GUSO-Reports-Youth-Led Social Accountability in Malawi

‘We now know more about the quality of health services’ – youth-led social accountability within the Get Up Speak Out programme in Malawi

Get Up Speak Out (GUSO) was a five-year programme (2016-2020) developed by a consortium consisting of Rutgers, Aidsfonds, CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality, Dance4life, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and Simavi. The programme was financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the SRHR Partnership Fund.

The programme addressed the following problem: “Young people do not claim their sexual rights and their right to participation because of restrictions at community, societal, institutional and political levels. This hinders their access to comprehensive SRHR education and services that match their needs and ability to make their own informed SRHR decisions”. The GUSO consortium addressed this problem in seven countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan and Uganda. The change that was envisioned is that all young people, especially girls and young women, are empowered to realise their SRHR in societies that take a positive stance towards young people’s sexuality.

This operational research aims to understand how social accountability initiatives in Mangochi and Chikwawa in Malawi, implemented by YONECO, CYECE and FPAM, contribute to the empowerment of the young people involved and to the improvement of the quality and inclusiveness of Sexual Reproductive and Health (SRH) services for young people. The objectives of the research are:

1. To understand the effects of involvement in Social Accountability processes on young people themselves. A. How are young people involved at each stage of the process? B. How does being involved in social accountability processes enable young people to better articulate, voice and express their concerns regarding service delivery? C. To what extent do young people have a better understanding of their SRHR rights through their participation in social accountability processes? D. What are the dynamics between young people and other groups in the community (e.g., healthcare providers and local officials)
2. To understand the effects of Youth-Led Social Accountability (YLSA) on the quality of SRHR services for young people (e.g., changes in the behaviour of healthcare providers, youth-friendly corners, inclusivity or changes in policies and guidelines etc)