Completed PAMS Projects
Youth for youth: Initiating a youth magazine by adolescents and for adolescents
Duration: July 2011 to September 2012
Executing Agency: Adolescent Health and Development (ADHD), Ghana Health Service Accra, Ghana
Partners: Swiss TPH
Since Ghana offers few opportunities for young people to share their experiences regarding sexual and reproductive health (SRH), this PAMS provided a platform for such exchange. Using an education and entertainment (or “edutainment”) approach, a participatory youth journal was produced by and for adolescents in Ghana. The journal was edited by local youths with the support of a senior SRH advisor and was disseminated in selected schools and community centres.
A feedback and comment component combined with a stakeholder workshop incorporating policymakers and practitioners enabled the evaluation of the journal. An important outcome of this project was the fact that the Adolescent Health and Development Unit, Ghana Health Service, has agreed to continue producing the magazine in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service.
Enhancing pastoral capacities through improved local cheese production around N’Djamena
Duration: October 2011 to September 2012
Executing Agency: CSSI (Centre de Support en Santé Internationale)
Partners: Swiss TPH
This PAMS improved hygiene conditions in dairy production around the N’Djamena region of Chad through training and capacity building of stockbreeders. In this region, lack of animal food and intestinal parasites constrained milk production, often leading to food shortages at the end of the dry season. Within the PAMS, livestock were dewormed and vaccinated. Stockbreeders were trained in hygiene measures, and a new can with a large opening was introduced, enabling easier cleaning. These activities improved the quality of the local milk and cheese. The PAMS also had to contend with a challenging, unforeseen situation: a Chinese oil company built an oil production unit in the village where the PAMS was launched, forcing the entire village to move. A new project area had to be found, but implementation continued thanks to the flexibility and extra efforts of the project team.
Strengthening local stakeholders’ capacities to improve the faecal sludge management in Ouahigouya
Duration: December 2007 to February 2009
Executing Agency: Centre Régional pour l’Eau Potable et l’Assainissement à faible coût (CREPA), Ouagadougou
Partners: Sandec/Eawag; Swiss TPH; CSRS
This PAMS focussed on improving faecal sludge management in the municipality of Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso. Three technologies for collecting faecal sludge were developed and tested. Moreover, an awareness-raising campaign on sanitation was started, and the individuals in charge of manually collecting sludge formed an association. However, the PAMS could not be brought to an end, because the researcher – who had worked at the Executing Agency – left before the PAMS was completed.
Regional collaboration for prevention of HIV/AIDS in Nouakchott, Mauritania
Duration: January to December 2007
Executing Agency: Institut National de Recherche en Santé Publique (INRSP), Nouakchott
Partners: Swiss TPH
This PAMS built on research which showed that adolescents are not aware of the HIV risk when entering sexual relationships. “Peer educators” (adolescents in schools) were trained to disseminate information among their schoolmates. A questionnaire was distributed among 100 school kids before and after the campaign, revealing a significant increase in HIV-related knowledge. Most of the parents signed the agreement for their child to attend the training on HIV. This means that they agreed that their children would talk about sexuality. According to the project team, this was unusual in Mauritanian tradition.
Contact
For regional PAMS information:
Bassirou Bonfoh, Regional Coordinator, West Africa
For general PAMS information:
Eva Maria Heim, Coordinator of Partnership Actions