaltar Network and the New Juaben Network are situated in the eastern region of Ghana. These two programs advocate for client-centered programs and for policy change at every level. Since the 1994 ICPD Plan of Action, these networks have worked to increase and improve health services for youth and to improve cooperation between government and nongovernmental groups. These networks provide family planning, reproductive health (RH), and, most importantly, promotion of adolescent health. CEDPA realized that many organizations had the capacity to extend services to youth and to fulfill other mandates of the 1994 ICPD Program of Action. But, these organizations lacked advocacy and networking skills for effectively challenging community policies and programs. CEDPA, in collaboration with others, initiated the POLICY project in 1996 in Ghana. The aim was to create a supportive policy context for family planning and RH programs by formation of a participatory policy process. The POLICY project in Ghana helped networks develop advocacy plans targeted to local decision-makers. The aim was to increase funding for adolescent RH in district plans and budgets. The first action taken by the POLICY project was to conduct a survey, which found that 67% of adolescent females and 53% of adolescent males were sexually active. Only 10% used contraceptives. Advocacy did not increase funding but did result in a supportive network of policy-makers. There are POLICY projects in over 12 countries.