Yesterday, Share-Net published the article ‘School-Based Sexuality Education in Tanzania: A Reflection on the Benefits of a Peer-Led Edutainment Approach’, on its website. Share-Net is the international knowledge platform on sexual and reproductive health and rights. The article explores the benefits of the previous Dance4Life peer-led edutainment program. The goal was to engage and empower young people in order to make healthy sexual choices. The program was implemented in Tanzania from 2010 to 2016. The article highlights the outcomes of the evaluation, below a short summary.
Positive outcomes
Compared to the HIV prevention curriculum of the Tanzanian government, the evaluation shows that the Dance4Life program increased young people’s knowledge on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). It also helped them build self-efficacy (meaning you have control over your own life and choices) and develop life skills that are useful to live a positive sexual life. Moreover, participants reported a high level of enthusiasm for the entertaining elements during the training sessions of the program.
Input for new model
These findings are a confirmation that Dance4Life is on the right track with its new Empowerment Model. This model was co-created in 2017 with partner organizations working on SRHR in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The core of the model is the Journey4Life, a sexuality education curriculum focusing on building socio-emotional competencies among young people. The Journey4Life is delivered by peer facilitators who are trained on engaging youngsters and use creative facilitation techniques. The Empowerment Model is now implemented in 9 countries, with Dance4Life being present in 14 countries in total.
