Packard Project

Elykia Ya Bilenge (Hope for the Youth)

Role: Prime Recipient

Donor: The David and Lucille Packard Foundation

This project aims to support Tulane’s long-time and most successful implementing partner, SANRU, as they develop and pilot their own community-based model to provide quality SRH services to youths and adolescents living in Kinshasa.

OBJECTIVES

Pilot and assess a new SRH service delivery model to provide FP counseling and contraceptive resources to high school students living in Kinshasa, by leveraging comprehensive sex education, peer education, and youth corners initiatives.

Strengthen our local partner SANRU’s expertise and capacity to:

  • Provide client-centered, rights-based, quality SRH programming for youth and adolescents
  • Serve as technical experts for national programs supporting youth and adolescent health, especially the National Program for Youth and Adolescent Health or PNSA.
  • Build their national and international visibility as a leading organization for community-based and youth SRH programming.
  • Improve their ability to independently apply for donor support focused on community-based models of FP and youth FP.

This project aims to support Tulane’s long-time and most successful implementing partner, SANRU (for Santé Ruraleor Rural Health), as they develop and pilot their own community-based model to provide quality SRH services to youths and adolescents living in Kinshasa. By leveraging the experience acquired after 8 years of joint work under AcQual, Tulane and SANRU hope to strengthen the latter’s capacity to serve as technical experts for national programs supporting youth and adolescent health, increase their visibility at the national and international levels, and improve their ability to obtain additional funding for scaling-up the proposed EYB model.

The proposed pilot will strengthen and leverage existing resources to increase high school students (aged 15 – 19) access to FP counseling and contraceptive methods. During year 1, SANRU will test the feasibility of investing in comprehensive sex education courses and peer education as entry points to provide students with information regarding the availability of FP resources in their neighborhoods, including youth corners operating at local facilities. In parallel, SANRU will use nursing school students trained under the PROMIS project to provide specific counseling and contraceptive methods during special events (“Lelo Ya Bilenge” = “Today is for the youth”) organized in those same youth corners and in the community.

Tulane will provide SANRU with technical support to develop the key outputs the organization will need to increase its accountability, visibility, and viability towards additional resources mobilization, including M&E plans, conference abstracts and manuscripts, and grant proposals.