Global Health Specialist Hired to Forge New Ties, Strengthen Outreach

The International Youth Foundation (IYF) has developed a new initiative that will mainstream adolescent sexual and reproductive health, including family planning, into its ongoing global youth development programs. With support from a US$ 799,000 grant from World Learning, as part of their cooperative agreement with USAID’s Bureau of Global Health, IYF will strengthen its technical expertise to provide greater support and capacity building to organizations within IYF’s Global Partner Network, now active in 70 countries. Susan Brock, who has 25 years of experience in the health field, has been hired as IYF’s new Project Director for Health Programs to lead the mainstreaming initiative over the next two and a half years. IYF will convene a Summit, to be held in September 2007, to formally launch the effort.

“From the beginning, IYF has placed a top priority on ensuring today’s young people have the tools and information they need to make healthy and informed choices in their lives,” says IYF President and CEO William S. Reese. “Given such pressing global challenges as reducing maternal and infant mortality rates and the spread of HIV/AIDS, we believe it’s time to increase our capacity in this critical field of adolescent reproductive health and family planning so that more young people are truly prepared to make the successful transition to adulthood.”

The initiative aims to increase the number of organizations within IYF’s global partner network of organizations who are engaged in adolescent reproductive health and family planning activities. Toward this goal, IYF will expand its systems and capabilities to deliver technical assistance and capacity building to these groups, providing them with training, guidelines, tools and materials to facilitate the adoption and integration of adolescent reproductive health and family planning into their development programs.

IYF will support a range of activities in the field, including the development of outreach activities and educational materials such as posters and brochures, the development and integration of reproductive health and family planning modules into life skills programs, and the implementation of small pilot projects to explore lessons learned and best practices. IYF and its partners have been working in the broader field of adolescent reproductive health for more than a decade. One of its largest current health-related programs is a USAID-supported peer-to-peer HIV/AIDS prevention program in three African countries which seeks to engage 500,000 young people over five years.

Brock, who received her Master’s in Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, has helped lead community health and development programs both in the United States and internationally, most recently serving with the American Red Cross Tsunami Response Program in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Previously, she was the Programming and Training Officer with the US Peace Corps in Moldova and Kyrgyzstan, and for 10 years, worked at the North Carolina Primary Health Care Association to help meet the needs of migrant and seasonal farm workers across the East Coast.

To learn more about IYF's Health Education initiatives click here.