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| Young people cry foul over contraceptives rights |
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             Majority of those interviewed also felt the issue of abortion was not being tackled the way it should be. Ironically, more young men than women were unhappy with the way abortion issue has been addressed so far. They now want condoms, emergency pills and other reproductive health services provided for free and at their door-steps. Conducted two months ago by Centre for the Study of Adolescence, the study looked at various Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) needs of young people ranging from contraceptives, abortion, teenage pregnancy to availability of free reproductive health services, family life education, and role of politicians. On the availability of contraceptives, the highest number of complains came from Nyanza province with 11.5 per cent feeling their needs were yet to be dealt with. Rift Valley followed with 8.6 per cent, 6.9 per cent in Eastern province, 6.2 per cent in Central province, 6.1 per cent in Nairobi, 5.1 in Western province, 3.5 in Coast province and 1.9 in North Eastern province. Female respondents were more affected compared to their male counterparts. Of those interviewed, 57.3 per cent of the young women and 45.7 young men said their contraceptives needs were not being met. Most affected were those aged 18 years (60 percent), 20 years (56.2 per cent), 21 years (56.8 per cent) and 22-years (49.4 per cent). Those in school (48 percent), seemed to have little problem with the issue of access to contraceptives compared to those out of school (51 per cent). One of the reasons for this differentials is young people in school tend to have limited relationships or sexual conducts than those out of school and in colleges. Hence the demand for contraceptives takes this pattern as well. When it came to students in colleges, young people in village polytechnics (75 per cent) said the availability of contraceptives was not being tackled. Another 44 per cent of the university expressed similar sentiments Interestingly, this complains were more among young people in urban areas (55 per cent) than among those in the rural regions (45 percent). The study findings comes at time when the Ministry of Health’s Division of Reproductive Health is for the first time opening up youth friendly centres in selected government hospitals in response to an outcry that young people are not accessing these services. It has been argued that majority of the youth shun government reproductive health clinics because they are run by providers who are unfriendly to them. Therefore, modeling the delivery of services on the expectations and desires of young people has been hailed as the best strategy to address their SRH needs. Obstacles that stop them from enjoying these services have to be addressed through such an approach. Some people, for instance, have concerns with Faith Based Organizations who support abstinence and faithfulness, and opposes use of condoms. They have argued that this affected youth SRH rights. This was manifested in the way young people responded during the study. About 56 per cent and 52 per cent of the Muslims and Protestants respectively, said their contraceptive needs were not being addressed. Close to 48 per cent of those who belong to the Catholic Church, which is known to take a hard stance on issues of condoms, complained of not accessing contraceptives. Commissioned by Terre Des Hommes, a Dutch Child Rights Organization, the study also considered the issue of abortion, with young people saying their desires to prevent abortion and access to post-abortion care services were not being met. About 73 per cent of youth interviewed in Western province felt their abortion concerns were not being addressed. In Nairobi and North Eastern Kenya, 65 per cent and 63 per cent, respectively agreed with those in Western province. Rift Valley (55 per cent), Coast (56 per cent), Nyanza (39 per cent), Central (38 per cent), and Eastern (35 per cent) were other provinces where young people expressed dissatisfaction with reproductive services they were receiving. These concerns were expressed more by nearly half of those aged between 18 years and 25 years, the ages during which majority of young people desperately need reproductive health information and commodities. But the youth in urban areas were the most affected, with close to 53 per cent of them compared to 44 per cent in rural areas, saying concerns around abortion were not being dealt with. Likewise, three quarters of youth in village polytechnics and over half in secondary schools, raised concerns on how abortion was being addressed. Only those in Universities (55 per cent) and other colleges (52 per cent) recorded high marks when asked the same question. Both male and female respondents expressed similar concerns, but young males (50 per cent) than females (46 per cent) expressed unhappiness with the failure by politician and providers of SRH services to address abortion issues. When it came to religion, about two thirds of young Muslims who were interviewed said abortion matters were not being tackled well. They were followed in that order by Catholics, Protestants, and traditional. Those interviewed felt the poor access to reproductive health services were to blame for the high abortion and other reproductive health ills facing young people. In three provinces, Western, North Eastern, and Coast, over half of the respondents said access to free reproductive health services has not been addressed. High satisfaction rates of over 60 per cent were however registered in Nyanza, Nairobi, Central and Rift Valley provinces. Similar satisfaction trends were recorded among university students and those who had completed form four. Reproductive health experts think the high scores in the four provinces may be explained by the availability of the services within these regions. But within the same provinces, there were disparities in terms of access to the services between young people in rural and urban areas. In the rural areas, 39 per cent expressed concerns about availability of RH services compared to 32 per cent of their urban counterparts. The group most affected when it came to accessing free RH services were those aged between 14 and 20 years. Three quarters of those aged 14 years and close to 50 per cent of those aged 16 years had problems with accessing free RH services. Muslim (45 per cent) and Catholic (40 per cent) youths registered the highest score among those who felt availability of free SRH services were not being tackled. Similarly, while opinion on various SRH issues differed significantly among young people, they overwhelmingly agreed that school girls who get pregnant should be allowed to continue with their studies. Over 90 per cent of those interviewed in the eight provinces expressed these sentiments. In Rift valley, 72 per cent said the responsibility of ensuring such girls go back to school rested with the government and parents; with over 80 per cent of those interviewed in Eastern province having the same outlook. Similar feelings resonated in Coast province where 85 per cent said the job rested with government, while 90 per cent placed it on parents. In Nairobi, over two thirds of the respondents said the government and parents are to ensure this happens; and in Central province, 68 per cent and 86 per cent felt it was government and parents responsibility respectively. In Nyanza province, 59 per cent placed the responsibility on government and 81 per cent on parents, while 64 per cent in Western province said it was the government and parent’s duty. Provinces such as Coast where teenage pregnancy is rampant, recorded high percentages, explaining the high preference for retaining such girls in school. Young people interviewed felt all these SRH problems they are experiencing can be partly attributed to lack of interest among politicians on these issues and availability of youth friendly services within accessible distances. Yet, the same politicians were critical in formulating laws and allocating resources to various programmees. About 80 per cent of young people at the Coast province, 75 per cent in Rift Valley, 70 per cent in North Eastern, 66 per cent in Western, 62 per cent in Eastern, 60 per cent in Nyanza and 58 per cent in Nairobi provinces, said politicians were not addressing their SRH needs especially in their campaigns. Over two thirds of the youth in both urban and rural areas felt being letdown by politicians. A similar fraction of male and female interviewees aged between 18 and 24 years gave the politicians a low score on this matter. Three quarters of university students, two thirds of students in other colleges and all of the students in village polytechnics, found politicians to have little regard for SRH issues affecting them. An AWC-Feature |
| Kenya Audio Visual Archives Conference |
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The African Woman and Child Feature Service, the Kenya Archival Study Group and the Ford Foundation office in Nairobi, Kenya will hold the Preservation, Conservation and Restoration of Audio Visual Media Conference. The conference will be held at the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi, from December 3rd – 5th 2008. |
| AWC at the Highway Africa Awards |
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