Pacific Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH) Project

The ARH Project works to support in- and out-of-school youth, providing sex education and counseling in schools and multipurpose youth centres. Cultivating a particular emphasis on girls, the project introduces livelihood and life-skills initiatives.

ARH involves parents and religious and community leaders in the process in an effort to create a safe environment in which young people can discuss their reproductive and sexual health concerns.

Awareness-raising activities include drama, song, dance, and mass media tailored to specific age groups and sectors of society. Project activities have incorporated the following principles:

• Involve youth in design, planning, development, implementation, and evaluation
• Train and empower parents, guardians, and community leaders to talk about sexuality
• Work with existing health care services to integrate adolescent reproductive health services.

To cite one participating island's ARH Project efforts, the SPC has worked to strengthen youth media activities in collaboration with the Print Media Department of Solomon Islands Development Trust (SIDT). Motivated by the notion that there are various connections between marijuana use and sex, organisers created a comic book on marijuana and its effects on young people for high/secondary school students in Honiara on Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands). The book uses an entertaining style to raise awareness about, for instance, the links between marijuana use and diminished fertility (and other serious conditions, such as cancer). Specifically, the comic book, entitled "Mr. Stony", was developed by drawing on local expertise (strategy: community members know the local situation and the slang used for communication by young people). It is designed in way that it uses street language of young people; for instance, it uses a series of names that organisers claim young people in the Solomon Islands recognise in the context of marijuana - the front cover page contains following phrases besides the title Mr. Stony: "Say no to grass, pot, dope, hash, cannabis, and ganja". Furthermore, the cartoon's main character has "rusta hair", and song lyrics from the popular musical group UB40 were used to make reading fun. There is a flyer in the middle of the comic book that tells young people about the impact of marijuana on the body.

Organisers help make this information accessible by drawing on a network of Village Demonstration Workers to achieve broader geographical coverage. In total, 2000 copies of the comic book were distributed to students in 16 schools, with the partnership of the Solomon Star (which conducted an ARH workshop for teachers and parents) and the Teachers Association. Both these groups have worked to raise awareness about the ARH Project in general, and the comic book specifically, and the potential changes that can be fostered through improving information for young people.

Youth, Girls, Reproductive Health, Health, Sex Education.

One third of the population of the Pacific Islands is between 10 and 24 years old, with current statistics indicating an increase in sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV/AIDS, and teen pregnancies. According to organisers, social problems contributing to reproductive health risks include substance abuse, sexual assault, casual and commercial sex, and the increase in the number of street children.