PPD, UNFPA to organise webinar on youth engagement

Partners in Population and Development (PPD) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will jointly organise a webinar, titled "Harnessing Youth Engagement to Address SRHR through SSTC in Post-Covid Era", on September 22.

The webinar speakers will include Alice Michira, youth leader from Kenya, Nthabiseng Mogashoa, youth leader from South Africa, Loza Admassu, youth RH focal person, St Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College, Ethiopia, and Mohammad Mamun Mia, youth leader from Bangladesh, said a press release issued on Friday.

Junjian Gaoshan, a youth leader from China, will moderate the discussion, and officials of PPD and the UNFPA will deliver introductory remarks.

"We are trying to start a discussion regarding the importance of utilising youth engagement to prioritize sexual and reproductive health agenda in the post-Covid-19 era.

Hopefully the webinar will serve as a platform for the youth leaders from various corners of the world to share their first-hand experiences and insights, and highlight the best practices to inform and guide the future youth-oriented strategies of PPD and UNFPA," said the senior program officer at PPD Secretariat, Tahrima Khan.

PPD, a global intergovernmental organisation (IGO) comprising 27 developing countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, represents more than 60% of the world population, including a large share of the youth population. In collaboration with the UNFPA, PPD seeks to promote population and reproductive health agenda for sustainable development through youth-led South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC).

As the health systems around the world, particularly in low-income countries, have been unprecedentedly thrown into disarray by the Covid-19 pandemic, resources for sexual and reproductive health services have significantly dwindled, with long-term consequences for reproductive health agenda.

Given that the young people have effectively played the diverse roles of service providers, educators and change-makers over the course of the pandemic, it is of vital importance that they are integrated into the formal decision-making processes, political mechanisms and global development agendas in order to achieve more inclusive and equitable policy outcomes, said the media release.

The webinar will address effective ways to raise a new generation that would commit to the responsibility of promoting and protecting sexual and reproductive health and rights in the post-Covid-19 era and help deliver on the promises of ICPD25 and the SDGs.

The webinar will be streamed live on PPD's Facebook page.