UNFPA: Gender, Adolescent Pregnancy & Social Norms (GAPS) 2021-2024

1) Sexual reproductive health and rights, knowledge, behaviours and attitudes among adolescents and young people are improved. - 156,385 girls graduated from the safe space programme - With the intention of engaging boys in challenging harmful norms and practices, the target of 4800 boys was exceeded. 11,907 graduated from the 3 months safe-space mentorship for boys program. - 70 adolescents with disabilities were incorporated into the safe space program. - Through the strong community structures established in Eastern Province, the program was able to link mentees to the Ministry of Healths vaccination campaign. As a result, 2,173 adolescent girls were vaccinated against certain Human Papilloma virus infections, to reduce the risk of cervical cancer. 2) Communities are empowered to address and change harmful social and cultural norms and beliefs perpetuating adolescent pregnancy. - The community dialogues have helped some community members to appreciate the need to address negative gender and social norms as illustrated in the quote below. We are cultural and traditional people. These practices have been happening for a long time. Its not easy to convince a person to change in one conversation, that is why we should continuously engage in these conversations until everyone understands. We always emphasize that we are not ending our culture, we are only changing those parts that may be harmful to our children. For example, we dont say that our young girls should stop going to the older women for lessons to prepare for adulthood, but we say that they should learn age appropriate lessons. There is no reason for any girl below 18 to start learning about how to please a man in bed. Lindstone Mtonga (Magalasi) of Lumezi District. 3) An enabling environment that supports prevention of adolescent pregnancy is created and sustained. - A dialogue meeting with the traditional leaders in Southern province on addressing harmful norms and cultural practices emphasised their role and potential to contribute to the reduction of teenage pregnancy. The traditional leaders demonstrated their support for the GAPS project and willingness to collaborate with the GAPS teams in the fight against teenage pregnancies. The committment is demonstrated in a statement below. I would like to mention that harmful cultural practices are no longer being practiced in Southern Provinces for instance ritual cleansing. I am requesting if UNFPA could work with chiefdoms to reintroduce Nkolola (initiation) as it can help in achieving GAPS project objective of disseminating SRH information to adolescent girls, however some of the contents need to be revised, this will help sustain interventions even when the GAPS programme comes to an end. HRH Chief Ufwenuka - 19 traditional leaders in Southern and Eastern Province are creating an enabling environment for addressing adolescent pregnancy by putting in place locally applicable by-laws that sanction harmful practices such as child-marriage. While each chiefdom has context specific by-laws a common thread exists in the by-laws governing behaviours around adolescent pregnancy and harmful practices. For instance, some traditional leaders have included payment of bride price for children below the age of 18 as proceeds of crime which will be confiscated by the chiefdom. The threat of confiscating the bride price is a sanction that will deter offenders and serve as a deterrent to men who seek relationships with underage girls and parents who consider accepting dowry payments for them. Other traditional leaders have included within by-laws, sanctions for parents and initiators conducting initiation ceremonies while schools are in session and have ensured the content of the ceremonies should be age appropriate with younger initiates being educated on menstrual health, hygiene and respect. Traditional leaders such as village head men/women support and endorse the by-laws in the chiefdom set by the chiefs with the following feedback; Issues around prevention of adolescent pregnancies are a key priority for Chieftainess Kawaza, it is my responsibility as the village head women to ensure that the GAPS interventions are successfully implemented in my village, I always encourage the girls who attend safe spaces to concentrate on their studies and avoid distractions and behaviours which can lead to adolescent pregnancy. Head woman Kapomela (Rufina Banda) Katete district.

Programme Goal: By 2024, adolescent girls and youth in Zambia lead empowered and healthy lives with access and opportunities to make their own choices Overall outcome: By 2024, adolescent pregnancy is reduced by 5% in Eastern and Southern Provinces of Zambia though addressing gender and social norms Intermediate outcomes/objectives: By the end of 2024, 1) Sexual reproductive health and rights, knowledge, behaviours and attitudes among adolescents and young people are improved. 2) Communities are empowered to address and change harmful social and cultural norms and beliefs perpetuating adolescent pregnancy. 3) An enabling environment that supports prevention of adolescent pregnancy is created and sustained. The programme will primarily target adolescent girls (10-19 years) with key secondary audiences of young people (20-24 years), sexual partners of adolescent girls and young women, community and religious leaders, parents and community members in six selected districts in two provinces of Zambia. The programme will be implemented with projected populations as follows: - Eastern Province: 315,304 adolescent girls and young women aged 10-24 - Southern Province: 353,917 adolescent girls and young women aged 10-24.