Promoting Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in Esat

(Edited by Knut-Inge Klepp, Alan J. Flisher & Sylvia F. Kaaya) The basis for this volume emerged out of the extensive collaboration born out of the Adolescent Reproductive Health Network (ARHNe). This was a European Union-funded concerted action project which developed the competence and capacity of researchers in East and Southern Africa to engage in health promotion activities (particularly in the area of reproductive health). Specifically, the main objectives of the ARHNe were to: • strengthen and further develop research and practice related to the design and delivery of sexual and reproductive health-related services and programs targeting adolescents. • foster the development and application of trans-disciplinary theories, conceptual models and research methods relevant to the study of adolescent health, and ultimately develop culturally appropriate intervention programs to modify adolescent health-related behaviours. • facilitate technical co-operations between African researchers and between African researchers and their European colleagues in order to stimulate a productive scientific context for ongoing programs and to reduce the risk of costly, uncoordinated duplication of research. In response to the need to articulate new perspectives and strategies on promoting adolescent sexual and reproductive health, the network researchers working in East and Southern Africa represented a unique and comprehensive attempt to bring together the social and biomedical sciences in an effort to disseminate concrete empirical evidence from diverse vantage points. This book ultimately represents a tool that may be utilized not only by academics in the field, but also by practitioners, governments, policy makers and students interested in the future research agenda, priorities and challenges of sexual and reproductive health in the wake of several international commitments.