True to their slogan, TYPF is supporting youth in manifesting their transformative potential while furthering social justice initiatives in the realms of gender, sexuality, health, education, the arts and governance.

Founded in 2002, The YP Foundation (TYPF) is a youth -run and -led organization that supports and cultivates creativity in young people hungry for change in their communities. TYPF believes in a Freirian approach to active and critical engagement and learning. Through participatory programming and research, TYPF works to enlarge space for youth to incite positive change, not only on a policy and community level, but within an inter- and intra-personal level as well.

Recently, TYPF youth put their participatory practices in action and completed an incredible mapping project. Mapping projects and the technology used to create then come in many different shapes and sizes. TYPF’s mapping project employed a simple yet salient checklist/data collection tools to locate and audit their subjects of interest. With support from inroads, TYPF, in partnership with the Yeh Ek Soch (YES) Foundation, conducted a mixed-methods mapping survey to assess the quality of youth friendly health services (YFHS) across 29 health centers in Lucknow, Northern India. These health centers spanned from government-run centers to private, NGO and indigenous-run centers. Their mapping study seeks to increase visibility of youth-friendly health services, particularly those which have stigma-free abortion services; create a cohort of young leaders who are prepared to advocate for and create measures to assess stigma-free health services, including abortion counselling and provision; and contribute to existing information on the availability and quality of existing health services, especially abortion-related services.

Their mapping study was completed at a pivotal time as it provides an essential tool for the India’s National Adolescent Health Programme to use in their newest adolescent health framework and programming. Introduced in 2014, Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) is a public health program that affirms the need for strengthening Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics (AFHCs) in terms of commodities, infrastructure and the provision of comprehensive information education communication and stigma free services. Currently, information regarding stigma-free adolescent health services is unrecorded. Thus, even if they are available, youth are not receiving news about how to access them or where they are located. TYPF’s mapping project has set a precedent for using geographic data to heighten visibility of stigma-free adolescent-friendly health clinics in the region and glean information about where and to what degree stigma-free adolescent health work must be improved.

In addition to heightening the visibility of health clinics that are already providing stigma-free adolescent-friendly health service, TYPF succeeded in growing a strong cohort of young leaders equipped to advocate for and assess stigma free health services. For example, through this work, youth researchers uncovered some health messaging and signage that display false facts about the timeframe within which abortions can be done. In the fight against abortion stigma, TYPF are using methodologies and making great use of strategic partnerships within India.

Stay tuned for the results of TYPF’s mapping project!

To learn more about TYPF, visit: http://www.theypfoundation.org

inroads Member at a Glance

Name: The YP Foundation (TYPF)

http://www.theypfoundation.org

Where they work: India

Size of organization: 15-20 full- and part-time staff

Focus of work: Youth Leadership Development and Capacity Building

Member of inroads: since 2015