Planning for Life aims to improve the health of young women and men ages 10 to 24 by integrating reproductive health and family planning into youth development programs. Under the project, IYF will develop adolescent reproductive health guidelines and tools for use in the field, design and adapt program materials and curricula, collect and disseminate global best practices and lessons learned, and provide training and technical assistance to partner organizations to implement and integrate adolescent-focused reproductive health activities and programs. IYF will develop an adolescent reproductive health Community of Practice; promote reproductive health and family planning as critical elements of youth development programs; and support the implementation and scale-up of best practices.

Key Project Activities

On September 17-19, 2007, IYF hosted the Planning for Life Global Launch and Technical Workshop in New Delhi, India. IYF partner, Youthreach, served as local host for the meeting. Thirty two participants, representing international and national NGOs from thirteen countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) gathered to discuss youth reproductive health, family planning and youth development; to formulate strategic approaches to integrate of adolescent sexual and reproductive health (YRH) into youth development programs; and to build an YRH Community of Practice among IYF’s network of global partners.

The YRH/FP Integration and Project Development Workshop focused on mainstreaming youth reproductive health into youth development programs. YRH/FP Integration and Project Development Workshops were held in three countries: Tanzania (February 5-8, 2008), India (February 12-15, 2008) and the Philippines (February 20-23, 2008). In India, four IYF partners and six Youthreach partners attended the workshop. In the Philippines, three IYF partners and seven Consuelo partners participated in the event. In Tanzania, twelve IYF partners attended the meeting. The workshop aimed to improve understanding of YRH in the content of youth development among IYF partners and provide them with skills in developing a project proposal on YRH integration.

Click here to access resources and tools about Youth Reproductive Health.

IYF Contacts:
Peter Shiras, Vice President, Health Education and Awareness
Email: p.shiras@iyfnet.org
Susan Brock MPH, Project Director, Health Programs
Email: s.brock@iyfnet.org
Rita Columbia MD, Reproductive Health Technical Specialist
Email: r.columbia@iyfnet.org
Julia Freed MSW, Program Coordinator, Health Education and Awareness
Email: j.freed@iyfnet.org

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