Adolescence is the stage in which an individual must begin to establish a satisfactory personal identity and develop interpersonal relations outside the family, steps that include finding a partner in life, learning to deal responsibly with his emerging sexuality, and developing his economic viability through education and the right attitudes and habits. The adolescent's family, peers, neighborhood, school, and other groups can help in these areas--and can also create obstacles that many adolescents cannot overcome on their own.
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International organizations and programs that work in youth reproductive health (RH) and HIV prevention areas are beginning to recognize the importance of involving youth in all aspects of programming. At the 2002 International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain, Peter Piot, the executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) stated, "We are working with young people, rather than for young people." Piot's statement illustrates a gradual paradigm shift from treating youth as problems to viewing youth as assets, resources, and competent members of a community.
Programs use many different strategies to involve youth. In the past, youth participation generally meant peer education, youth advisory boards, and youth focus groups. In recent years, organizations have made an effort to integrate youth into programming, including advocacy efforts, governance, and evaluation. The World Health Organization (WHO) advises that youth "should be involved from the start as full and active partners in all stages from conceptualization, design, implementation, feedback, and follow-up.
As in all stages of life, adolescence involves some key steps that build on the successful completion of previous phases. Because adolescence is the transitional period between childhood and adulthood, all steps in that period must be focused toward completing this transition.
Youth participation can be viewed as a means to an end or as an end in itself. UNICEF and other organizations emphasize youth participation as a basic right. If a program is designed to benefit young people, they should have input and involvement into how it is developed and administered. Others see youth participation as a means of helping to achieve program goals for youth or communities. To assess this goal, researchers seek evidence that involving youth in programs can lead to stronger program outcomes. In the reproductive health and HIV/AIDS fields, the goal is to show that increased youth participation can help lead to such outcomes as improved knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors. Many analysts see both points of view as important. While a rights-based approach is the underpinning of youth participation, youth involvement should also achieve improved program results in order to justify staff time and financial resources.
* This text contains excerpts from Youth Participation Guide: Assessment, Planning, and Implementation, prepared by YouthNet/Family Health International Read more
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