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SPW is committed to working with governments of resource-poor countries on:
- Developing replicable models of non formal education, which introduce an appropriate and widely available human resource – educated young adults - into the battle against disease and poverty.
- Establishing clearly defined roles for these young people, based in rural schools and communities, which maximises their ability to spread information, change attitude and behaviour, and mobilise action, particularly among their own age group.
- Identifying priority areas where their intervention creates greatest impact: e.g. adolescent reproductive health, hygiene, sanitation, nutrition and resource management.
- Developing alternative learning strategies and life-skills methodologies which make dry facts come alive in the minds of young people.
- Promoting new structures which build capacity in rural communities, in particular, links between schools and clinics and access to service-providers from urban areas.
- Highlighting through all available media the growing threat to the health of young people, especially from HIV/AIDS.
External Policy
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals, (link to www.developmentgoals.org), adopted by United Nations member states in September 2000, commit the international community to fulfil eight development targets, which emphasise the importance of human development (i.e. health and education) in sustaining countries’ social and economic progress. The goals have been commonly accepted as a framework for measuring development progress.
SPW is one of many partners working to meet these targets; our programmes actively engage young people in rural communities to effectively fulfil the following goals:
| Goal |
SPW’s Impact |
| 1) Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger |
SPW Peer Educators offer sustainable solutions to improve agricultural practices and assist in establishing small-scale low-cost Income Generation Projects that enable vulnerable sections of the community to become more financially independent. |
| 2) Achieve universal primary education |
SPW Peer Educators work with teachers and school administrators to revitalise learning environments in schools, as well as raising awareness in rural communities of the importance of education for children and youth. Evaluation data shows a clear increase in enrolment and retention, especially among girls, in SPW schools. |
| 3) Promote gender equality and empower women |
SPW programmes promote the inclusion of female volunteers and students. Our volunteer Peer Educators conduct informal educational workshops that focus on empowering women through developing life skills such as leadership and self-esteem. |
| 4) Reduce child mortality |
Our volunteers increase knowledge and raise awareness of key health issues, thus contributing to a reduction in the incidence of water-borne diseases and the levels of teenage pregnancy and HIV transmission. |
| 5) Improve maternal health |
Our Health Education Programmes promote awareness of human rights and empower women to make intelligent choices regarding their bodies and their relationships with the opposite sex, thus reducing levels of teenage pregnancy. |
| 6) Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases |
Our Peer Educators conduct workshops to encourage young people to take responsibility for their lives and to improve their knowledge about the prevention of HIV transmission and the incidence of malaria and other diseases. |
| 7) Ensure environmental sustainability |
Our Community Resource programmes aim to reduce environmental degradation through increasing knowledge of the local environment, and transfer knowledge and practical skills regarding the application of Appropriate Rural Technologies. |
| 8) Develop a global partnership for development |
SPW’s youth-led methodology, being implemented with local and national governments, is a model for how to develop decent and productive work for youth where they can invest their time, energy and talents in the development of their own countries while receiving valuable pre-professional experience and career development. |
Rio Summit: Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is a comprehensive blueprint for youth-lead activities that requires local, national and international cooperation. SPW works within the parameters for youth participation set out by the Rio Summit in Agenda 21; our peer-led HIV/AIDS prevention programmes offer a clearly-defined role for young people.
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