Effective Peer Education: Working with children and young people on sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS

Children and young people are central to improving sexual and reproductive health trends and reversing global HIV rates. Through working with children and young people, countries such as Uganda, Senegal, Thailand, and Cambodia have begun to see significant changes in sexual and reproductive health behaviours. In Uganda, the number of young women (aged 15–24) using condoms almost doubled between 1995 and 2000/2001, and more young women are delaying sexual intercourse or abstaining until marriage.

In recent years peer education has become popular with a range of stakeholders, including donors and development agencies, as a way of promoting sexual and reproductive health. 

This toolkit explores:

 • the role that peer education plays in protecting the sexual and reproductive health of children and young people

• how peer education relates to other strategies that are essential to a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health programme

• the key factors that need to be taken into account before deciding to do peer education.