To achieve our objectives, we use a multidimensional approach that targets the different points at which adolescent health can be effectively addressed. This includes:

• Advocating for action on adolescents’ needs and access to care with policy makers, parents and community leaders.
• Increasing access to comprehensive sexuality education, peer education and counselling, to enable adolescents make healthy and responsible decisions about their sexuality.
• Promoting access to resource materials, including adolescent health journals, books, on-line databases and video films.
• Providing reproductive healthcare services specifically designed for adolescents, as well as referrals to adolescent-friendly institutions for further care.
• Creating opportunities for the empowerment of adolescents through the acquisition of vocational skills that include public-speaking, computer operations and film production training.
• Improving the capacity of other youth-serving organisations in adolescent health programming through trainings and provision of necessary technical assistance.
• Collaborating /networking with identified agencies to share resources and promote our issues.

Policy Advocacy and Community Mobilization for Youth Programming

AHI implements advocacy, sensitisation, mobilization and public enlightenment at both national and state levels with the aim of creating an enabling environment for youth programming. Working in partnership with allies within and outside government, such sustained advocacy target policy makers, community leaders, media practitioners, trade unions, parents and youths, and facilitate action on young people’s sexual and reproductive health and information needs. Some of our advocacy and community mobilization programs include:

• Convening the National Sexuality Guidelines Taskforce.
• Facilitating and serving as secretariat for the 1st National Conference on Adolescent Reproductive Health.
• Convening a National Civil Society Organisations Dialogue on Sexuality Education to facilitate nationwide implementation of the Family Life and HIV Education Curriculum.
• Facilitating the National Youth Forum on HIV/AIDS that enabled the emergence of the National Youth Network on HIV/AIDS (NYNET) and adoption of a Strategic Framework for the Youth Action Plan on HIV/AIDS.

Promoting Youth Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Education and Counselling

AHI implements an innovative peer education program in over 50 secondary schools in Lagos State through Health and Life Planning Clubs (HLPC). These clubs are coordinated by trained peer educators and teachers, and provide a forum for young people to acquire and share factual information on issues of youth health and development. The positive results of the peer education program are seen in the ever-increasing demand to establish similar clubs in other secondary schools.

Complementing the HLPCs, are activities organized at AHI’s youth centre, providing young people with age-appropriate information, counselling and opportunities to develop skills that promote positive health practices and responsible decision making about their sexuality.

AHI is also collaborating with the Lagos State Ministry of Education to implement the National Family Life and HIV Education curriculum in over 300 public junior secondary schools in the state. In addition to its involvement in the start-up activities and development of the state’s implementation framework, AHI has trained over 1,000 carrier subject teachers and contributed to the monitoring and evaluation activities.

Youth-friendly Clinical and Referral Services

AHI’s reproductive health clinic was established in response to the lack of healthcare services to address the peculiar needs of young people. The clinic offers its clients general and sexual/reproductive healthcare services, non-judgmental counselling, laboratory services as well as referrals to appropriate institutions for further care when required. The clinic serves over 3,000 young people annually.

The clinic also serves as a youth-friendly health service provision model for training health care institutions, NGOs and government facilities. Currently, AHI is working in partnership with the University of Lagos’ College of Medicine to train its medical and nursing students on youth-friendly reproductive and sexual healthcare provision.

Promoting Access to Publications/Resource Materials

AHI provides access to adolescent health journals, online databases, electronic journals and CD-ROMs through its reference library, which is widely used by mass media personnel, researchers, programme implementers and young people. In addition, AHI produces a wide variety of educational resources that include training manuals and guides for youth health and development programming.

Networking, Training and Technical Assistance

AHI works with other youth serving organizations and government in underserved communities within the country to build local capacity in youth programming in the following areas: Family Life/HIV/AIDS education; design of peer education programmes; training in adolescent-friendly health service provision; skills-building training for improve parent-child communication and on-site technical assistance on all components of youth programming.

Promoting a Better Understanding of Human Sexuality in Africa

AHI hosts and facilitates the Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre (ARSRC), an initiative which covers four of the most populous countries in Africa: Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The initiative seeks to accomplish the following:

• Expand and shape the discourse, thinking and action on sexuality in Africa in favour of healthy, respectful, responsible and pleasurable sexuality.
• Nurture and build professional capacity in the emerging field of sexuality.
• Build links between kindred organizations and individuals in Africa working on sexuality issues.

AHI also hosts the secretariat for the African Federation for Sexual Health and Rights, the regional arm of the World Association for Sexual Health.