7 February 2023 | civil society, Coaching, Sénégal, sexual and reproductive health, SRHR
From January 9 to 15, the National Incubation Lab for the Sansas project was held in Dakar. This meeting brought together youth and civil society organizations (CSOs) to define their vision for a better consideration of reproductive health rights (RHR) and gender equality in Senegalese public policies.
These 25 young people and representatives of CSOs that defend the rights of youth and women and fight against gender inequality, along with the members of the SANSAS project consortium, developed an advocacy project to be implemented at the national level on reproductive health and gender equality, using EquiPop’s Incubation Labs method.
The EquiPop Labs is a design thinking approach:
Recommendations around the contextual framework were formulated, aiming to:
- improve knowledge of adolescents and youth (AY) through the use of digital tools, single-sex talks exclusively dedicated to AY, and awareness-raising in schools;
- strengthen community mobilization around this issue;
- strengthen the capacities of health professionals and improve their relationship with youth in terms of the quality of their relationships, particularly in terms of welcoming, listening and empathy;
- strengthen the role of youth in decision-making and recruit peer educators;
- improve services by integrating spaces adapted to youth, by making inputs available, by ensuring access costs or geographical accessibility, etc.
It was also stressed the importance of youth representation in the bodies, as recommended in the latest World Health Organization standards, which value youth participation in health structures. This representation is also important in the aspect of knowledge management, in order to implement a strategy for an intergenerational anchorage.
Following the conclusions of this lab, the national advocacy plan of the SANSAS project will be developed and disseminated through different channels, such as radio broadcasts, petitions, meetings with leaders or the organization of events and film-debates.
