Health Development Initiative (HDI) in partnership with Plan International Rwanda under the SIDA/CIVSAM program has been training adolescent leaders from different parts of the country on how they can advocate and contribute to policy influencing to promote child and adolescents’ rights protection as well as Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).
Last week, 20 adolescents in Bugesera District and 20 others from Gatsibo and Nyaruguru Districts were the latest trainees.
Before training on their role in advocacy for adolescents’ rights, they were taken through Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the previous training according to Annet Mwizerwa, Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR) Program Officer at Health Development Initiative (HDI).
"We took a group of adolescent leaders who had already been trained on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. Then they were trained on policies and rights related to child rights protection and sexual and reproductive health and rights and how they can advocate for the rights.
After the training we expect them to identify problems, how they can advocate and propose solutions in their communities. They also learnt what should characterize someone who advocates in case of such rights violations and how they can do it in a successful way,” she said.
They learnt that an advocate should have leadership and passion in representing people in case they want a problem to be solved.
The adolescents also understood that they have to analyse the problem with allies before embarking on advocacy actions to solve it.
"We aim at empowering adolescents to make decisions and advocate for child rights protection. We want them to become adolescent leaders who are well informed and have the ability to do advocacy for themselves and others in terms of problems that affect them. Through the training they are also empowered in a way that they contribute to policies that are made to protect children and young people,” she said.
She said that once informed and empowered, the adolescents are expected to put in practice what they have learnt and be part of daily advocacy for children, adolescents and young people and also educate their colleagues on their rights in the communities.
"If they experience a problem they will have the ability to identify and be part of addressing it. We can also engage them in high-level advocacy in different meetings and confidently raise the problems facing adolescents and young people,” she said.
She said that HDI has been training and empowering adolescents and young people on child’s rights from 23 secondary schools across the country.
"We also organize debates in schools to teach young people about child’s rights and sexual reproductive health and rights,” she said, adding it is part of HDI efforts to empower young people to be advocates for their sexual and reproductive health through provision of accurate information in schools.
Ensuring young people have accurate information about sexual and reproductive health guarantees that they are making informed decisions considering that without information, they are easily susceptible to peer pressure and risky behavior, she added.
Adolescent leaders speak out
Jean de Dieu Ufitimana, a 19-year-old adolescent leader from Bugesera district said that they are ready to put into practice what they have learnt about child’s rights and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and advocacy.
"We observe many problems facing children and adolescents in communities. For instance, some parents pay school fees for boys and let girls drop out of school. Some children in general have also dropped out of school. This has an effect on their future. Being well informed and empowered as adolescents we have to raise our voices and trigger change on this and we can do it in collaboration with allies and duty-bearers,” he said.
He added they are also well equipped with knowledge to educate other adolescents on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and advocacy on them.
"We have a savings club at school through which we also discuss all these issues. We also manage to know each other’s problems and work together to solve them,” he said.
Alice Byukusenge, a 17-year-old adolescent, said that after the training on advocacy, she identified some child rights violations, including births that were not registered, especially from teen mothers.
"If someone is not registered, they will struggle to get a national identity card when the time comes,” she said.
She added that as a trained adolescent, she will be part of the change, bringing solutions to problems in the community, especially those related to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.
"I am equipped with advocacy skills now. Our savings club is also a good platform to discuss problems adolescents face,” she said.
Sandrine Muhimpundu, another 17-year old adolescent added, " After the training, I will share my knowledge with other adolescents, their rights and how they can advocate for themselves and for others.”
"From our previous training on sexual and reproductive health with HDI, we also took the initiative to train our peers aged between 15 and 17. We realized that teen pregnancies are affecting those in this age range because some had inaccurate information about sexual and reproductive health,” she said.