Youth Action Movement Eswatini

As 28th September is commemorated globally, SAfAIDS recognises past and current global, regional and local efforts advocating adolescent girls and women’s access to safe abortion. SAfAIDS however notes with great concern the increasing retrogressive and punitive legislative frameworks and policies denying women’s access to safe abortion and freedom of choice, criminalising abortion, and limiting access to comprehensive reproductive rights and health, contributing to high rates of morbidity and mortality, particularly in developing countries. Additionally, the Mexico City Policy (Global Gag Rule) reinstated in 2017 only served to worsen the plight of adolescent girls and women - through denied full bodily autonomy and agency, and restricted access to comprehensive reproductive health services, including safe abortion. It is against this background that SAfAIDS and its partners in SADC are buttressing efforts to promote adolescent girls and women’s access to comprehensive s...

It's All About Contraceptives It is quite exciting to note that the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act of 2018 have finally received Royal Assent from His Majesty King Mswati III and is now law in the Kingdom of Eswatini. I strongly believe that the existence of the SODV Act of 2018 will provide a protective environment for the marginalised and vulnerable groups of society, restore peace in different family settings and make courts accessible for victims of Sexual and Gender Based Violence. The coming into law of the SODV Act of 2018 will create an environment in Eswatini where Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights are protected, supported and respected.  True to the words of an African giant, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, “There is no night so long that it does not end with dawn’’. Indeed, the SODV Act of 2018 presents a new dawn in the struggle to champion access to quality and non-discriminatory SRHR information and services in Eswatini. Today’s article will focus on the d...

Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) For Young People. On 7 December 2013, Ministers of Health and Education from 20 Countries in Eastern and Southern Africa met to discuss the common challenges facing young people in the region. While they recognised that significant progress had been made to address the needs of adolescents and young people with respects to ensuring access to life skills based HIV and Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and youth friendly sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services: they realised that there was still more work to be done. Notably the Eastern and Southern Africa remains the region mostly affected by HIV, its faces high rates of adolescent maternal mortality and among other social and public health challenges. The 20 countries then crafted the Ministerial Commitment on CSE and SRH services for Adolescents and Young people in Eastern and Southern Africa – otherwise known as the ESA commitment. In it, they agreed to work collaboratively tow...

Extending the Arm of Health (ETAH) FLAS strive to provide integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health services through the static clinics and outreach sites prioritizing young people aged 10-24 as a primary target and adults above 24 years as its secondary target group. In an effort to expand service provision, the Association also focus on enabling other partners through service provision, capacity building and mentoring. The Family Life Association of Eswatini strategic plan 2016 -2020 stresses particular attention in reaching out to a number of people with SRHR services and information. The Association pledged and committed to provide over 2 million qualities integrated SRH services delivered by FLAS volunteers, staff and partners. This is because integrated SRHR and HIV service delivery remain the core function of the institution and this is enabled and done through static clinics and outreach activities with mobile clinic. Rational for Integrated SRHR and HIV services Among ...

In an effort to create safe spaces for youth, FLAS operates in five (5) Youth Friendly Centers in the country. These Youth Centers are located   Manzini; Nhlangano, Mantambe, Mbabane and Big Bend. There are used as forums to reach young people with accurate information on SRHR and HIV information and life skills development. The Youth centers have an elected Site Advisory Committees that coordinates and implement activities in different communities and reach out too many young people with information and services. FLAS interacts with over 34000 young people on an annual basis through the Youth Centers. The core functions of the Youth Centers Deliver Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) These sessions are ongoing and supported by parents and community leaders and help to give the youth advice on problems that include Reproductive Health & HIV, weight management, mental problems, and stop drug abuse aspects. Peer to Peer educational sessions empowers you...

Family Planning in Eswatini Family Planning is the ability of an individual or couple to plan their family size, birth intervals of their children, when to start and stop having children through the use of family planning methods that are safe, effective, accessible and acceptable. These include both modern and natural family planning methods. Eswatini Family Planning programme is by far one of the leading programmes in Africa as there are proportionally more currently married women who are using modern methods of contraception than in other countries. In 2014, the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate reached 66% thereby putting the country on the same spot as Zimbabwe with the highest CPR in the continent.  Despite these tremendous achievements by the government, inequalities in terms of access to Family Planning continue to exist among different groups of women particularly younger and vulnerable women. According to MICS 2014, younger women aged 20-24 and older women ...

We form relationships as soon as we are born with parents, siblings and family. As we move outside the home, school or neighbourhood, friends may become important. As we get older new relationships such as teacher-student, employer- employee, are formed. A relationship involves a connection between people and although we come into contact with many people in our daily lives only a few encounters will result in relationships or friendships. Some people have many relationships, a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, and others prefer only a few close friends. Key Messages:  We form relationships from the moment we are born and as we age, the relationships we form evolve  Healthy relationships can be characterised by closeness, respect, good communication, shared goals/beliefs, shared interests and affection.  Love is a feeling (emotional) whereas sex is a behaviour. There are many ways of showing love that do not involve sex and there are also ways of being phys...

Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) concerns the well-being of women, as well as that of their partners and children. The country is accelerating efforts toward the realization of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and strengthening the access and utilization of SRH services at all levels is one of the key initiatives that the Ministry of Health is targeting. High maternal mortality rate, high adolescent fertility rate, unmet need for family planning, and on-going problems with sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) are some of the indicators that highlight a need for a comprehensive sexuality education and evidence based interventions. This Policy provides concrete areas of focus and is aligned to international and national policies and frameworks. It addresses reproductive health and rights challenges faced by citizens of Swaziland and outlines implications for the different levels in the Ministry. It also recognises the role that other sectors play in improving the SRH of the...