AIDS PREVENTION PROGRAMME AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE IN ZAMBIA.
KZE Funded Project ( November 2024 – November 2027)
Highlights
Reaching Thousands of Young Lives Across Lusaka and Kazangula (November 2025 – April 2026)
Between November 2025 and April 2026, Youth Alive Zambia (YAZ) continued its mission under Project 157-900-1072 ZG working across Lusaka and Kazangula to protect contribute to the creation of an equitable environment for the health and social well-being of adolescents in Zambia.
What unfolded during this period was not a straight path but a journey shaped by persistence, adaptation, and growing impact.
Where It Began: Building Momentum (November – April 2026)
Through our social media platforms, we have reached 3,795+ beneficiaries.
Activities under Objective no.2:
In the second year of project implementation, from November to April 2026, the project focused on laying a strong foundation reaching communities, strengthening awareness, and building trust.
Activities under objective no.1:
Sensitisation Campaigns and Community Debates
The project planned to conduct four sensitisation campaigns and debates focusing on children's rights, gender equality, inclusion of children with disabilities, and the importance of girls' education. During the reporting period, three campaigns were conducted, reaching 133 beneficiaries .
Performance was below target due to delays in obtaining permission from relevant authorities to conduct activities within some communities.
Mobilisation of Security and Support Groups
Two mobilisation activities were planned to recruit and strengthen community-based security and support groups. A total of seven activities were implemented, reaching 203 beneficiaries.
The increased performance resulted from active community engagement meetings that facilitated the recruitment of volunteers from communities where YAZ operates.
Menstrual Hygiene Management Sessions
Six menstrual hygiene sessions were planned and successfully conducted in the target schools. The sessions included practical demonstrations on the production of reusable sanitary pads and reached 200 adolescents.
Although all planned activities were implemented, participation was affected by examination preparations and verification exercises among pupils in examination classes.
Activities under Objective no.3:
Other Project Measures
Project Visibility Materials
Sexual and Reproductive Health Education Events
Six educational events focusing on sexual and reproductive health, unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV/AIDS prevention were planned.
Fourteen sessions were conducted, reaching 1,168 beneficiaries.
The increased coverage resulted from additional sessions conducted in response to demand from schools and communities.
Positive Sexual Practices and Responsible Decision-Making Trainings
Six training events were planned to promote positive sexual practices, healthy attitudes, and responsible decision-making among boys and girls.
Fourteen training sessions were conducted, reaching 381 beneficiaries.
The activities were implemented successfully and contributed to improved awareness among adolescents.
Interface Meetings with Stakeholders
Two interface meetings involving adolescents, traditional leaders, parents, and district representatives were planned to strengthen dialogue on adolescent sexual and reproductive health.
One meeting was conducted, reaching 57 participants. The second meeting was postponed and scheduled for the next implementation period.
Safeguarding and Life Skills Workshops
Twenty-four workshops were successfully conducted, reaching 2,642.
The high turnout was attributed to increased demand for life skills and safeguarding interventions among learners and schools.
Peer-to-Peer Anti-Drug Abuse Campaigns
Eight peer-led anti-drug abuse campaigns were planned and all eight were successfully implemented. The campaigns reached 3,585 beneficiaries.
The significant increase in participation was largely due to the adoption of community-based approaches, including awareness activities in public spaces and marketplaces, which enabled engagement with both in-school and out-of-school youths.
Youth-Friendly Spaces and Counselling Services
Youth-friendly spaces continued to operate within the target schools, providing confidential counselling services on issues such as drug abuse, psychosocial challenges, sexually transmitted infections, and other adolescent concerns.
During the reporting period, 147 adolescents accessed counselling services.
Lower participation was attributed to the graduation of many secondary school learners who had previously been active users of the services.
Training of Young Volunteers
Two training sessions were planned to equip young volunteers with skills to conduct behaviour change and communication campaigns addressing violence against women.
A total of twelve activities were conducted, including one training for out-of-school youth and eleven behaviour change communication workshops for in-school participants. These activities reached 666 beneficiaries.
The approach enhanced peer-to-peer engagement and facilitated effective implementation of school-based activities.
Parent-Teacher Association Workshops
Two Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) workshops were planned to promote gender-sensitive teaching methods and educational content.
One workshop was conducted, reaching 44 participants.
