Programmes

Our goals through 2012 are that:

  • Young people are taking up significant roles in bringing about change relating to development areas that affect their lives
  • Young people will have increased access to livelihoods opportunities
  • Young people are making informed decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health and rights

Overview

Kijana ni Afya (2008-2012), Kiswahili for 'Youth is Healthy', is a capacity building programme for young Tanzanians in rural schools and communities. Through Kijana ni Afya, our objectives for 2008-10 are to provide:

  • Sexual and reproductive health sessions in primary and secondary schools, and to out-of-school-youth and communities.   
  • Sexual and reproductive health extracurricular clubs, supported by teachers
  • Community Action Groups enaging out of school youth to lead community seminars and give peer advice
  • Information Resource Centres run by youth in our groups and clubs, in partnership with schools and communities.
  • Community events with student performances, music and dance, voluntary counseling and testing, and testimonials from young people.

Our Urban Programmes in Dar es Salaam, Mbeya and Iringa regions provide young people with the skills, confidence and leadership necessary to improve their livelihoods. We achieve this through outreach campaigns and capacity building initiatives for youth camps, with complementary sexual health education through Institutions of Higher Learning.

Restless Development partners with the Tanzanian Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, supporting the National Guidelines for Peer and Life Skills Implementation in Schools. We also assist the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Youth Development in providing livelihoods education to rural youth.

We work with Institutes of Higher Learning across the country and our capacity-building workshops support the TACAIDS Community and District Directorate by ensuring teachers in rural Iringa and Mbeya received training in life skills, livelihoods, gender and advocacy.

Other partners include Population Services International (PSI), Marie Stopes, AMREF, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Femina-HIP Limited, GTZ-PASHA, UMATI, TGNP, T-Marc, OXFAM and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) Tanzania.

“The ... education that we receive from [Restless Development volunteers] has helped reduce the number of pregnancies in our school. In 2007 there were 15 pregnancies in our school. The following year they went down to 4 and last year there were none. Students are very keen on what is being taught. They cannot afford to miss the sexual and reproductive health lesson because we get answers to some sensitive questions that we cannot ask our teachers or our parents. I personally have benefited a lot from the programme in school.”

Sexual and reproductive health Club Secretary, Itiji secondary school, Mbeya

“More young people ... are involved in keeping livestock, chicken rearing, pig rearing, farming and selling merchandise and farm produce, even though most of us … don’t have money so we need capital and or linkages to micro-finance institutions not just education and entrepreneurship skills.”

Community Action Group Member, Iringa region