UNFPA inculcates innovation in SRH rights

Keletso Thobega | Wednesday May 27, 2015 15:37

The workshop participants included a medley of professionals, journalists, ICT practitioners, research assistants, teachers and youth activists.

Briefing attendees, UNPFA assistant representative for the Botswana office, Mareledi Segotso, said the idea was to find a collectively developed innovation idea that would be presented to the Ministry of Health, as an initiative to address challenges the country faces around issues of reproductive health, such as teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, among youth. 

“We want to derive a concept that will possibly be financed through funding from relevant stakeholders including government and the UNFPA mother body.  We want the participants here to brainstorm the idea as they have more knowledge, creativity and skill, but in the end the whole country will benefit. It has come to our attention that disseminating information in the ‘old school’ manner doesn’t work anymore, so we want to be creative in encouraging behavioural change among youth,” she explained. 

Innovation is embedded in the global development discourse. Stakeholders across the world want to craft sustainable targets for the post 2015 development agenda.  Segotso noted that new insights that innovation could offer were proving to be an important element. 

“Innovation is key to effectively creating a world in which all individuals exercise their basic human rights, including those related to the most fundamental and intimate aspects of their lives,” she added. 

The interactive workshop turned into a hotchpotch of ideas as creatives, technocrats and moralists all argued to form a platform that they felt was better. 

The participants were divided into three groups, and asked to identify the gap they felt existed in issues of SRH. In the end, it was noted that there was a knowledge gap in issues of SRH. 

After endless debate, presentations and debilitations, the groups concluded on a free SMS helpline that young people could use to find information on sex education, or advice on any challenges they might be faced with. 

Botswana still has a disturbingly high rate of teenage pregnancies and HIV infection rates among youth.