Reaching Vulnerable Youth

This paper describes projects in Guatemala and Bolivia aimed at improving the sexual and reproductive health (SHR)
services available to youth living or working on the street.



Street kids, according to the authors, are at higher risk for unintended pregnancies,
clandestine abortions and sexually transmitted infections. Yet there has so far been little success
in reaching out to street kids with SHR services. To fill this gap, the projects in
Guatemala and Bolivia used two different approaches to linking up youth with SHR services:

• Cochabamba, Bolivia (CIES) referred youth to existing government services, accompanying them to off-site
  providers.
• APROFAM teamed up with local non-governmental organisations who were already
  providing housing and other services to youth living on the street.

Both programmes sought to provide educational services, condom availability and
clinical services. A primary method in each project was the use of peer educators.
The projects differed somewhat in how they provided condoms: in Bolivia they
were distributed during talks or activities, while they were provided by peer
promoters or partner organisations in Guatemala. The approaches each project
took to providing SHR services again differed, with referral to government
offices the key method in the Bolivia project, while services were provided
directly by APROFAM in Guatemala.

The authors list several lessons learned from the two projects, summarised below:

• Training youth living or working on the streets to reach their peers is a feasible and effective strategy.
• Knowledge levels are high but condom usage low at project end, indicating the need to focus more on changing practices.
• Youth living/working on the street will seek to utilise SHR services when they are
  made more accessible and tailored to their special needs
• Collaboration with a range of community organisation and leaders can expand the organisations reach and improve project sustainability.
• Serving a population with high unmet needs raises organisation issues of financing, as a range of services beyond SHR must be provided, and continuity
  of care after the project period ends should be considered.