Article
Higher learning institution clusters committed to promoting health and wellbeing of youths
UNESCO’s Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future (O3) PLUS project aims to ensure that young people in higher and tertiary education institutions in Tanzania realize positive health, education, and gender equality outcomes through sustained reductions in new HIV infections, unintended pregnancy, and gender-based violence.
To guarantee a seamless project implementation, O3PLUS has established the Cluster Technical Working Groups (CWG). This strategic move is designed to provide support for project execution and to uphold accountability in achieving the project's goals.
A cluster consists of higher learning institutions ranging from three to four located in the same geographical area, which benefit from networking, knowledge sharing, and exchanging good practices as a result of varying levels of project implementation and achievements within each institution.
Currently, the O3 PLUS project has four clusters which are Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Iringa and Mbeya. Every quarter, cluster members gather for meetings to provide feedback on the progress of project activity implementation. Cluster Meetings have been a key platform to inform the management of respective Universities and the National Technical Advisory Team on the project progress, opportunities, and challenges encountered during implementation. Engaging project implementers has helped to identify strategies, share experiences, fast track implementation, enforce accountability, and promote sustainability of project results and activities.
We are starting to see changes; for example, in 2023, 190 students tested for HIV and knew their status (116 female and 74 male), while in 2024, 209 students tested for HIV and knew their status (132 female and 77 male). This is a result of improvement in delivering youth-friendly health services to young people and the physical environment that enhances confidentiality, following the training conducted to healthcare providers and the renovation of the Student's Wing respectively, supported by the O3 Plus Project
Apart from informing CWG members on the project progress (outcomes, opportunities, and challenges), Cluster meetings also enhance collaboration and networking among CWG members. During this quarter, Cluster Working Group meetings have been held in all four clusters that constitute benefiting higher learning institutions including Dar es Salaam on 09th April 2024, Dodoma on 13th April 2024, Iringa on 16th April 2024 and Mbeya on 20th April 2024.
