Health Rights

Planning and Support Tool for Empowering Approaches to SRHR Education with Young People

Sue Holden Publications - English , , , , ,
Planning and Support Tool for Empowering Approaches to SRHR Education with Young People

Stop Aids Now! Planning & Support Tool

Evidence and Rights-based Planning and Support Tool for Empowering Approaches to SRHR Education with Young People

STOP AIDS NOW! (now Aidsfonds) and Rutgers asked me to revise their Planning and Support Tool, which they had first published in 2009.

This involved a good deal of research, consultation and writing, to bring the document into line with the agencies’ changing approaches and to respond to users’ requests.

Download the 2016 PDF (2.2Mb).

Extract

This tool is designed to assist organisations that want to promote young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and to empower them to enjoy their (sexual) development, relationships, attain their rights and have a greater sense of wellbeing. It focuses mainly on the strategy of SRHR education, also known as (comprehensive) sexuality education.

To improve young people’s quality of life and (sexual) health we need effective programmes, but developing and implementing them is not easy. However, experience and evidence gained from work all over the world shows what contributes to effectiveness and what doesn’t. This tool summarises the most important evidence in a logical and easy to use way (much of it comes from research by Kirby and colleagues into HIV and sexuality education programmes around the world). It aims to help organisations to take well-informed decisions about the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of SRHR programmes, and to modify their work as needed. The outcome of using the tool should be more effective interventions which are empowering and rights- and evidence-based.

You can use the tool to analyse existing interventions, in order to identify what is already going well and what needs improvement. You can also use it to assist with designing new interventions.

Users have used the tool for various purposes:
• Analysing existing SRHR education programmes
• Designing of new SRHR education programmes
• As a framework to guide discussion with donor organisations
• Capacity building and improvement of their projects or programmes
• Documenting intervention planning afterwards
• Modifying an existing intervention to use in a different context
• Assessing project proposals
• For defining advocacy strategies
• Linking and learning between different organisations

However, this framework should not oblige you to implement programmes completely according to the tool; the particular context, implementation setting or mandate of your organisation may require choices that are not in line with the tool.

You can use the tool to analyse or plan a variety of SRHR interventions, for example: school based and out-of-school interventions; large and small projects; with different SRHR focuses; targeting children, younger or older people; for orphans and vulnerable children; or for young people who are at work.

DOWNLOAD the full 2016 PDF.

The Big Picture: A guide for implementing HIV prevention that empowers women and girls

Sue Holden Publications - English , , , , , ,
The Big Picture - Implementing HIV prevention

The Big Picture: A guide for gender transformative HIV programming

From 2006 to 2010 STOP AIDS NOW! (now Aidsfonds) supported an innovative project in Kenya and Indonesia which gave equal weight to HIV prevention, gender equity and human rights. At the end of the project they asked me to set out the theory and practice of their partners’ efforts in a ‘how to’ guide. I co-authored the guide with the project’s manager, Jennifer Bushee.  Aidsfonds updated the guide in 2020, and that’s the version you can download here.

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Extract

This guide provides ‘how-to’ information for developing a gender transformative approach in HIV programming. A gender transformative approach addresses root causes of vulnerability to HIV and seeks to reshape the beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of individuals and communities in favour of gender equality. It requires changing the policies, norms, and practices, which underlie gender inequality.

The information in this guide is based on experiences of organisations working with a gender transformative approach as well as up to date evidence. It provides practical steps you can follow to analyse and design your programme, as well as profound background information to understand what a gender transformative approach entails. Finally, it captures the experiences of organisations in four case studies found in section 3.

The advice in this guide is not fixed and definite; please read it as providing suggestions based on the experiences of Aidsfonds and partners. The tool gives guidance on how to think from a ‘gender transformative’ perspective, but it does not, for example, give step-by-step instructions for doing a gender analysis. The advice in this guide should be adapted to fit local needs and the relevant social, political, and cultural context.

This guide encourages readers to think differently about how to respond to HIV, using a holistic perspective, the so-called ‘big picture’. Therefore, it should be relevant for different types of interventions, beyond HIV programming.

A Different Way: Young women, their sexual orientations and their sexual rights

Sue Holden Publications - English , , ,
Sexual Orientation and sexual rights

A different way - International Programme on SexualityA Different Way: Young women, their sexual orientations and their sexual rights

Rutgers WPF asked gay and straight young people from around the world about what information would help girls and young women who have questions about their sexual orientation.  I used their ideas and queries to write A Different Way, which was also translated into French as Vivre Sa Difference.

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Extract

All around the world, people’s ideas of sex, love and marriage focus on men and women. But this is not the whole story! There are different ways to be, including relationships between women, and relationships between men. But there is not much information available to help young women find their way.

We have written this booklet for young women who:

  • may be feeling different;
  • want to know more;
  • have questions about their sexuality;
  • and want to do what is best for themselves.

We want to give young women information about different sexual orientations. We hope it will help them to understand the issues better, and to make good choices, particularly if they are feeling unsure. This booklet should also be useful for people who work with young women, such as teachers and health workers.

Our values

We believe in human rights. They are things which everyone should have. Among them are sexual rights. Everyone should be able to choose their sexual partner, to decide whether or not to have sex, and be free to try and have a satisfying and safe sexual life.

Too often these sexual rights are abused. For example, young women are forced or pressurised into having sex, or required to marry a certain man. The situation is usually worse for women who are attracted to other women.

Sometimes information can help. In many cultures young people get a confusing mix of messages from films, magazines, friends, family members, and religious leaders. Some of this information is incorrect. Some of it is used to try and control them. Many adults think telling young people information about sex will lead to them having sex. This is not true! Many studies have shown that getting information about sex and healthy relationships helps young people to make better decisions.

What’s in this booklet

Chapter 2 is about sex and healthy relationships. It should be useful to all young women.

Chapter 3 explains what gender identity is, and outlines the different kinds of attraction or sexual orientation that are normal for humans.

Chapter 4 has a lot of questions and answers about women who are attracted to other women. They should be interesting to young people in general, and particularly to young women who are trying to figure out their sexual orientation.