Les Jeunes et la Planification Familiale: Accessibilité des jeunes à la planification familiale par l’approche pair-mentoring dans les zones d’intervention de MAHEFA

The program was implemented by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI) in partnership with Transaid and The Manoff Group, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The program was conducted in six regions in the north and northwest of Madagascar, including Menabe, SAVA, DIANA, Sofia, Melaky, and Boeny. During the program's lifespan, 6,052 community agents (AC) were trained, equipped, and supervised to provide basic health services in areas such as maternal, neonatal, and child health; family planning and reproductive health, including the prevention of sexually transmitted infections; water, sanitation, and hygiene; nutrition; and malaria prevention and treatment. The AC were selected by their community members, trained, and supervised by the managers of the basic health centers. They provided services according to the mandate assigned to them in the National Policy on Community Health (PNSC). In this context, like other community actors involved in the MAHEFA program, they worked as volunteers. The program aimed to increase access to family planning (PF) and reproductive health (SR) services among young people in Madagascar. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 225 million women in developing countries who want to stop or delay childbearing lack access to modern contraceptive methods. In Madagascar, the needs of young people aged 10-24 years are not yet fully met, despite the widespread dissemination of PF and SR programs for young people in several countries. The program used an innovative approach of peer mentoring between community agents (AC) and young peer educators (JPE) in the district capitals to increase access and use of PF services among young people. Through the mentors, the JPE and AC worked together to provide education and PF services to young people in the target communities. The JPE were trained to inform and refer young people who needed PF services to the AC or basic health centers. This was the first time that a mentoring approach had been used to promote better access to health information and services for young people in Madagascar. The program's main activities included selecting sites for JPE activities, identifying partners for JPE activities, introducing JPE activities at the local level, assisting communes in selecting JPE, and providing pre-service and in-service training for AC mentors and JPE. The program aimed to increase the adoption of PF services among young people and to reduce the unmet needs for PF among this age group. The program's results showed that the mentoring approach was effective in increasing access to PF services among young people in Madagascar.