Project Profile: Sri Lanka is ranked higher than the majority of developing countries in terms of health and social indicators, but it is different when it comes to A/Y SRH needs. The RHIYA project aimed at ensuring access to quality SRH information and counseling services. Unlike other RHIYA countries, Sri Lanka did not have an UPSU and the project was conducted by IPPF, although not present on the field. It channelled funds to FPASL who as the lead implementing agency, disbursed in turn funds and provided technical support to 8 other NGOs. However, this operational modality was not effective. Following mid-term evaluation in March 2005, IPPF/SARO agreed upon UNFPA’s request to play a more active role in the project execution and set up a “RHIYA Management Unit” (RMU) with a changed programmatic focus.

RHIYA Sri Lanka focused on youth living in vulnerable / underserved areas in 18 out of 25 districts: conflict affected areas with large numbers of internally displaced persons , popular tourist destinations , and areas with large numbers of youth working in Free Trade Zones or living / working in plantation estates . In each district 12 or 15 sites were chosen for RHIYA activities, implemented by district coordinators of 9 partner NGOs.

The new management structure provided the NGOs with flexibility to develop their own activity plans based on local needs. RHIYA fair and street drama are examples of innovative approaches implemented. It contrasted with the previously uniform activity-plan developed at central level. Additional technical and management support was provided to smaller NGOs so that while they could customize activities to their local needs, the quality of implementation did not suffer. The changed operational and management modality, although coming into place only in mid-cycle, was effective in realising many of RHIYA objectives.

Strategy: The project objectives in were: 1) increase utilization of integrate quality RH services by more adolescents and youth; 2) reach under-served and vulnerable groups; 3) Improve RH behavior and practices among AY. But it was necessary to concentrate on building specific capacities and processes that would lead to improvements in the outputs.

Subsequent to the mid-term review it was decided to adopt a strategy which involved:

-Developing IEC/BCC materials which adopted a distinct tone and style for SRH&RR communications for young people.

-Building long-term programmatic strength of RHIYA partner NGOs by focusing on critical areas (e.g. attitude of service providers, advocacy, documentation, M&E, rights …)

-Building a pool of able Principal Counsellors providing quality services and training others.

The RMU, apart from supporting the implementation of field activities, was responsible of coordinating capacity building interventions and SRH Principal Counsellors’ training and developing / providing IEC/BCC material.

Outputs: 1) Improved political and community support for A/Y SRH Services: 154 advocacy programmes for parents / other stakeholders (=23,300 people attending), programmes partnered with cultural/religious leaders…

2) Increased awareness and improved SRH knowledge among A&Y: NGOs conducted 450 SRH awareness programmes for in-school and 432 for out-of-schools adolescents (=44,500 people); 83 youth camps conducted; 39 street drama performed to disseminate information; IEC/BCC material further helped to address SRH issues and gap of awareness (comic books and fact sheets on RH and emergency contraception.)

3) Improved access to quality youth-oriented SRH services: ASRH services provided through 297 SDPs (40,500 clients) including 25 refurbished to make it youth friendly; 66,270 peer sessions conducted on FP methods, STIs, development of life skills and sexuality…

4) Improved technical, planning and management capacity among Government and NGOs/CBOs in the provision of A/Y SRH information & services: several workshops and trainings conducted to develop/ strengthen NGOs’ staff skills on: gender-sexuality-rights, M&E, advocacy, documentation and rights; work plan revised according to institutional strength, capacities and budget; joint capacities building initiatives to network NGOs…

Lessons Learned: The change in the management structure and the operational modality in 2005 paid dividends in carrying out project activities and achieving overall project objectives: RHIYA was thinly spread and implemented thus making it difficult to assess the project impact, he objectives were too ambitious and not in line with the time and financial constraints. The establishment of the RMU was an effective means of addressing these challenges. The flexibility given to NGOs made them effective given their understanding of the local context.

Partnerships were a key element to overcome barriers to A/Y SRH interventions, both at the district and central level. Some SDPs were located in temples with the chief priest supporting the project, thus parents allowed their children to attend programmes. The Health Education Bureau helped in the development of IEC/BCC materials, the Directorate of Youth provided a platform for young people to comment on the “Health Policy for Young People”, UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO together with Ministry of health established youth friendly services.

Training: Given the cascade approach used to train the 297 Counsellors and the one-day duration of peer educators’ training, it is not clear if they were all provided with sufficient knowledge. Quality and regular training at central level would have ensured uniformity of standard and resulted in greater availability of services for young people. UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO together with the Ministry of Health is in the process of developing a National Peer Education Training Manual which will be available in the coming year.

SRH: Despite easy availability of information the expected change was not achieved: 35% of youngsters thought information on contraception was not available to them (mainly unmarried and females in rural settings), HIV/AIDS awareness decreased from 93.0% to 85.0% at the ELS despite numerous programmes , but the overall knowledge increased (especially the 20-24 females). SRH programmes conducted for out-of-school youth were more effective than those for the in-school. Addressing gender issues should be a key component of all A/Y SRH interventions. Even though Sri Lanka ratified all relevant SRH rights conventions, the right based approach was met with resistance since the local term for ‘rights’ has negative connotations and is usually perceived as the west influencing the Sri Lankan cultural context. Therefore, it was important to work through culturally sensitive agenda, using locally acceptable and non threatening terminology and examples.

Partners Profile: The mission of the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka and the UPSU is to advocate, promote and provide information, education and services on family planning and reproductive health to all segments of the population to improve people's quality of life.The executing agency was IPPF with 9 partner NGOs being responsible for project implementation. FPASL, as IPPF affiliate, was the lead agency responsible for both project implementation and monitoring of project progress. The responsibility of UNFPA Sri Lanka was to play an oversight role. This structure was different to other countries where an independent unit established by UNFPA was responsible for project execution with independent contracts for each of the implementing partners.

Contact: Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka: Address: 37/27 Buller's Lane, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka; Tel: +94-1-2584203 Fax: +94-1-2580915; Email: