REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SUB-PROGRAMME

Project Document between

The Government of Lebanon
and
UNFPA

Background

The outcome of the Reproductive Health sub-programme of the 2002-2006 programme cycle is to have contributed to improved utilization of quality reproductive health services and information by women, men, and youth. To that effect, two outputs contributing to the achievement of the outcome were identified. The second of these outputs was: “increased availability of information and enhanced awareness of youth about reproductive and sexual health”. It was planned that three projects would be developed to realize the above stated output. The first of these projects aimed mainly at providing youth with information on SRH issues through various out of school channels and events. The project was supposed to be developed and implemented through the Ministry of Youth. The project did not materialize. The second project (IEC in support of RH at community level - LEB/02/P02) aimed at building the capacity of the Ministry of Social Affairs for undertaking advocacy and awareness raising activities. The third of these projects ( Advocacy for integration of population education in school curricula and extra curricula activities - LEB/04/P01) was developed and implemented through the Ministry of Education. The project aimed at providing youth with information on SRH issues through various in-school channels (curricula and extra curricula based). The initial stages of the project were to focus on examining passed experiences, review curricular and text books, conduct relevant research, and undertake awareness raising and advocacy activities.

The interventions in the second above mentioned project (LEB/02/P02) aimed at building the capacity of the MOSA for conducting awareness raising campaigns. These interventions included advocacy activities to build community and media support, conducting community mobilization campaigns, building communication capacities of health care providers and community outreach workers, training youth volunteers, producing communication materials, and building a media support network.

The LEB/02/P02 project made good use of the manuals produced by the previous MOSA-IEC project in training field communicators and youth. The project also made good use of the IEC materials produced by the project, and developed further tools to aid in the utilization of these materials. In addition to the above mentioned, the LEB/02/P02 project produced further innovative communication materials, such as a theatrical play on sexual health. All of these efforts were put to use in creating community awareness through a number of campaigns. The communication materials that were produced were not only used at the national level, but were also used at the regional level. The project experience and the materials associated with the project were sought and shared at the regional level with a number of countries.

More specifically the LEB/02/P02 project’s achievements included networking with universities, training service providers, development of communication guides and materials, conducting media awareness events and awareness raising communication campaigns, and initiating research on gender based violence.

The LEB/02/P02 was initially designed as a two year project ending in December 2004. While the project has not been formally evaluated, initial assessments indicate that it has contributed positively to building the Ministry’s communication capacity, and to creating an environment that is more conducive for discussing adolescents SRH concerns and needs. The project has successfully managed to involve national media in a variety of its activities. The following document is a proposal for extending the LEB/02/P02 project for another two years. The rationale for extending the project and a proposed list of key activities are presented next.

Rationale

After an initial review of the activities carried out under the LEB/02/P02, and the advocacy, communication, and capacity building materials and tools that were developed, a consensus was reached among the MOSA senior management, the project management staff, the UNFPA office, and the CST advocacy adviser on the need for further extension of the project. It was the view of all of the above mentioned parties that the efforts invested in the project need to be maximized through further utilization of the materials and manuals and the institutionalization of capacity gained.

Based on the assessment of the achievements of LEB/02/PO2 and given the immediate opportunities to build on information provision to enhance delivery of services to young people, the proposed two year extension of the funding is justified. Thirty four activities are already proposed for the extension, focused on behavior change communication in addition to a “Services” component which is linked to MOPH project. Their sustainability, however, needs to be ensured through further institutionalization. The following Priority Areas may provide a set of headings under which BCC activities may be grouped:

A further Priority Area with its own set of activities is proposed entitled BUILDING A YOUTH FRIENDLY APPROACH TO SERVICES focused on providing counseling to adolescents. Initial Steps are intended to get some youth-friendly approaches to service provision integrated into three to five designated Centres of Excellence. Approximately $10,000 (or more if available) should be allocated from UNFPA resources to meet additional costs of the operational research, physical infrastructure costs and some promotional and staff orientation costs (including those related to strengthening the link to referral services). It is anticipated that the cost of clinical services will be met through the regular operating budget of the Centres and that staff time provided at “youth friendly” hours can be compensated for through collective agreements.

