Going to the last mile…. On bicycles!

Peer educators at six UNF­PA-supported Adolescent and Youth-Friendly (AYF) cor­ners in Simiyu Region have each received a bicycle to make the hard work they do in their communities a little bit easier.

Thirty peer educators now have a bicycle supplied by UNFPA with funding from the Korea International Coopera­tion Agency (KOICA) as part of the two-year ‘Nilinde Nikulinde Project’ to help them cover the long distances they travel within their neighbourhoods and beyond to promote posi­tive behaviours through Sex­ual and Reproductive Health (SRH) outreach. An additional 35 bicycles will be distributed to the remaining seven UNF­PA-supported AYF corners in Simiyu later this month.

The 65 peer educators in Simiyu Region who have graduated from UNFPA implementing partner’s Kiota Women’s Health and Devel­opment’s (KIWOHEDE) sexual and reproductive health and rights training work tirelessly in their communities to break down taboos and to support their peers to make healthy and informed choices about their SRH choices that have a real impact on their future. They are part of a network of UNFPA-supported peer educa­tors in Tanzania that reached over 80,000 adolescents and young people with SRH infor­mation and education in 2019, including vulnerable youth who are out-of-school.

The peer educators are also an important link to the 13 Adolescent and Youth Corners dedicated spaces adjoining health facilities that UNFPA has renovated and equipped in Simiyu Region since 2018 under the two-year ‘Nilinde Nikulinde Project’. The cor­ners provide a safe and enabling environment for vulnerable adolescents and young people to meet and to access a range of age-respon­sive SRH services – including voluntary family planning, HIV voluntary counselling and testing, psychosocial coun­selling, and information on menstrual hygiene manage­ment. Peer educators raise awareness about the services available at the corners and make referrals as needed.

With 10 years left to deliver on the Global Goals for Sustain­able Development, UNFPA is stepping up efforts to ensure that Tanzania’s youthful pop­ulation, especially adolescent girls, have access to compre­hensive and age-responsive information, education and adolescent-friendly SRH ser­vices wherever they live so that they can make a safe transition from adolescence to a healthy and productive adulthood….and no one is left out or behind.