South Asia continues to face challenges of adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH), such as:

Unplanned pregnancies,
Ante- and post-natal complications,
Maternal and infant mortality,
Unsafe abortion,
HIV/AIDS.

Early marriage, which is commonly observed in the region, makes these situations more serious.

To help tackle these issues, JOICFP, with support from the World Bank, is implementing a one-year project titled "Making Young People’s Voices Heard through Visual Media for Promoting ASRH," based on its expertise in information and communication technology (ICT), and experience in working with adolescents and young people.

From 15th to 18th May, JOICFP held a workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal, with the collaboration of Family Planning Association of Nepal (FPAN), for youth leaders to build script writing skill to develop visual media to be better able to advocate for their ASRH needs.

Seven representatives from the family planning associations of Nepal and Sri Lanka and Youth, Development and Peace (YPD) Network in Nepal took part, as well as two self-funded participants sent by UNFPA from both Nepal and Myanmar.

Learning to frame images

The workshop participants, who included youth leaders as well as adult supporters learned basic script writing skills based on their current activities and issues, explained what specific objectives they wanted to achieve through advocacy, who their target audiences were, and what the advocacy messages were that they wanted to deliver.

Through exercises, lectures and practice sessions, JOICFP showed how to:

Frame images;
Utilize progressive communication theories in producing visual media contents;
Develop production outlines;
Write scripts.

The training was well received, with all the participants stating that they had learned many invaluable skills for ASRH advocacy.

Planning production outlines

A second workshop is expected to be held in Sri Lanka later this year where the participants will learn basic camera shooting skills. JOICFP will also work with the participants to strengthen scripts prior to shooting advocacy messages.

The final product will be short advocacy videos for use in a variety of media, taking full use of JOICFP’s DigiPlan expertise.