Youth-First Project

• Overview
• Key Components
• Entertainment-Education Drama for Youth

Overview

Country Profile

Pakistan is one of the fastest growing Islamic countries in the world with a population of about 140.5 million. Currently, Pakistan has one of the largest cohorts of young people in its history. Adolescents and young adults (15-24 years) make up 19% of its population and subsequent cohorts in the near future are projected to be even larger. The minimum legal age of marriage in Pakistan is 16 years for females and 18 years for males however, 14% of females and 7% of males get married before they reach the legal age. Most women in Pakistan by age twenty will have given birth to one child and women in their early 30's have an average of 4 births (NIPS, 2001). The use of contraceptives in the country is very low. Only 28% of currently married women report currently using any method of contraception. Among young married women, (15-19 years old) only 4.8 % report ever using any contraceptive method and only 2% report ever using any modern method (NIPS, 2001). Current estimates indicate that about 61% of women have a need for family planning, which includes a 33% with an unmet need. The reproductive health, family planning information and service needs of youth and young adults in Pakistan is great.

Project Overview

Supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the youth-centered communication project in Pakistan combines a television social drama for young people, Kaisay Kahoon , on the benefits of birth spacing and positive life choices, with services for youth and young adults. Current services include youth hotlines in Islamabad provided through Rozan NGO and Newlywed Counseling at Greenstar clinics in Karachi and Lahore . The project aims to empower young people to make positive, well-informed life choices on such issues as family planning, marriage, and education and to give young people hope for the future. A project evaluation is scheduled following the airing of the drama to measure the impact of the serial and exposure to the media campaign.

Key Components

• Kaisay Kahoon - 11-episode entertainment education drama for youth

• Newlywed Counseling Services at urban Greenstar clinics along with Media campaign promoting the service

• Youth Hotlines providing professional counseling on adolescent reproductive health and puberty-related concerns

In-country partners include two NGO's, ROZAN and FPAP, Greenstar Social Marketing, and local media agencies.

Entertainment-Education Drama for Youth

Kaisay Kahoon (How Shall I Say It?) …an up-beat story about love, family and growing up...learning to communicate….and making better choices….

An 11-episode (1 hour per episode) entertainment-education drama serial for youth and young adults, Kaisay Kahoon , tells the story of a middle class Pakistani family confronting contemporary social issues in Pakistan, and resolving them effectively by learning to communicate and arrive at more informed decisions.

Written by well known actor and playwright Rahat Kazmi, Kaisay Kahoon tells the story of two siblings, Zen and Natasha, struggling to find their identities and self-confidence as they, their parents, and grandparents learn to talk openly across generations about tough issues.

Sahira Kazmi, also known for her popular social drama, Aahat (another co-production with CCP), Directed and Produced the drama and it serves as the first-ever youth social drama in Pakistan . Successfully portraying the key issues of adolescents into an upbeat, romantic comedy, the production is attractive to youth, while carrying important messages on the need for open communication in families, informed decision making and family planning/reproductive health in a light hearted manner.

Based in a modern urban milieu, the story revolves around youth's problems of today and their struggle to find appropriate solutions. As the two siblings Zen and Natasha find a balance between the new and old, traditional and modern, their lives unfold as they transition through adolescence and face the myriad of physical, emotional and psychological changes of adolescence. Family planning and the need for spacing between children is a parallel theme of the drama.

Music is used as a metaphor for a meeting point, where the old and the new can meet and sort out their problems without being detrimental to the interests of one another or society in general. Two music videos (based on the drama's theme songs) have been produced and will air during the broadcast of the serial. Directed by singer/songwriter AWS. Neend was named in the top 5 videos of Pakistan for 2005

Artist: AWS Copyright: All rights reserved to AWS, CCP and Xcess Productions, 2005. Copying these songs is prohibited. Request for copies should be directed in writing to CCP or AWS.

Also alongside the drama, the Newlywed Counseling Services media campaign will air to promote the newlywed counseling services at Greenstar and the importance of spousal communication. The drama debut also celebrates the launch of the Newlywed services in Karachi on October 1 st , 2005 .

Cast : Rahat Kazmi, Marina Khan as well as Adnan Siddiqui, Ali and Nida Kazmi, Anushay and Jhalay Sarhadi and other well-known actors.

Previous Related Projects

From 1990 - 1993, CCP worked on health communication programs in Pakistan , including the commission of several highly successful entertainment-education social dramas, including the popular TV serials, Aahat and Nijaat . In partnership with the Pakistan Ministry of Population Welfare and also working with Director Sahira Kazmi, CCP developed several social dramas to increase husband-wife communication about family planning. For a more information on the impact of Aahat, see Publications.

Launch

A launch for the drama and the initiation of the Newlywed Counseling media campaign is schedule for October 1 st 2005. For more information, see Press Release.

Newlywed Counseling Services

In order to successfully address the reproductive needs of youth and young adults, CCP has found that it is important to find a point of entry that is not only acceptable in a Muslim culture, but that is ideal for starting married life off in the right direction.

In 2002, the Youth First Project expanded to include newlywed counseling services at Greenstar clinics with this concept in mind. Driven by CCP and in collaboration with Greenstar Social Marketing (GSM), the two partners developed a training curriculum and program for providers in their network.

The newlywed counseling program in Pakistan is designed to introduce a range of reproductive health topics to young people at the time of marriage, and to establish positive communication between couples, with assistance from expert providers. The newlywed sessions are aimed to foster a life long pattern of informed decision-making at the onset of this major life event.

With support from CCP, Greenstar trained a total of 500 doctors (in Karachi and Lahore ). These doctors are currently offering the service and the number is expected to grow. Sessions cover topics in family planning, reproductive and maternal health, including pre- and neonatal care, safe delivery, infertility, and sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS. The training and sessions also strongly reinforces the importance of spousal communication among couples. For more information about Greenstar, visit www.greenstar.org.pk .

TV and radio spots promoting the Newlywed Counseling services (and the importance of spousal communication) will air alongside the drama. Click here to view one of the spots.

Support Materials CCP and Greenstar developed a client brochure and a client provider cue card for reference during sessions. Based on the Gather approach, the cue card covers all the topics in the sessions.

Youth Hotlines  

From 2000 – 2002, CCP and local partner NGOs developed the first-ever hotline services for youth in 3 major urban centers of Pakistan , Karachi , Lahore and Islamabad . Hotline NGOs included the Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP) and Rozan (Ray of Light) . Together, CCP and Rozan developed a counselor training curriculum, caller tracking system and hotline operations.

With support from CCP, b oth NGOs developed and executed multi-media promotional strategies in their regions to raise awareness about the importance of youth issues and promote the hotlines. Promotional activities included direct outreach to youth via large youth festivals, funfairs, orientations and booths at schools and universities as well as TV and radio programs. As a result of their demonstrated success, Rozan began receiving additional funding to continue the hotline on their own starting in 2003. For more information about Rozan's helpine, see http://www.rozan.org/yhl/index.html

For more information on the Youth First Project, please contact Shana Yansen syansen@jhuccp.org