When young people have the basic reproductive health knowledge and understand their reproductive rights, as well as know how to protect themselves from infections such as HIV/AIDS, they are more empowered to plan for healthy families and build better futures for themselves and their partners. UNFPA-supported Y-PEER or Youth Peer Education Network works with young people in Uzbekistan helping them learn and find answers to questions they might be shy to ask from their parents or teachers.

The year 2013 was a good year for Y-PEER Uzbekistan. The international meeting of the network’s activists that took place in October in Serbia has singled out Y-PEER Uzbekistan as the best among some 30 national networks.

Y-PEER works in Uzbekistan since 2005, and currently brings together more than 350 volunteers nationwide. Working with youth and for youth, the network aims to promote a healthy life style through peer to peer approach and to empower young people to make responsible decisions.

By educating young people on essential issues of reproductive health, prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted infections, gender rights and tolerance, the network contributes to bringing up healthier, more empowered and thoughtful youth. This is especially important for Uzbekistan, where youth below age 30 comprise about 60 percent of the population, and people aged 10-24 – around 30 percent.

Since it was established in Uzbekistan almost a decade ago, the network continues to grow, carrying away more and more young people with ideas of voluntarism and peer-to-peer education. In 2013, the network activists have organized around 1,500 informational sessions in different regions of the country, involving more than 30,000 young people altogether. Through years, UNFPA has supported annual training campaigns for qualified trainers and regional leaders, who then organized cascades of sessions at their communities, all adding up to a reach-out of more than 110,000 young people since 2005.

Globally, Y-PEER represents a network of more than 500 non-profit organizations and governmental institutions, and its membership includes thousands of young people who work in the many areas surrounding adolescent sexual and reproductive health. “The Global Advisory Board of Y-PEER takes place annually as a platform for representatives of different country’s networks to interact and share best practices”, - says Daur Isaev, Youth Fellow at UNFPA and an active member of Y-PEER. “This is the second time our network was recognized the best among some 30 national networks, and it is certainly a great achievement for all our volunteers”.

Despite growing enthusiasm and awareness among young people in Uzbekistan, there are still challenges, particularly in relation to ensuring that everyone has access to good-quality formal education on reproductive health and rights. Compulsory sessions on healthy lifestyles that are being taught in the country’s schools, colleges and lyceums are sometimes delivered in a too instructive and stiff manner, and hence the lack of interest. Furthermore, for awareness-raising and educational programmes to be effective, they should be complemented with availability of youth-friendly services in the area of reproductive health, and there is still work to be done in ensuring that such services are fully accessible, especially in the regions.

Karl Kulessa, UNFPA Representative in Uzbekistan says he has seen how the network has grown during the last years evolving as one of the leading youth movements in the country. “Nothing for youth without youth’ is the backbone idea of this network, and it is great to see how young people work to contribute to their own development. We will keep working together with our national partners to ensure that these achievements are sustained at local level and that reproductive health-related services for youth become more accessible”, he adds.