Turn up the Volume: Youth Advocacy for Reproductive Health Rights (TUV)

* January 2009 to December 2010* Districts Chamkar Leu - Stung Treng in Kompong Cham Province*
* Beneficiaries: Direct - 208 Youth and 52 Health Center Staff; Indirect 54,367 Youth*
Budget: $358,312
Donor/s: USAID, Management Sciences for Health and ADRA International

The youth of Cambodia are in danger! Global and local influences are dramatically changing the landscape of their country. Unlike in the past, Cambodian youth no longer have the traditional community and family safety nets to protect them from some of the more insidious influences of the West. With the rapid increase in labor based migration, gender-based violence, child labor, drug abuse, human trafficking and other exploitation, rural youth are left to contend with increasingly high risk circumstances. The bottom line is that immediate action is needed to protect the youth of today.

In answer to this crisis, ADRA Cambodia is implementing “Turn Up the Volume: Youth Advocacy for Reproductive Health Rights” Project, which is giving voice and providing support to 54,575 youth in Chamkar Leu – Stung Treng Operational District of the Kompong Cham province – an area about two hours north of the Capital of Phnom Penh with a total population of 159,575.

The goal of this project is: to reduce the vulnerability of Cambodian youth to such exploitive practices and health risks as human trafficking, physical and sexual abuse, drug addiction, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and other reproductive health issues.

The specific objective of the project:

To empower community youth and youth clubs to speak up for their health rights, human rights, and other issues that are important to them by building their leadership and advocacy skills.

To decrease the reproductive health risks of youth by strengthening National Youth Friendly Sexual Reproductive Health (YFSRH) services at the community level.

“Turn Up the Volume” is helping create a safe, informative, and protective environment for Cambodian youth by training and empowering them to “ speak up” and engage with their local community leaders so their voices might be heard and their needs addressed. More specifically, youth are being: 1) Trained to prepare and implement action plans that address the primary risks affecting them, and 2) Taught how to facilitate awareness raising events within their communities. ADRA Cambodia’s Adventure Learning Center and Management Sciences for Health’s Leadership Development Program (LDP) are being utilized to support this process. Moreover, as sexual trafficking is a big problem in Cambodia, the Christians Working Together to End Sexual Abuse and Trafficking (Chab Dai) Coalition will train youth in migration and trafficking issues d uring the initial alignment workshop in leadership, forming links for advocacy action plans. Examples of other youth club activity plans supported by the project include anti-drug initiatives, boys for girl’s rights, dramas for pre-migration, anti-trafficking, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health awareness, etc. The above-mentioned LDP is also being utilized to strengthen the priorities of the Ministry of Health Adolescent Friendly Sexual Reproductive Health service policy at local health centers. “Turn Up the Volume” is seeking to engage the Ministry of Health in evaluating the options for expanded use of the LDP program in the Cambodian context. It should be noted that each and every project activity will lead to a more protective environment for youth and enable them, together with the adult population, to avoid the pitfalls of disease, exploitation, trafficking, sexual abuse, and other issues exacerbated by the lack of social safety nets.

ADRA Cambodia has had over 15 years of extensive experience – the past six of which they have been heavily involved in Youth Reproductive Health Programming. The innovative design of the proposed program is based on expertise gained and lessons learned over the years.

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