According to World Health Organization, many young people regard health services as not meeting their needs and distrust them. They avoid such services altogether or seek help from them only when they are desperate. As an organization we conducted community scorecards on two public health facilities within Changamwe Sub-county on Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services and all the respondents reported a very low or complete lack of knowledge of the scope of youth friendly services provision and also the facilities hardly involve the young people in decision making and programs that target them on SRHR.

The YOUTH ACTION! for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights(YA!SRHR) is aiming at putting the Adolescents and Youths at the core of SRH service provision in the public health facilities within Changamwe and also foster service user feedback for improved and strengthened Adolescent and Youth Friendly Sexual and Reproductive Health Services. Through the Sub-county MoH, We intend to introduce Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services Performance Improvement Team(PIT) at facility levels that will include the Young People, Sub-County AYP Coordinator, Facility/Nurse in-charges, Youth Friendly Service Providers and Community Health Promoters. The team will be responsible for ensuring improved Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services at the respective health facilities by creating demand, advocating for Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services, collecting feedbacks from adolescents and Young People as the service users and help in addressing issues raised that hamper effective service delivery of SRH services to adolescents and young people at the facilities. The teams will ensure all the public health facilities within Changamwe i.e Chaani Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital, Magongo Health Facility, Bokole MCM and Portreitz Hospital have functional Adolescents and Youth Friendly Space/Centers by pushing for the facilities that don't have the spaces to allocate one and make those existing functional and more active. The team will also introduce the AYP suggestion boxes in those spaces for Adolescents and Young People to give their feedbacks on the services and issues that they need to be addressed. The team will be opening the boxes on weekly basis for timely responses to the issues raised and also the issues will inform the advocacy agendas for the team and intervention to employ in helping to improve and strengthen adolescent and youth friendly services as a way of addressing the issue identified by World Health Organization and confirmed by us.

The introduction of the Adolescent and Young People suggestion boxes and Performance Improvement Team at the youth friendly services makes it unique. Many believe that having a youth friendly space or service providers automatically makes the young people to freely seek SRH services or call them on a dialogue at the facility to ask them to share out the challenges they face while accessing the services which most of them tend to hold or be scared to genuinely give their feedbacks. The suggestion boxes will give them a platform for them to genuinely give their feedback and get timely responds. Furthermore, there are no suggestion boxes specifically designated for AYPs at facility level in Mombasa County thus making it unique. Also, there are no committees or taskforces at facility level in Mombasa county incoperating the young people and also aimed at improving Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services making it unique.

The innovation will ensure prompt action and feedback to challenges faced by adolescents and young people while accessing Sexual and Reproductive Health services at public health facilities within Changamwe Sub-county. It will also ensure all the public health facilities within Changamwe have designated space for adolescents and young people to access SRH services including information easily. The committee which will be spearheaded by the young people will ensure there are activities at the adolescent and youth friendly spaces including outdoor games like cerrum, ludo, draft, chess, e.t.c that will make the spaces vibrant and accommodative for the young people thus increasing their access to SRH services at the facilities which will address the issue of them seeking the services only when they are desperate. The innovation can be adopted on a larger scale by formulation of a county Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services Performance Improvement Team that will work closely with the County Health Management Team (CHMT) to ensure that all the public health facilities within the county emulate the same. The team will also be working and advising the CHMT on the issues to address on programs to ensure the Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services are improved in Mombasa.

Implementation Plan;
1. Meeting the Sub-county MoH to introduce the innovation.
2. Visiting the public health facilities and meet the facility in-charges.
3.Mapping and Identification of the Team
4. Training of the Teams on SRHR and Advocacy
3. Development of workplans by the Teams.
4. Placement of the Adolescents and Youth suggestion boxes
5. Monthly meetings by the Teams.

Milestones;
1. At least 500 Adolescents and Young People will be reached with information and other SRHR services in 3 months.
2. All the public health facilities within Changamwe will have functional adolescents and youth friendly spaces within a month.
3. All the adolescents and youth friendly spaces will have a dedicated team aimed at strengthening SRH services within the first month of the implementation.
4. All the adolescent and youth friendly spaces will have Adolescents and Youth suggestion boxes on the first month of implementation for prompt action on their issues.
5. Fun outdoor games will be introduced within the first month.

Resources;
Human Resource;
– Project Officer
– Finance Officer
– MEAL officer
– Executive Director

Financial;
– Purchase of suggestion boxes
– Purchase of outdoor gaming equipments.
– Logistics for the training
– Reimbursement for the monthly meeting.
– Support and payment of the human resource
– Facilitating the workplans
– Office Administration Cost

Technical Support;
– Capacity building on organizational development and system strengthening.

The challenge or risk we oversee is over expectations from the AYPs and we intend to work with different partners to mitigate it.

• By submitting this form, you confirm that the information provided is accurate and complete to the best of your knowledge.