The Role of Peer service providers in Addressing Sexual Reproductive Health Services to Young People of Adama Town: The case of Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia Adama youth center

Abstract

Worldwide, young women and men suffer from different SRH problems including; unplanned pregnancies, abortions, STDs, HIV/AIDS, female genital mutilation, infertility, sexual and gender violence.Following the Cairo, 1994 ICPD, some national and international NGOs have been starting implementing youth focused SRH programs in Ethiopia. FGAE is one of the national nongovernmental organizations that provide integrated SRH services for young people its 28 youth centres. FGAE Nazareth Youth Centre of Adama town is one of the multipurpose youth centres run under central area office. The youth center provides various SRH services to young people in Adama town using clinic and outreach. The PSPs were providing various SRH services to the beneficiaries in outreach level. But there is no any research done on their output. Therefore the major objective of this study was to assess the practices and challenges of peer service providers in providing SRH services for the young people in Adama town. The research design used was descriptive survey method that employed qualitative data gathering techniques. Hence, interview, FGD and assessing records of PSPs were the data gathering instruments utilized. For this research, 32 PSPs, and four staff directly involved with PSPs were the study group. As data gathered showed all PSPs were providing similar SRH services to the beneficiaries; SRH/IEC, counseling, FP, condom promotion and distribution, EC, referral, and FLE training were the major services. The factors that significantly associated with PSPs performance level were: age, the time allocated for service per week, number of service years before and after being PSP, the degree of involvement in the youth center activities. The PSPs had got different support from the youth center as well as from other organizations. Challenges encountered during implementations were found out absence of transportation facility, shortage of up-to-date material, resistance from the community, financial constraints and disinterests of the client were listed as the major factors. In general, we can conclude from this study PSPs were playing important role in addressing SRH services to the young people in Adama town. Hence, the researcher recommended that in order to enhance the role played by PSPs the youth center should involve them in all programmatic activities.