Swaziland: The Ngwenya Town Board take a stand for Children Sexual reproductive health and rights

The project provides, respect and promotes children sexual and reproductive rights. It address gender based violence including sexual violence to try and ensure full access to comprehensive sexual education for young children. Ensure full access to age appropriate information on HIV and sexual and reproductive health and right, including on sexuality and gender identity. Provide training to caregivers on parent child communication. To try and get funding from the government to provide caregivers resources for teaching young people about sexual reproductive and health rights. To train health motivators on sexual reproductive and health rights and the importance of respecting the rights of all human beings in particular those who often experience stigma such as young people living with HIV, affected by HIV.

Sexual and reproduction rights is a combination of four fields sexual health, sexual rights, reproductive health, reproductive rights to provide training on sexual and reproductive health rights to community health motivators. Well trained people to provide services tailored to the needs, rights and desires of child's and young people, especially those living with and most affected by HIV. Promote gender equality and address gender –based violence including sexual violence in all its forms including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Implement programs that works to transform gender. Norms that perpetuate violence and discrimination against children and young people most affected by HIV. Encourage children and young people to participate in community dialogues. Teach them that they must be actively be involved in the planning implementation and evaluation of development activities that have direct impact in their lives. Young people and children and involve them in youth led activities in the community such as rights based campaigns and approaches to challenges in the future. The project want to support CBO's and health motivators to work together. To bring integrated HIV and sexually reproductive and health rights services to young key population. Linking up HIV and sexually reproductive and health rights training and information education and communication materials to enable peer educators and service provides to engage young people and be able to refer them.The main activities are:

• Put vouchers in public places for calling youth dialogues and also engage youth.
• Made youth supported groups for them to meet once a month to share ideas.
• Teach them to a responsible safer sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide.
• Discussed about discrimination against children and young people living with HIV.
• Community awareness are also one of the steps we took, and engaged community leaders to pass the message across when they have traditional gatherings or meetings.

The in kind contributions amounted to $10. The total budget for the project is $10. In the regional level. Partnership were formed with community based groups and faith based groups. These were all done at regional level because we did. Not have enough resources. Networking with partners like STOP AIDS NOW ! Also enabled youth to advocate from key population to engage, participate, and network with other partners.

The project has benefited about 80 direct beneficiaries active groups. The project reaches 30 indirect beneficiaries. Monitoring and evaluation was done to help us to strengthen the project we do so by. Going back and looking back if our teaching are being fruitful with the youth in the community. The right tools was to take data to improve health and rights, and the right tools to reduce risk behavior among children and youth. Monitoring and evaluation was done to educate community leaders, youth and parents who can ensure support for children and youth programs. Sharing results also helps to strengthen the network of other organization who wants to work with younger people. We needed to do good monitoring and evaluation so that when we request funding we have the perfect results.

Monitoring and evaluation can raise awareness of children's and youth among the community and help to build positive perception about young people and youth programs. Monitoring and evaluation was done to find out what worked and that some strategies do make the intended impact, and to look if planned activities are being implemented according to plan by collecting information. It also helps to determine the program quality to hear what young people perceptive areas are based on. Cultural beliefs and values, personal interaction within a community, opinions and views of volunteers who carry out the program. It also helps to measure access to sexual reproductive and health rights at a level of cost that it is not far and is safe and they can have a feeling of sharing confidentiality.

The challenges we had was lack of funds. We faced difficulties when making dialogues as participants need incentives and refreshments even if the dialogue last for two hours people will complain that they are hungry. Other challenges is that most women complain of violence once they have disclosed their status. Processing of reports from community health workers is also a challenge, and monitoring and evaluation lack of money to train community health workers delayed our plans to implement the project because health worker's needs training before beginning their visits to the community.

Women were empowered in that they received training and are now able to talk and teach in their community about sexual reproductive and rights to the community, their youth and their families. Women were also empowered by educating them in most important means skills and self confidence so that they can participate fully in the development process going on in their community. They were also educated about unwanted pregnancy how it can be prevented through sexual reproductive and health rights and through improved family planning including counseling to reduce the rate of abortions. Women should readily access to quality health care services with reliable information. They were also empowered on sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and for their future knowledge to take this skills and bring them to the community. As women play an important role in their families and communities it was encouraged that if possible no women must be left out in these educational dialogues, unfortunately that was not possible.

Men have participated but the majority was women. " I was very impressed when I went to these dialogues we were sitting under a big tree and I saw beautiful girls and handsome boys. The people were shining and laughing and it was easy to mix with them, I do not feel discriminated.” Said Dudu Hlatshwayo.

Sifiso Shabangu got all the information I was able to ask relevant question and get answers. “when I heard about that there is a meeting that's teaching youths about sexual and reproductive rights I thought that they are going to talk about sex I ended up gaining a lot of information and I got a number to call if I needed anything concerning the topic.’’ She added.

People talk about how their children talk about sexual and reproductive health rights to other youths. There have been a difference as some families since they are now talking about this issue of sexual reproductive and health issues. The goals of reproductive health programs should be to increase women and adolescent control over their bodies, their sexuality and ultimately their lives to improve women health including their reproductive and sexual health and to change norms to excise of their reproductive health and rights. Women must be respected to make their own reproductive decisions they must have both the information and the authority to make decisions about reproduction and the services that will enable them to satisfy their reproductive health and rights.

Change is seen that the youth are open and are not ashamed to talk about it children and young people are vulnerable when their parents or family have limited capacity to effectively care for them, and provide for their long-term development and well being. That capacity can be affected by a range of factors such as alcohol, family violence mental health issues, disability, isolation financial stress, homelessness or bereavement. "We have promoted these activities to help young people sexual and reproductive health and right including their right to love and be loved freely regardless of sexual orientation. Changing in attitude suggests that television viewing influence children sexual attitudes and behavior towards permissiveness. The opinion of male having sex before married was higher and girls having children before married was also high".

The lesson learned is that percevirence results in good results although not at the level we want,also that it is important to keep raising awareness of this issues at national and network helps to bring voices of young people from respective constituency to the center stage.These project can be sustained by getting funding and receiving resources for more dialogues for the project to be easy to replicate.