Why is Sexual and Reproductive Health among Youths Continuously a Challenge? - A case study of NGO initiatives in the Lusaka area of Zambia

This study explains why Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) among youths continuously pose challenges in the Lusaka area of Zambia, despite multiple Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) targeting this. An embedded case study design was applied and staff and youths engaged in NGOs working with youths’ SRH were main informants. The Social Ecological Theory was applied to widen the approach of previous research, beyond individual behaviour and focus on how initiatives match needs and preferences for youth, and what role institutional and societal factors play in relation to youths’ SRH. Social Cognitive Theory and Inter-organisational Relations Theory were applied to deepen the analysis. Findings showed that initiatives targeting youth SRH are well matched with needs and preferences of youths, initiatives are however usually too small-scale to have impact on the greater majority of youths. On the institutional level, lack of cooperation between organizations is a main challenge, so is lack of parent-youth communication. On the societal level, lack of governmental support together with cultural values seems to be the main hindrances. It appears that for SRH to improve significantly among youths in the Lusaka area of Zambia, advocacy is needed at all levels of society to place youths’ SRH on the agenda