E2A co-hosts conference in West Africa on adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health

The Evidence to Action Project, in partnership with Pathfinder International and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), is hosting a meeting for Francophone West African countries in Dakar, January 27 – 29, which focuses on introducing and scaling up best practices with the potential to improve the sexual and reproductive health of young people. The meeting, entitled West Africa Regional Technical Meeting on Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health, follows the 2011 Ouagadougou Family Planning meeting, where nine West African countries developed action plans for repositioning family planning. Many of those plans contained elements focused on improving young people’s sexual and reproductive health.

Those same nine countries—Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte D’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo—have sent Ministry of Health representatives to Dakar to learn about ways they can keep their action plans moving forward. Representatives from IPPF affiliates in those nine countries, staff from E2A and Pathfinder, as well as partners and donors including the West African Health Organisation, the United Nations Population Fund, the US Agency for International Development, and the World Health Organization, are attending the meeting.

Presentations, plenaries, and working group sessions will focus on state-of-the-art best practices in adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health that the nine countries can introduce or scale up, possibly with support from the partners in attendance. These sessions will be developed to:

• help participants reach a common understanding of the different realities and needs of young people in the region;
• present the latest evidence and best practices in adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health programming;
• familiarize participants with tools and approaches for systematically introducing and scaling up best practices in youth programming; and
• explore possible application of adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health best practices to country-specific needs.

E2A, along with its host partners, intend for the meeting to foster knowledge, collaboration, and a commitment among governments to prioritize and improve young people’s sexual and reproductive health across the West Africa region.

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