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 youth-focused reproductive health activities and programs.

• In India, Youthreach is partnering with 4 local NGOs to train staff to provide information on reproductive health and life skills to 5000 youth enrolled in employability and livelihood programs in Andhra Pradesh and the National Capital Region of Delhi. The curriculum and teaching aids will provide accurate and age-appropriate knowledge on reproductive health, decision making, communication and other life skills.
• In the Philippines, the Consuelo Foundation is partnering with 3 local NGOs to train staff, parents and 200 young people engaged in an employability program in Basilan, Mindanao to provide information to their communities on reproductive health and modern and natural family planning methods. In addition, the Consuelo Foundation is enhancing the capacity of local health service providers to provide youth-friendly reproductive health services.
• The Iringa Development of Youth, Disabled and Children (IDYDC) in Tanzania is using a successful sports-based HIV/AIDS prevention and leadership program to mobilize and train 720 coaches and young people from 24 sports teams to provide reproductive health and family planning information and referrals. IDYDC will also actively promote youth-adult partnerships and encourage young people to more actively engage with local government on the issues that affect them through the expansion and strengthening of local and regional “Young People’s Development” Councils.
• The Tanzania Red Cross Society (TRCS) is incorporating information on reproductive health, teen pregnancy prevention and modern family planning methods into its HIV/AIDS prevention program with 6000 young people in Rufiji and Bagamoyo Districts and training peer educators to emphasize dual protection messages in their outreach efforts. Additionally, TRCS is working with the Ministry of Health to improve youth-friendly services at the District level through workshops and the dissemination of materials to health providers.

IYF Contacts:
Rita Columbia MD, Project Director
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.