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June 2003 |
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YouthNet: Developing Policy to Improve Youth Health
More than one quarter
of the world's population--1.7 billion people--is between
the ages of 10 and 24. Data show this population is at
high risk for early or unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted
infections (STIs), and unsafe abortions.
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| YouthNet
works to improve reproductive health and reduce
the incidence of HIV/AIDS in youth throughout
the world, including these youth in Namibia.
[PHOTO: Courtesy of Hally Mahler, YouthNet] |
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Policy issues, poverty,
gender inequities, and a lack of information and services
or access to them, are the basis for many youth health
risks.
YouthNet, a global
program sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID), aims to improve the reproductive
health of youth and to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.
YouthNet is administered by Family Health International
(http://www.fhi.org/youthnet),
through a partnership with CARE, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Emerging Markets, Ltd., Margaret Sanger Center International,
and RTI.
RTI's Sharifah Tahir,
who is developing the program's country-based policies,
says that YouthNet's strategy is to combine research results
with youth involvement. "We use research findings
as an evidence base to create policy and plan programs,
and we engage young people as full partners in the effort
to reach the program's goals," Tahir says.
Youth assess the needs
of their peers, help to formulate policy, and disseminate
health information. Plans are under way to support youth
advocates who will share their experiences in their African
countries. Later this year, youth will participate on
an HIV/AIDS panel for the First Ladies of Latin America
annual meeting.
"Youth have the
right to have their reproductive health and HIV/AIDS needs
addressed," says RTI's Tahir. It's our job to mobilize
the appropriate responses and resources for diverse situations,
and youth are a central resource."
More information: Sharifah Tahir,
e-mail stahir@rti.org
Strengthening Local Government Capacity to Deliver
Basic Services
In
a country that comprises over 17,000 islands, the transition
to a decentralized government is a challenging effort.
Indonesia, the fourth most populated country in the world,
accelerated the transfer of authority to local governments
with a sweeping decentralization law in January 2001.
The role of the central government is mainly limited to
policymaking and supervision,
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| Children
in east Indonesia complete a homework assignment.
With decentralization, local governments in
Indonesia are directly responsible for education
service delivery. [PHOTO: Stuart Weston] |
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while local governments are now directly responsible for
providing basic services to their constituencies in all
but five areas of government activity. Educational, health,
and environmental services are among those provided by
local governments.
To
support the delivery of public services at the local level,
the central government has identified "obligatory
functions" (OF) and related performance standards,
called minimum services standards (MSS), to protect the
welfare of the poor in the context of decentralized governance.
RTI staff, in association with a team from the German
aid agency GTZ, are implementing an 18-month technical
assistance project funded by the Asian Development Bank
(ADB) to support the dissemination and implementation
of the OF/MSS concept in Indonesia. The RTI-led team is
working directly with local governments in five provinces
across the sprawling nation--North Sumatra, West Java,
East Java, Bali, and West Nusa Tenggara.
Harry
Roovers, RTI project director, says that his team "will
test the OF/MSS concept in the field, working though real
planning and implementing challenges of the local governments.
The demands and solutions identified in this exercise
will provide a practical roadmap for the application of
OF/MSS throughout Indonesia."
More information: Harry Roovers,
e-mail
hroovers@rti.org
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Financial Openness Training Enters Second Year, Expands
Scope
Local officials in
Mali are learning that transparency pays when it comes
to public finances. Dan Gerber tells what happened during
an RTI-organized financial management workshop in Koulikoro,
Mali:
"One of the participants
stood up and scolded the elected officials and communal
personnel for the bad management of her commune. She even
urged other participants to stop paying their taxes.
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| Trainer
Bassirou Sarr led this workshop for the communes
of Hombori and Boni, at which civil society
participants learned about transparent local
financial management. [PHOTO: Dan Gerber] |
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"Later, after
the five-day workshop had given her a better understanding
of the communal budget process, she apologized for her
earlier remarks. And for his part, the mayor greatly opened
up public participation in setting the budget.
"Today, that
woman is an active supporter of those officials in their
work, and is even organizing Koulikoro's sand workers
to pay their taxes to the town."
Last year, RTI trained
558 municipal officials and community leaders in financial
management, and will be training another 1,200 in this,
the second phase of the project. RTI has further strengthened
its presence in Mali and its commitment to the project
(which is funded by the United States Agency for International
Development) with the opening of a project office in Bamako
and the hiring of a Malian project manager consultant.
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| An
artist was commissioned to draw a 16-panel
"comic strip" to help Malian workshop
participants understand local financing and
transparency. [ARTIST: Mathews Mwepu Kabungwe]
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Among tasks already
accomplished this year, the Mali team has revised the
workshop training manuals, based on first-phase feedback.
Published in French, Bambanankan, and Peulh, the manuals
reinforce the need for openness and greater public participation
in local administration.
The overarching goal
is to build trust between local officials and citizens
as a means of furthering democratic reform in Mali. "As
the incident in Koulikoro shows, this project is creating
a change in mindset--by both elected officials and citizens--that
is a critical ingredient in the recipe for successful
decentralization," Gerber says.
More information: Dan Gerber,
e-mail dgerber@rti.org
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©2003 RTI, Research Triangle
Park, NC. All rights reserved.
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