[ 09 February 2010 ]

The Ministry of Health and UNFPA have developed a sexual and reproductive health campaign encouraging young people to empower themselves with knowledge and open communication and protect themselves from unsafe sex. Early pregnancy, abortions and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are common issues that both rural and urban youth in Mongolia deal with.

I love myself, and you
Together with young people, the ‘I love myself, and you’ campaign has been developed. The campaign will be officially launched on February 9, 2010, but a campaign song had been released 2 weeks before. Two popular singers, Maraljingoo and Tuuru, recorded the campaign song which was released without an official title. Young people were encouraged to listen carefully to the song and make suggestions for the title. Today, at the launch of the campaign, the winner of the song title competition will be announced and Maraljingoo and Tuuru will perform live in Napoleon Center, Ulaanbaatar.

Popular singers
Maraljingoo and Tuuru are personally engaged with the topic of sexual and reproductive health. They committed their names to the campaign because they acknowledge the importance of empowering young people with knowledge and they will encourage young people to discuss openly about sex. ‘We hope to spread the message that youth should understand their sexual reproductive health, are responsible for it and will practice safe sex. It’s an important thing and it should not be a taboo. This campaign disseminates very useful and detailed information on sexual reproductive health and we hope to reach all youth in Mongolia’, Tuuru expressed his engagement.

Behavior change
The campaign addresses the problem behaviors that were identified by youth themselves: (1) Youth don't seek correct information on SRH, (2) Youth pressure each other to have sex, and (3) Youth are not aware of the choices of contraceptives available. This was translated into a campaign that focuses on (1) providing youth with detailed information on sexual reproductive health, including information on where to access reproductive health services and treatment, (2) encouraging open communication and (3) making the right decisions.

Products
Many products have been developed to support the cause of young people’s sexual reproductive health: an information booklet with detailed information on SRH, including the addresses of Youth Friendly Clinics, a comics book and posters that were distributed at schools, dormitories, health centers and popular internet cafes. The campaign song and clip are already broadcasted through various TV and radio channels. In addition, gadgets, TV spots, a radio drama and TV programme also form part of the campaign. An important strategy that we took in this campaign is to make use of popular youth culture for spreading the messages. You Tube, Facebook, Hi5 and other popular network channels are all an integral part of the campaign.

Dissemination
The implementation of the campaign will start today and already tonight we can see the TV spots on several channels (Mongolian National TV and Educational TV) and this will continue till the end of March. The special edition of ‘Ganaa changes his profession’ (TV programme) will be broadcasted on Sunday 28 February at 8.30 pm. The printed products have been distributed already and will be available in the country side (schools, dormitories, health clinics) and also in Ulaanbaatar, Darghan and Erdenet’s places where youth gather.