BACKGROUND
Young people are a country’s future; therefore it is in the interest of policymakers to ensure that young people can become healthy and active citizens. This is responsibility of policymakers to ensure that young people have the support they need to make informed choices about a wide range of issues, including their Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH).
Young adolescents have a right to receive comprehensive information, education, health services, and other social and legal supports during this highly formative stage of their lives. Results are lack of knowledge, lack of access to modern contraceptives, lower status and sexual harassment of women, violence against homosexuals, an increase in HIV-infections and life-long psychological and physical damage caused by unsafe abortions carried out as a result of inadequate prevention of unwanted pregnancies and illegality. Young people who seek reproductive health services often face judgmental health providers who offer neither confidentiality nor privacy. Most of the youth related programmes focus more on SRH as public health agenda and less on the effects on individuals and their rights.
Keeping in view the SRHR situation of young people in Pakistan, World Population Foundation with the support from European Union initiated the project: Rights-driven Institutionalization of SRH in Pakistan with an over all objective to “Improve Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights status in Pakistan”. This project proposed on carrying out an assessment of the current Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) situation of young people from a human rights perspective using a Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Assessment tool i.e. SeHRAF. The findings derived as a result of using this tool can be used to develop interventions in the health and education services to institutionalize Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. For more details on the project please visit, www.wpfpak.org/html/rdisrhp_eu.html.
SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK
Purpose of the SeHRAF Toolkit
The toolkit is intended to measure Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights status of young people to help education and health service providers, parents, programme planners, policy makers and young people in looking critically at their policies and programmes through a rights-based lens. It is a guiding tool to assist SRHR-focused organizations and other development agencies working with and for young people in the assessment of rights and using information in the design and implementation of rights-based programmes.
Who is the Toolkit for?
The toolkit is intended for use by anyone involved in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights assessment initiatives.
How should it be used?
The toolkit can be used in following ways:
- As a guiding tool for public and private research institutions to assess SRH Rights and the violation of SRH rights in the country/community with a Muslim Context.
- As a guiding tool for NGOs and policy makers who want to advocate for the SRH Rights of young people, women or marginalized communities.
- Depending on the stage of the programme, the toolkit can be used to design a new programme with a rights-based lens or to offer guidance as to how a rights-based approach can be integrated into already existing programmes in the developing countries including those with a Muslim context.
Structure of the Toolkit
The tool kit has 5 sections:
Section 1: Talks about the definition of SeHRAF Toolkit, its purpose and how should it be used.
Section 2: Gives a brief introduction of the Foundation, our objectives and development approaches. It then describes the need of SRHR for young people and also explains about the project for which this tool was developed and research was conducted.
Section 3: Elaborates the development of SeHRAF toolkit and its components and administration. It also describes how we can analyze and interpret the research data gathered for assessing SRH Rights of Young people.
Section 4: Provides ideas regarding one can utilize the findings for developing SRHR focused programmes for young people and women.
Section 5: Comprises of annexure which gives instruments and tools developed in SeHRAF for assessing SRH Rights of young people.
UTILITY OF SeHRAF
The findings of the SeHRAF toolkit can be used in a number of ways to influence intervention strategies and project activities. The indicators of the tool and findings can be used in the following ways:
- For developing SRHR focused capacity building materials for NGOs / CSOs, education / health professionals, religious leaders and media
- For developing SRHR Advocacy strategy
- For developing SRHR curriculum for young people and training manuals for Master Trainers and Teachers
- Serves as a baseline for future SRHR Assessments
HOW WPF, PAKISTAN CAN ASSIST
Being the developer of SeHRAF tool and having first hand experience of applying it, WPF, Pakistan can facilitate other organizations in replicating and/or developing future generations of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Assessment Framework. Some of the areas where this help can be extended are:
- Assisting in acquiring acquaintance with SeHRAF.
- Replicating and/or adapting SeHRAF to cater for the specific requirements of a given research.
- Designing future interventions based on the findings of a research using SeHRAF.
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