The YWCA of Zambia Empowers Women
In many part of the world, promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights especially healthy and pleasurable sex lives can be challenging when this conflicts cultural beliefs. A project run by the YWCA of Zambia affirmed that young people are affected by traditional cultures, misconceptions and denial of young people as rights holders. All of this impedes their ability to protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections especially HIV and unintended and early pregnancies.
Recent HIV awareness run by the YWCA proved effective in supporting young people to dispel myths, misconceptions and cultural beliefs that surround HIV and empower them to make informed and safe choices and to address stigma.
A project supported by the World YWCA Power To Change Fund increased awareness on issues of adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)and equipped young people, especially young women, with skills to address disparities in society that make young women vulnerable.
In order to raise awareness, many different activities were conducted in the urban clinic in Kaoma, the general hospital, and in Kaoma high school as well as in several communities of the country.
One of the success of the project was to train 10 peer educators (7 young women and 3 young men), who are in turn conducting awareness raising activities within the communities and schools. The objective of the training was to equip young people with knowledge on SRHR and HIV. The workshop content included topics on decision making, goal setting, negotiation and leadership skills.
One young woman spoke of how this training challenged her:”According to my understanding and feelings, marriage was something like employment with poor conditions of service. Now that I have learnt more on sexual reproductive health and rights and HIV, I know my rights as a woman, I know where to go when I face problems. I have also learnt more about HIV. At first I used to discriminate people who are living with HIV and AIDS by not listening to what they say, not caring for them and not even interacting with them - thinking they deserve to be in such situations because these people have been misbehaving that’s why they are suffering. This is because I did not know how one can contract HIV. After knowing the modes of transmission, I also went for HIV test, and I tested positive.”
After a process of dealing with her HIV positive status, her advice to young people is to support and care for people living with HIV, irrespective of how infection occurred. People living with HIV are a part of our society.
Through sensitisations that were conducted, young people especially girls have been empowered to make informed choices through access and use of SRHR and HIV and AIDS information. So far 4,018 people have been reached through sensitisations, 1,117 girls, 873 boys, 1,324 young women and 704 men.
Another success of the YWCA of Zambia is the YWCA Drop in Centre, a safe space visited by young people to seek counselling, information and psychosocial support. One success story recorded at the YWCA Drop in Centre was of a young woman who was to marry an older man who paid dowry to the girl’ guardians. The girl demanded that they both go for an HIV test the day before the wedding. The man tested HIV positive while the young women tested HIV negative. The young girl presented these results to her guardians and expressed that she did not want to be married to this older man. However, she did not receive any support from her guardians who were later called to the YWCA Drop in Centre; The YWCA encouraged the guardians to listen to the young woman’s concerns regarding the marriage. Following this discussion the guardians paid back the dowry.
The Power to Change Fund project in Zambia demonstrates the importance of sexual, reproductive and health information which is a right. It shows how ignorance on these matters can affect the whole community, but also how easy it is to effect change if young women are supported to know and be able to enjoy their rights. Because of this project young people, especially young women in Zambia are more empowered to make informed and safe choices.
