5 October, Tashkent - Said Aliyev from Tashkent is only 15 years old. Yet, he is already one of champion young volunteers to spread the word on healthy lifestyle and HIV prevention. On this photo, Said is informing his peers during training for adolescents in Tashkent. Said is part of UNFPA-supported ‘Orasta Yoshlar’ educational network.
Building on its long experience of peer-to-peer education techniques, UNFPA started supporting this nationwide volunteer network in 2013. It has joined hands with Women’s Committee to support the activities of the network and establish information and resource centers where young people like Said could come together, exchange ideas and organize training sessions for their peers. In all, 11 centers were opened and equipped by UNFPA in each district of Tashkent and 12 throughout the Republic, one in each region.
The initiative promotes young people’s awareness on issues like sexual and reproductive health, general hygiene, healthy lifestyle and gender equality. Topics like adolescents’ reproductive health, prevention of HIV and other sexually-transmitted infections, equality of men and women, marriage in young age and others are sometimes difficult to discuss with parents or teachers, hence the peer-to-peer approach serves as good complement to formal education on healthy lifestyle and family.
In 2013-2014, UNFPA has organized over a dozen of such courses, having trained some 200 volunteers as peer educators in Tashkent only. In all, volunteers throughout the country have organized somewhat 300 activities in their communities, reaching out to about 22,000 young people with information on reproductive health and HIV prevention. These activities ranged from peer education sessions, seminars and trainings to media publications, and theatre performances for broad public.
“I feel happy and proud to share the things I know with my peers. Young people need to have access to knowledge, somewhere that they don’t feel shy asking about sensitive topics. This will better equip them to make important decisions in their life”, says Said.