Awareness Raising Through Media Platforms
Five awareness-raising initiatives were planned through social media, radio, press, and public forums to improve recognition of early signs of domestic violence and violence against children.
Twenty-five awareness activities were conducted, reaching 3,795 beneficiaries.
The interventions included social media campaigns through Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, as well as community forums and public engagement events.
Conclusion
From May 2025 to March 2026, Youth Alive Zambia’s work in Lusaka and Kazangula has shown one powerful truth:
Progress is not always linear but it is always possible.
Despite health crises, administrative delays, and logistical challenges, the project has:
Reached thousands of adolescents and community members
Built a growing network of young leaders and volunteers
Strengthened awareness, confidence, and community engagement
And most importantly it has created spaces where young people are no longer silent.
They are learning.
They are speaking.
They are leading.
And that is where real change begins.
A Story of Persistence and Possibility
During the period November 2025 to March 2026, the project recorded significant achievements across all three objectives. Several activities exceeded their planned targets, particularly life skills workshops, anti-drug abuse campaigns, behaviour change communication activities, and sexual and reproductive health education sessions. These achievements demonstrate strong community demand and effective implementation approaches.
However, some activities experienced delays or lower participation due to administrative approval processes, school examination schedules, learner graduations, and rescheduling of stakeholder meetings. The project team will continue to address these challenges while ensuring that postponed activities are implemented during the subsequent reporting period.
Overall, the project continues to make meaningful progress towards promoting children's rights, safeguarding adolescents, preventing violence, and improving the wellbeing of young people in the target communities.
2025 - 2026
2024 - 2025
This report was compiled through the voices of those closest to the work.
From district coordinators to community stakeholders, from activity reports to direct feedback from adolescents themselves this story is grounded in lived experience. It reflects not only what was done, but what was felt, observed, and learned on the ground.
From the onset, the project aligned closely with its agreed objectives ensuring that every intervention contributes to:
Listening First: Building a Foundation for Change
Highlights
Between November 2024 and October 2025, a powerful story of change unfolded across communities one shaped by resilience, learning, and the determination to give adolescents a better future.
Through a project supported under the Misereor/KZE Project Contract, Youth Alive Zambia (YAZ) has been working to improve education opportunities for girls, strengthen the prevention and response to violence, and increase access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services for adolescents.
But behind every report, every number, and every indicator are real lives, real struggles, and real progress.
Breaking Barriers, Building Futures: A Year of Impact for Adolescents in Zambia (2024–2025)
A Changing Landscape: Progress Meets Reality
Objective no. 3:
Adolescents have enhanced their knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and their demand for sexual and reproductive health services has increased.
Indicators:
3.1. By the end of the funding period, the proportion of adolescents in the 12 target
schools using sexual and reproductive health services has increased by at least 80%
(baseline value to be assessed).
3.2. At least 80% of the tested and confirmed HIV-positive adolescents who are new to
YOUTH ALIVE ZAMBIA have started taking antiretroviral therapies (ART) (the baseline values are determined by YOUTH ALIVE ZAMBIA on the basis of HIV tests at the beginning of the
project).
A Stronger Policy Environment
Despite these challenges, something remarkable is happening.
Young people are speaking up.
Across schools and communities, adolescents are becoming more open discussing issues like GBV, mental health, and sexual health with increasing confidence. Safe spaces are no longer just an idea they are becoming a reality.
Economic Pressures on Families
Over the year, the environment in which the project operates has continued to evolve.
A Shift in Social Attitudes
Zambia has taken bold steps to protect children. With laws such as the Marriage (Amendment) Act No. 13 of 2023 and the Children’s Code Act No. 12 of 2022, child marriage is now clearly outlawed, creating a supportive legal framework for girls’ education and protection.
At the same time, free education policies have helped keep more learners in school opening doors that were once closed.
