Promouvoir la santé sexuelle et reproductive chez les adolescents : qu’est-ce qui fonctionne ?

The precocity of entry into sexual and reproductive life contributes to increases in health and reproduction indicators. Leaving the parental home, depending on whether it happens before or after the first sexual relations and/or the first pregnancy, can be a cause or consequence of entering sexual life and/or reproductive life. The aim of this study is therefore to identify and establish a typology of the main life paths of young women in terms of their first sexual relations, their first move from the parental home and their first pregnancy; to determine the profiles of young women according to the typology identified; and to determine the factors associated with the occurrence of events in the most frequent life path. Based on factors associated with transitions in this causal chain, policy implications will be identified. To this end, two analytical methods, namely optimal matching analysis and the Cox regression model, will be used on a set of data from a survey on poverty and the unsatisfied needs of adolescents and young people in Bafia, conducted in 2010 by IDTR, which gathered 2,783 biographies of adolescents and young people aged 15 to 34.

The Arab world, two-thirds of whose population is today made up of young people under 25, is in full transformation. The Arab revolutions have challenged the value system that reigned for decades or even centuries and that developed under dictatorial and totalitarian regimes. Today, young people in the Arab world, who were the catalysts for the fall of the dictators, now find themselves caught between the difficult quest for their freedom and independence and the weight of reprisals by the former regimes and old conservative opponents. This double constraint that they are under creates a sort of social schizophrenia in them, since freedom also involves the body, initiation to a healthy sex life and a solid knowledge of reproductive health, whereas* conservative governments’ approaches and emerging obscurantist currents regard the body and sexuality as the most impure sins and the most unspoken taboos. This has prompted young people, out of ignorance of their needs and owing to the culture of bodily denial that has been perpetuated for generations, to take risks through experiences that jeopardise their lives and their mental well-being. The situation is alarming, and there is only one solution: sexual education for all young Arabs.

* Translator’s note: the connecting word here did not make sense and has been corrected so that the sentence is logical.

The province of Katanga, located in south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and with a surface area of 496,877 km², has 11,462,290 inhabitants, 68% of whom are under the age of 25. One out of every four adolescents between the ages of 15-19 has already given birth to at least one child. The prevalence of HIV is 5.6%, and only 6% of girls and women aged 15 to 24 said they had used a condom during their most recent sexual intercourse with a casual partner (MICS, 2010). The commitment of the local authorities to move the ICPD agenda forward is very strong. UNFPA supports the government’s efforts, which show clear financial commitment, in particular as regards promoting adolescents’ and young people’s access to sexual and reproductive health information, advice and services. The approach adopted is “youth for youth". The strategies used include advocacy, establishing alliances with journalists, rallying young people and adolescents, partnerships, mobilising resources, self-financing, offering VCT and family planning services and attractive services. In 16 months, 250 young people/adolescents used the services at the centre every day; 120,000 were made aware of HIV/AIDS prevention methods and the consequences of early fertility and marriage; 4,000 were screened for HIV thanks to mobile VCT; 20 educator pairs and 14 young journalists were trained; and 15 youth health clubs were created in schools.