Enhancing utilization of the findings from the youth reproductive health project in Senegal

This operations research (OR) study focused on providing information appropriate to the cultural context of Senegalese adolescents on a variety of reproductive health issues including: knowledge of the human body; puberty; sexuality; gender roles; different cultural, familial, and peer values regarding sexual and reproductive behavior; contraception; responsible parenthood; STIs and AIDS; and sources of help and services. The study was undertaken in three urban communities in northern Senegal and had an overall positive result on young people's reproductive health knowledge, enhanced community understanding of youth reproductive health needs, and showed that a multisectoral approach is vital to supporting young people’s healthy growth. This success prompted a follow-up effort to institutionalize youth reproductive health in the study districts, create a favorable policy and funding environment for adolescent reproductive health at the national level, and scale up the intervention in Senegal and to other francophone African countries (Mauritania, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali). This summary describes the essential process elements of this institutionalization effort. FRONTIERS provided technical assistance to the government ministries to develop action plans which were submitted to development partners for funding.