24TH EDITION OF THE CAMEROON UNIVERSITY GAMES

Press Release

University Games in Garoua: UNFPA Cameroon offers sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence prevention services and information to some 10,000 young people.

Garoua, Cameroon – May 21, 2024 – In line with its commitment to empower young people and ensure their access to quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is participating in the 24th edition of the University Games in Cameroon in Garoua. As part of this participation, UNFPA's main objective is to raise awareness among nearly 10,000 adolescents and young people on SRH issues, gender-based violence (GBV), and to provide them with essential SRH services, including family planning, HIV/AIDS screening.

Specifically, UNFPA's contribution to the University Games focuses on two main areas:

Capacity building for young people: A three-day training will enable 200 peer educators to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively sensitize their peers on SRH issues, GBV, and promote positive behaviour change.

Expanding access to SRH services: A mobile clinic will be deployed to various gathering sites during the games, offering essential SRH services, including family planning, counseling, HIV screening and care.

University Games, being an exceptional opportunity to reach a large and diverse audience of young people, creating a dynamic environment for education and service delivery, UNFPA hopes to touch adolescents and young people with essential SRH issues, and provide SRH services to 300 other young people.

According to Dr. Justin Koffi, UNFPA Resident Representative in Cameroon, "By giving young people access to quality sexual and reproductive health information and services, we are helping to break the cycle of poverty and promote a more just and equitable society."

Note to Editors: UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, works for a world where every pregnancy is desired, every childbirth is safe, every young person thrives, and every person is treated with dignity and respect. We work in over 160 countries and territories, with a particular focus on the needs of the most vulnerable populations, including young people.

In light of certain health indicators, Cameroonian youth face a number of challenges that make them vulnerable and impact their constitution as a demographic dividend. The 2018 Demographic and Health Survey (EDS) highlights a high fertility rate among adolescents (122 per 1000). Indeed, nearly one in four adolescents (24%) has already started her reproductive life before the age of 15. The same source indicates a juvenilization of the HIV epidemic coupled with its feminization: 0.8% and 2% HIV prevalence respectively among 15-19 year olds and 20-24 year olds. Among young people aged 15 to 24, 1.3% are HIV positive. HIV prevalence is slightly higher among women (1.5%) than among men (1.1%). These figures reveal the low comprehensive knowledge that young people (15-24 years old) have about HIV, with 41% among women and 36% among men. This low knowledge of HIV exposes young people to increased risks of infection and transmission of the virus.

In this context, UNFPA is working, in support of the Cameroonian government and in collaboration with other UN agencies, national and international non-governmental organizations, to improve young people's access to SRH services. The organization also regularly trains health providers to provide quality and youth-friendly SRH services.

To learn more about UNFPA's work in Cameroon, please visit the organization's website at: https://cameroon.unfpa.org/

Media contacts:

Samuel SAWALDA/ Communication Expert/sawalda@unfpa.org/+237 698 43 86 48

Dr. Jean Alain Mah/Head of UNFPA Maroua Sub-office/amah@unfpa.org/+237 696 60 10 50

Ms. Moussa Amadani, Reproductive Health Expert/amoussa@unfpa.org/+237 699 31 06 87

Ms. Mangele Lydie Gertrude/Head of the Adolescents and Youth Unit/gmangele@unfpa.org, +237 697 27 21 46