About Y-PEER
Y-PEER is a youth network of young people from more than 700 non-profit organizations and government agencies in more than 50 countries initiated by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) on the use of an integrated approach to working with young people, with the active participation of young people themselves. International Y-PEER network was established by interdepartmental group on youth, development and protection of the UN and with the support of UNFPA, which supported the young people in their need to train young people on health, in particular sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) issues. In many countries, the issue of young people's awareness about these topics is very serious, as very often young men and women are not supported by adults or face with a number of myths. It is very difficult for them to talk about it with the older, and peers are not always sufficiently aware. Therefore, Y-PEER educates young people by using the principle of peer-to-peer, where young people learn about their reproductive health from the same young people as they are. The activists of the Y-PEER, attend valuable training sessions and workshops, before distributing information among peers. Training techniques of Y-PEER are tailored to the needs of young people and based on interactive methods, including music, dance, film and theater.
"What we've done with Y-PEER is to go beyond ad hoc activities to create a coordinated social movement," said Mr. Salah Al-Saleh, who manages the Y-PEER programme for UNFPA. "We're taking activities and techniques that have been developed at the community level and bringing them up to scale, using both the Internet and linkages with the mass media."
As the network has continued to grow and mature, it has become the standard for similar efforts globally, Mazin, Oman FPC said. "It's the first successful effort to scale up peer education in the region," he added. "It's become a franchise that others are replicating." He estimates that Y-PEER touches the lives of millions of young people each year, and says number continues to grow.
