Equipop and its partner associations in Benin—Scoutisme Béninois (lead partner), Jeunes Volontaires pour la Santé (JVS), and Réseau Ouest Africain des Jeunes Femmes Leaders (ROAJELF-Bénin)—have launched the first activities of the #OnDoitAgir Project. Over a period of 16 months, this social and political mobilization project will strengthen the capacities and commitment of adolescents and young people in order to increase their participation in outreach activities and monitoring of the government's commitments in the area of health.
How can we reveal the barriers and obstacles that prevent young people from accessing family planning (FP) services and information through a photo contest? This is the challenge addressed by the #OnDoitAgir project, which involves effectively and critically mobilizing young people whose skills will be strengthened to defend their access to information and services related to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Implemented in southern Benin in the municipalities of Pobè, Ketou, Adja-Ouèrè, and Aguégués, the project will also help document the issue of young people's access to FP services/information in order to initiate a dialogue with local and national authorities responsible for ensuring compliance with and implementation of international commitments on SRHR.
A solid foundation for concrete and lasting impact
Since September, the consortium in charge of the project has been laying the groundwork for its success. Among the project's initial activities are:
- recruitment of the project team,
- planning activities for the first quarter,
- the development of a monitoring and evaluation system based on Change-Oriented Approaches (COA),
- Capacity building for the project team, steering committee, and group of allies.
The current stage involves selecting young trainers from different municipalities and preparing their training on youth civic participation, local accountability processes, communication for social and behavioral change, and, above all, effective smartphone photography techniques. This training will kick off the project's other flagship activities, including the photo contest and exhibition, followed by advocacy meetings with target authorities.
To support young people in this mission of political and social mobilization, #OnDoitAgir also brings together actors from youth organizations and allies from the municipalities involved, while setting up a digital campaign to facilitate the mobilization of young people and allies around the implementation and monitoring of SRHR commitments in Benin.
The briefing for allies, held alongside the project team's capacity-building session in the municipality of Pobè a few weeks ago, provided an opportunity to gather some rather reassuring impressions from certain key players in the project. " The project is highly relevant, and the project team is young and competent. Other strengths include the associated external technical skills and the support requested from allies who are familiar with the realities on the ground," says Franck Serges Alokpowanou, Supervisor at
GBEWA NGO, a partner organization of the project in the municipality of Adja-Ouèrè. Speaking about the activities, Théodore Tchézounmè, Advocacy Officer for the project, says he appreciates the synergy of action and the involvement of everyone. " I hope that the objectives will be achieved through the success of the advocacy work carried out by young people in their communities," he concludes.
#OnDoiAgir thus announces considerable progress in improving SRHR in Benin, such as improved availability of SRHR information and services, effective participation/involvement of young people in accountability processes, and better synergy among youth CSOs working on SRHR issues.
