Willingness and Roles of Young People to Meaningfully Participate in Promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Programmes: A Case of Get Up Speak Out Project in Western Kenya

Abstract

This study aims to demonstrate the willingness and roles of young people in implementation of Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights for young people. A full coverage survey across all 24 link health facilities of Get Up Speak Out (GUSO) program implementation was conducted in May 2020 adopting an electronic approach in adherence to the MOH Covid-19 preventive guidelines. The findings established that there was a progressive increase in representation over the 3-year period starting at 66% in 2019 to 77% in 2020. The study also revealed that young people involved in program activities over the 3 years recorded an average of 132% on youth participation. The findings imply that programs can effectively engage young people in planning, implementing, and monitoring Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights interventions. The implication of these findings is that, a clear guideline promoting engagement of young people by Ministry of Health on the type of capacity building and for what skill would go a long way to enhance implementation of the Meaningful Youth Participation goal. This will have the effect to actualize meaningful youth participation in Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights programming and implementation by the Ministry of Health. The study recommends strengthening of Meaningful Youth Participation in service delivery to the young people as this will lead to high satisfaction for services and increased uptake by young people.