The project communities identified the following priority areas in adolescent health: HIV/AIDS and STIs (sexually transmitted infections); contraception; female genital mutilation; and parent-child communication. They then selected strategies to pursue the ASRH (Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health) goals, including: peer education, IEC (Information, Education and Communication) through the use of folk and modern media, parent-child communication, and training of health educators in the provision of youth-friendly services.

These four priorities shaped training and outreach activities. Youth association staff and 47 peer educators between the ages of 15 and 25 were trained by Mwangaza, with technical assistance from Advocates for Youth, to address issues of improper condom usage, misperceptions surrounding HIV/AIDS and STIs, parent-child communication, excision, comfort in utilising health centres, and contraceptive use. Subsequently, the youth associations and peer educators conducted community outreach via small-group discussions, video projections followed by discussions, counseling sessions, and home visits. In Pama, the youth incorporated theatre into their strategies. The peer educators also sold contraceptives. Service providers were trained with an eye to increasing the provision of youth-friendly services.

Youth, Community Participation, HIV/AIDS, Women, Family Planning, Gender.

The baseline research for the project involved interviews with 547 youth, 405 parents, and 51 service providers in the three communities. Findings indicated that over 65% of youth report did not know the benefits of contraceptive use; of sexually active youth, only 26% reported having used a condom. While Bittou and Pama have health service representation, in Léo, five out of six villages did not have a health centre. Both adolescents and parents claimed to have very limited discussion about themes of sexuality and sexual behaviour. The interviews also revealed gender-related differences. Half of the young women interviewed did not believe that a healthy person could be infected with HIV, compared to less than half of all male respondents. Young men tended to disagree with the continuation of excision, while women claim either that the choice is not their own or that they have no fixed opinion.

The above data suggests that Burkina Faso, similar to other Francophone African countries, has lagged behind the rest of the continent in developing viable adolescent outreach programmes. This may be partly due to linguistic, religious, and cultural barriers; differing health infrastructures; limited high-level political support; and inexperience in implementing programmes. Furthermore, a review of existing interventions reveals that the needs of rural youth have not been well addressed. Nevertheless, NGOs in Francophone Africa have demonstrated a high degree of interest in building organisational capacity to effectively respond to adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

The Pacific Institute project aims to assess the impact of the community participation strategy on improving the health-seeking behaviours of youth in the project sites. The community interventions ended in March 2002 and a final evaluation was completed in January 2003. Evaluation findings will be presented during a national conference in Burkina Faso in late March 2003, and have already been shared with the three participating sites.