Tracking Progress: What the Numbers Reveal
The project completed its first year of implementation and remains moderately on track toward achieving its stated objectives. Over the past twelve months, several planned activities were successfully implemented across the target districts, including adolescent safeguarding and life skills workshops, establishment of youth-friendly spaces, counselling sessions, menstrual hygiene education, and awareness campaigns on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and gender-based violence (GBV). These interventions have contributed to increased awareness, improved reporting of abuse, and greater utilization of counselling and SRH services among adolescents. However, implementation has not been without challenges. Delays in administrative approvals from education authorities and clashes with school schedules, cholera outbreak affected the timely execution of some activities. As a result, progress on certain indicators particularly those related to return to school for pregnant adolescents and increased access to legal and counselling services has been slower than initially projected. A notable challenge under Objective 3, Indicator 3.2, which targets 80% initiation on antiretroviral therapy (ART) among newly diagnosed young people. During the reporting period, the baseline for this indicator stood at 1.5%, and all HIV tests conducted among adolescents yielded negative results, resulting in no new ART initiations within the period under review.
Activities
Beneficiaries Reached
Relating To Objective No. 1:
Conducting 24 sensitisation campaigns or debates
1432
Mobilising security and support groups (consisting of 240 volunteers) for security services and campaigns for girls at risk of violence;
50
Holding 36 sessions on menstrual hygiene for adolescents in 12 target schools in the Districts of Lusaka and Kazungula, including information on how to make sanitary pads.
667
Relating To Objective No. 2:
Holding 72 workshops on adolescent safeguarding and life skills (50 participants per Workshop) for adolescents from the 12 target schools;
1568
Implementing 72 peer-to-peer anti-drug abuse behaviour campaigns (1 day for 50 Participants per campaign and school);
222
Establishing youth-friendly spaces in the 12 target schools and providing confidential Counselling to 3,000 adolescents on various topics (drug abuse, psychosocial problems, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.);
419
Holding 12 Parent Teachers’ Association workshops to ensure that gender-sensitive methods/content are observed in education and teaching
253
Carrying out awareness-raising measures (via social media, radio, press, event forums) to recognise the first signs of domestic violence and violence against children, especially against girls.
11,637
Relating To Objective No. 3:
Organising 50 10-day events on sexual and reproductive health, unwanted pregnancies, Unsafe abortions, the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, etc.;
628
Conducting 50 educational/training events for boys and girls to promote positive (sexual) Practices, attitudes and responsible decision-making;
270
While progress has been made, the journey continues.
The project remains moderately on track, with strong foundations in place for accelerated impact. Moving forward, priorities include:
Strengthening partnerships with schools and authorities
Supporting vulnerable families to improve participation
Expanding mentorship and support systems for girls
Scaling up community sensitization on education and GBV
Ensuring activities are completed on time and at scale
Overall Assessment on Achievement of Objectives:
This is not just a report it is a story of transformation in motion.
A story of girls choosing to return to school.
Of young people finding the courage to speak out.
Of communities beginning to challenge harmful norms.
And while challenges remain, one thing is clear:
The path toward safer, healthier, and more empowered adolescents in Zambia is being built step by step, voice by voice, and story by story.
Looking Ahead: Strengthening What Works:
A Story Still Being Written
Objectives
Objective no. 1:
Educational opportunities for girls and young women have improved.
Indicators:
1.1. The number of pregnant adolescent girls returning to school after giving birth has
increased by 25% (baseline value to be assessed).
1.2. By the end of the funding period, the total number of former female school dropouts
(girls) who return and successfully complete their entire secondary education from 8th to
12th grade has increased (baseline value to be assessed).
Objective no. 2:
The prevention and handling of violence against children and adolescents especially
girls/young women has improved.
Indicators:
2.1. In the 12 target schools and communities, inhibitions about accepting counselling and
support services are reduced, measured by the increase in reported incidents of violence
against children and adolescents, particularly against girls and young women (baseline
value to be assessed).
2.2. By the end of the funding period, the proportion of survivors of GBV who take
advantage of legal or counselling support services at the project sites has increased by at
least 50% (baseline value to be assessed).
2.3. Boys, men, and local leaders are actively engaged in tackling violence against girls
and women; each annual report presents at least four case studies of engagement in
addressing violence against girls and women (target value: at least 12 case studies).
Yet, for many families, daily life has become harder.
Rising costs of living have left households struggling. For some learners, hunger has become part of the school day. Others are forced to choose between attending class and supporting their families.
In some cases, adolescents are drawn to programs offering basic incentives like food highlighting a deeper challenge: survival often comes before education.
Contact Us
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GBV Hotline: 933
Police Emergency: 991
Ambulance: 992
Victim Support & Child Line: 116
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Youth Alive Zambia (YAZ)
All Rights Reserved.