Location: Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, South Africa

Duration: 31 July 2023 – 31 December 2026

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Description

FutureLife-Now! is a regional intervention that brings together two critical elements for human development—health and education—to address the persistent and inter-linked challenges facing young people, notably: high HIV transmission; high early- or unintended-pregnancy rates; limited access to youth-friendly SRHR services; gender inequalities; and the detrimental effects of climate change (especially on vulnerable groups, such as women and girls, people with disabilities and people living with HIV). With a vision of healthy, empowered and confident youth, FutureLife-Now! aligns directly to SADC’s vision of “ensuring that all people in the SADC Region enjoy a healthy sexual and reproductive life; have sustainable access, coverage and quality SRHR services, information and education; and are fully able to realise and exercise their SRH rights, as an integral component of sustainable human development in the SADC Region” (SADC Regional Strategy on SRHR 2019-2030).

FutureLife-Now! supports this vision by working with Ministries of Education and Health and partners to strengthen the response to these critical issues and support the enabling environments so that young people have greater access to information, services and support, and opportunities to take positive actions for their health and development. Knowledge and skills alone do not result in behaviour change – youth require the opportunity to use their knowledge and skills to make decisions and take actions that are in their best own interests, as well as the interests of their school, family, community and country. Hence, youth agency and leadership are underpinning elements of the programme Through the adoption of the programme by the SADC education ministers, FutureLife-Now! is owned and led by the Ministries of Education, in partnership with the Ministries of Health.

Phase 2 of the Programme continues to operate at regional, national and local levels, with several strategies being implemented across the levels.

Scale

An important aim of Phase 2 is to  increase in the number of young people who develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes and agency they need to both protect themselves from risky and harmful practices and to engage in positive and healthy behaviours. To achieve this the tested FutureLife-Now! Package of Health and Wellbeing has been scaled up to 160 schools in the four Phase 1 FutureLife-Now! Member States (Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe), increasing the direct reach from approximately 30 000 learners to 112 000. This scale up provides ministries with lessons and a framework for further expansion once SDC and MIET Africa have exited. Schools are clustered around a nodal school and hence they have been selected according to their geographic location.

At the regional level, the programme has been scaled up to two additional Member States, namely South Africa, and Eswatini. This has been achieved through securing in-country contributions. A blended approach to capacity building at the national level will be adopted for maximum efficiency.

Systems strengthening

Whilst continuing to strengthen the education system towards the provision of health services and support for youth, the Programme places a stronger emphasis on health systems strengthening in Phase 2. Specifically, the health facilities attached to the 160 schools are supported to improve the quality of and access to the services they provide to youth. This includes capacity building of health workers in the delivery of youth-friendly SRHR services, facilitating relationships between health workers and teachers for strengthened identification and referral systems and improved health education, and assisting with establishing youth-friendly ‘corners’ at the clinics. Support for policy development, harmonisation, strengthening and implementation continues. A specific focus of Phase 2 is the implementation of School Re-entry policies for young mothers, including school-based support for young mothers and fathers. Related to this, support agents (e.g. teachers, youth facilitators) are trained in basic counselling skills so that vulnerable youth have access to a first level of psychosocial support, before being referred to a professional service, if required. Strengthening linkages between the health and education sectors, at both national and local levels, also continues.

Innovation

Several new interventions, based on prioritised areas of need, have been introduced to the 40 Phase 1 schools. The interventions are aimed at:

  • Facilitating youth agency (through the Child and Youth Agency Framework)
  • Developing youth leadership for service (through the Ubuntu Youth Leaders’ Programme)
  • Preparing youth for their lives beyond school (through My Working Future)

Gender and climate change remain important cross-cutting issues, but also feature as key components of the FutureLife-Now! Package of Health and Wellbeing, as we have seen how both issues have been firmly adopted by learners during Phase 1.

FutureLife-Now! 2 contributes to the body of knowledge related to the Programme’s areas of focus by facilitating opportunities for the production and dissemination of knowledge and importantly, supporting its utilisation.

Policy strengthening and harmonisation

Policy strengthening and harmonisation through SADC processes remain an important focus, for example, the integration of key FutureLife-Now! indicators into the SADC CSTL Results Framework ensures that these are reported on each year.

FutureLife-Now! has facilitated the adoption of two important frameworks by the Ministers of Education as addendums to the CSTL Policy Framework:

  • The SADC Child and Youth Agency Framework was endorsed by the region’s Ministers of Education at their annual meeting held in June 2022. At the regional level, the SADC CSTL reporting tool has been modified to incorporate indicators that measure progress on the operationalization of the Child and Youth Agency Framework. This means that all Member States report on this updated tool on an annual basis. The Framework provides guidance to Member States to ensure that their schools provide opportunities for youth to exercise their agency to address issues affecting them.
  • In June 2023, the SADC Education Ministers approved the SADC Boys and Young Men Vulnerability Framework as a regional framework to promote greater gender equity and transformation of gender norms. Through the Boys and Young Men Vulnerability Framework, schools are sensitized to the need to support boys through programming that addresses their specific needs and not only with a focus on boys as perpetrators of violence. The Framework guides Member States on how to develop national frameworks that address the specific vulnerabilities of boys and young men and promote gender equality.