Additionally, in the longer term it may become necessary to explore mechanisms to relate to private sector service providers. This implies maintaining contact with the health professional bodies, and perhaps providing some places on training courses and orientation sessions on adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

While new activities are being proposed, the output of the sub-programme to which the project would be contributing to its realization would remain the same, namely: “increased availability of information and enhanced awareness of youth about reproductive and sexual health”. The new activities would partially compensate for the youth project that did not materialize, and would complement the activities of the LEB/04/P01 education project. The aim of the proposed activities would continue to be building the communication capacity of the MOSA in developing and carrying out awareness creation and behavior change campaigns. These activities would nonetheless focus more on the sustainability and institutionalization of the good efforts invested through the project so far. As such, more attention would be given to ensuring a wider dissemination and ownership of the communication materials and tools produced through the project. Also more involvement of the IEC UNIT and the Training Center at the MOSA in the proposed advocacy/BCC and the training activities, respectively.

The project extension would entail carrying out some of the project activities to their conclusion, expanding some other project activities, and proposing yet another set of new activities to complement the efforts made in this project as well as other communication support projects. For example the efforts made for developing an advocacy/IEC strategy for youth SRH needs to be carried out to their conclusion. Also the recommendations of the Media orientation/need assessment workshop needs to be followed up.

Since what is proposed above is basically an extension of the current project, the execution and implementation modalities and the project staffing would remain essentially the same.

Strategy

The overall strategy for the extension of the project would continue to be a Capacity Building one through:

Key Activities

Following are the key activities that will be undertaken by the current LEB/02/P02 project during the next two years. These activities would require greater involvement and sharing of responsibilities by each of the MOSA Training Center, IEC Unit, the Educational Center for Research and Development project and the RH/MOPH project.

The above 34 activities are grouped under each of the 6 priority pillars depending on their scope and nature as follows:

Activities 1-10, 21, and 27 will be implemented by project team in coordination and collaboration with other MOSA units, particularly the Training Center and the IEC Unit, and the SDSCs.

Activities 11-13, and 28 will be carried out in close coordination and collaboration with the MOE LEB/04/P01 project. Activities 14, 15, and 29-33 will be carried out in close coordination and collaboration with the MOH RH project. Activity 16 will be carried out through an external consultant in close coordination and consultation with the IEC Unit. Activities 17 and 18 will be carried out in close coordination and collaboration with the University of Balamand, the American University, and the Lebanese University.

Activities 19, and 21 will be designed, developed, and implemented jointly by the project management team and the MOSA Training Center. Activities 22-25 and 27 will be carried out jointly by the project management team and MOSA IEC Unit.

Linkages

Linkages to other projects and other outputs would remain the same as in the original project document. Emphasis would be put, nonetheless, on the linkages with the reproductive health project on Advocacy for integration of population education in school curricula and extra curricula activities, and the population and development strategies project on Integrating population, reproductive health, and gender concepts in the faculty of health sciences at the University of Balamand. Linkages with the other reproductive health project on Increasing the availability of quality integrated reproductive health service would be maintained and strengthened, particularly the aspects that relate to the establishment of Centers of Excellence and youth services.

Coordination

The project management team will ensure coordination and harmonization of communication and training activities within the MOSA, and to the extent possible with other UNFPA-supported projects, activities, and events, in that context, the project management team would form an intra MOSA coordination committee comprising the management team of the LEB/02P02, the Director of the Training Center, and the Director of the IEC Unit, and others as might be seen fit. This committee is to meet once a month to plan and coordinate the project’s activities. Other already established coordination mechanisms and committees i.e. the Steering Committee, the IEC coordination Committee etc. would continue to function according to their mandate throughout the project extension duration. It is recommended also that once the project extension and its activities have been approved, to hold an orientation meeting with all the implementing partners within MOSA to ensure that there is a common understanding of the rationale, the nature of the activities, and the expected impact.

Monitoring and Evaluation

A monitoring and evaluation framework, including appropriate indicators will be developed. The mid-term review would provide yet another opportunity to re-adjust the direction of the project in relationship to the sub-programme and the totality of the country programme. Appropriate measures for evaluating the impact of the project would still be taken towards the end of its extended project duration. The monitoring and evaluation indicators need to be developed carefully and the relevant data collected in order to share the project results and the lessons learned nationally and regionally.

Description of Activities

Annex 1
YOUTH FRIENDLY SERVICES SWOT ANALYSIS

BACKGROUND

UNFPA supports Ministry of Social Affairs (IEC with counseling component), Ministry of Public Health (Quality of care service-provider training based on protocols within the context of health sector reform). Also of relevance is the PDS project with an advocacy component including a survey of attitudes of opinion leaders concerning national development issues.

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

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