Interagency Youth Working Group

Gender is a critical issue to consider when addressing youth reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. Traditional gender norms contribute to unintended pregnancy, STIs, HIV/AIDS, sexual violence and coercion, early marriage, and other harmful practices. 

 

For females, gender norms in many cultures include submissiveness, deference to male authority, dependence, virginity until marriage, and faithfulness during marriage. Norms for men, in contrast, are built around power and control, independence, not showing emotions, risk-taking, using violence to resolve conflict, early sexual activity, and having multiple sexual partners. Such inequality limits young people's control over their sexual and reproductive lives. 

 

Adolescence provides an opportunity for addressing gender issues and related reproductive health concerns. Many projects that address gender inequality have focused primarily on the needs of girls, but there is growing recognition of the importance of working with boys and young men to help achieve positive, long-term change. Working at changing gender norms when youth are young is a proven and cost-effective way of redressing gender inequalities and improving reproductive health and HIV/AIDS outcomes.

 

For more information, also see these program areas:

The Gender Guide for Health Communication Programs. This guide provides a five-step approach to ensuring that communication programs incorporate gender sensitivity. It includes examples of successful programs and information about terminology. (Johns Hopkins University/Center for Communication Programs and CEDPA, 2003)

Boys and Changing Gender Roles. A growing number of projects recognize the importance of working with boys and young men to change gender norms and at the same time affect behaviors related to reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. (Family Health International/YouthNet, 2005)

Boys in the Picture. This report (in English, French, Spanish, and Portugese) provides an overview of issues related to the sexual health of adolescent boys. (World Health Organization)

Early Marriage and Adolescent Girls. Girls at risk of child marriage and those already married experience greater disadvantages compared to unmarried girls or married young women, but most programs addressing adolescent reproductive health and HIV prevention have focused primarily on unmarried youth. (Family Health International/YouthNet, 2005)

Gender Norms Affect Adolescents. In an effort to improve the reproductive health of adolescents and young adults, many organizations that work with youth are incorporating a gender perspective into sex education, service delivery, and provider training programs. (Family Health International, 1997)

Keeping the Promise: Five Benefits of Girls’ Secondary Education. A dramatic gender gap exists in secondary schooling, with girls lacking opportunities, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This report presents an up-to-date picture of the dialogue and actions being taken on investments in secondary education. (Academy for Educational Development, 2006)

Married Adolescents: No Place of Safety. This document explores issues around early marriage and outlines some promising programs in countries where early marriage and early childbirth are common. (World Health Organization, 2006)

 

New Horizons: Mobilizing Communities for Girls’ Education in Egypt. This fact sheet describes the results of a non-formal education program designed to communicate basic life skills and reproductive health information to girls and young women between the ages of 9 and 20 in rural and urban settings. (The Centre for Development and Population Activities, 2005)

 

New Visions: Life Skills Information for Boys. This fact sheet describes the results of a non-formal education program designed to encourage the development of important life skills and to increase gender sensitivity and reproductive health knowledge among boys and young men aged 12-20. (The Centre for Development and Population Activities, 2005)

 

Nonconsensual Sex among Youth. Programs need to consider patterns and consequences of coerced sex when addressing reproductive health, HIV prevention, and other needs of young people. (Family Health International/YouthNet, 2004)

 

Promoting More Gender-equitable Norms and Behaviors Among Young Men as an HIV/AIDS Prevention Strategy. There is growing evidence that risk of acquiring HIV/STIs for both young men and young women is linked to early socialization that promotes certain gender roles as the norm. This document examines the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve young men’s attitudes toward gender norms and to reduce HIV/STI risk. (Horizons, 2006)

 

Working with Adolescent Boys: Programme Experiences. This document reports the results from a survey of programs that have examined the specific needs and situations of adolescent boys. The survey was conducted in Africa (primarily sub-Saharan Africa), the Americas, the eastern Mediterranean region, and Southeast Asia. (World Health Organization, 2000)

 

Working with Young Men to Promote Sexual and Reproductive Health. This report discusses innovative and successful work to promote sexual and reproductive health among young men in developing countries. (UK Government’s Department for International Development/Safe Passages, 2002)

 

Young Men and HIV: Culture, Poverty, and Sexual Risk. This report explains the critical role that young men play in the global AIDS pandemic. It highlights how they have been largely ignored in HIV interventions to date and explains how this exclusion could have devastating results in the long-term. It investigates the challenges young men face and looks at the most effective ways of addressing their needs. (United Nations/Panos Institute, 2001)

 

Young Men and the Construction of Masculinity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for HIV/AIDS, Conflict, and Violence. This report provides a review of literature on men and masculinities, conflict and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, and examples of programs that apply a gender perspective to work with young men.  (World Bank, 2005)

Interagency Gender Working Group. Interagency Gender Working Group (IGWG) provides tools and information on promoting gender equity within population, health, and nutrition programs worldwide. The IGWG is a network of nongovernmental organizations, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), cooperating agencies, and the Bureau for Global Health of USAID. Its goal is to foster sustainable development and improve reproductive health and HIV/AIDS outcomes.