Empowering Adolescents and Young people in Dzaleka Refugee Camp through Access to Livelihood and Sexual and Reproductive Health rights services. (EYA Project)

The Empowering Young Adults (EYA) Project is being implemented at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa District and host communities (Msakambewa and Nkukula Traditional Authorities) with Plan International Malawi (PIM) being the lead. The project targets refugees, asylum-seekers, and host-community adolescents, young people aged between 12 and 24. The project is structured around two components, i.e., livelihoods and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), designed to help young women and men become self-reliant while addressing the compounding risks of displacement, restrictive cultural norms, and reduced access to youth-friendly health services following recent funding cuts to SRHR programming. OSSEDI Malawi's role is specifically Component 2 (SRHR), i.e. improved access to and utilization of inclusive youth-friendly SRHR services among adolescents and young people. Under this component, OSSEDI is working to strengthen youth-friendly SRHR service delivery by building the capacity of health workers, youth community-based distribution agents, and peer educators; supporting the construction of youth-friendly health services centers; and equipping outreach workers with mobility and supply resources. The component also builds community-level support for SRHR access by engaging adolescents, cultural and religious gatekeepers, parents, caregivers, and teachers through dialogue and behavior-change sessions and by establishing youth clubs across the camp's zones.