In order to truly accelerate progress in AYSRHR, and to safeguard the gains made in AYSRHR, SAT collaborates extensively with government departments, CSOs, youth leaders and youth-led organizations, UN agencies and regional economic communities at all times. SAT is also a member of various regional and global bodies and sits in various technical working groups where it lobbies and advocates for young people and their SRHR needs.
SAT has Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), since July 2021.
We also sit on:
- The 10-person African Union Commission Civil Society Reference Group advising the AUC on the continental End Child Marriage Campaign
- the SADC Technical Working Group for the SADC SRHR Strategy & Scorecard
in addition, we are members of:
- The UN Global Partnership Forum on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE);
- The African Union sub cluster on education for health and wellbeing (coordinated by The AU Science, Technology, and Information Division, in partnership with UNESCO.
- The UHC 2030 Civil Society Engagement Mechanism
- The African Grants Makers Affinity Group (AGAG);
A list of our collaborations with national governments includes:
- Collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, through both the SRHR and Youth Divisions of the Ministry. SAT has been a contributor to the country’s report on the implementation of ESA Commitment.
- SAT served in the ESA Review Commitment Technical Committee
- Participated in the Botswana Youth Engagement Committee of the National AIDS Health and Promotion Agency
- Collaboration with Ministry of Health and Population Personnel and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), – Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM) where SAT supports the provision of contraception and other SRHR services using the outreach model for adolescents and young adults
- We belong to the reconstituted HIV Social Behaviour Change and Communication Technical Working Group (SBCC TWG).
- Collaborated with Ministry of Gender, Health, Education, and the judiciary on initiating a discussion around amending age of consent to services, & incarceration of minors.
- Contributed to the new Education, HIV and SRHR strategy consultation done by Ministry of Education under the Department of School Health and Nutrition. This created an opportunity to ensure that SAT aspirations for Adolescents and Young Adults are taken on board.
- Belong to the Youth Friendly Health Service Technical Working Group. This TWG main role is to oversee, coordinate, provide progress, and adjust all YFHS related programs in Malawi. The YFHS technical working group meets quarterly at National level.
- Secretariat for the national Task force on CSE Advocacy by Civil society Organisations
- Chair of the Lusaka Province Adolescent Health Technical Working Group.
- Collaborate with PSZ and ZNFPC (MoH) for contraceptive service provision; Chitungwiza General Hospital for HCT services and Africaid Zvandiri for HIV information and treatment support during the YouthWyze SRHR outreaches
- led the Safe Abortion Taskforce: SAT plays a lead role in advancing the safe abortion agenda in advocating for the expansion of the ToP conditions and removing barriers that delay termination and coordinates CSOs working on Safe Abortion.
- Collaborated with the Ministry of Women, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development who selected SAT to coordinate and moderate the CSW65 webinars in consultation with RMT.
- SAT is a member of the Access taskforce and plays a lead role in advocating for policy change on Age of Consent (AoC) to Health, building a critical mass of support to the AoC Campaign.
- Collaborated with Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in drafting the Termination of Pregnancy regulations. These regulations are operational guidelines removing administrative barriers to termination of pregnancy.
- Member of the NAC coordinated Gender and HIV Forum – this forum tracks issues of HIV and Gender and produces guidelines to inform programming
- Coordinated the Termination of Pregnancy Coordination Forum (Adult Rape Clinic, Women’s Action Group, My Age, PSZ, MSF, Katswe Sistahood, SAfAIDS and UNICEF) in advancing safe abortion agenda.
- Collaborated with the National Association of Youth Organisations (NAYO) on understanding the voluntary national review (VNR) processes on SDGs 3, 4, and 5
- Global Partnership Forum on CSE – Member of the first ever UN Global Partnership Forum on CSE Advisory Group. Providing guidance and strategic direction to the partnership, including UN agencies and CSE supporting member states. Hosting monthly webinars on key elements of CSE.
- Invited by the South African National AIDS Council to serve on the national adolescent and young people’s working group which is purposed to guide SANAC’s programming on adolescent and young people, HIV prevention and the overall implementation of the national strategic plan on HIV and its intersection with ASRHR.
- Invited by IPPF and the African Union Education Division to participate on the continental Steering Committee for the AU Continental Strategy on Education for Health and Well-being which has recently been approved for development by the AUC.
- Requested by UNESCO global and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign affairs to facilitate the launch of the Global Partnership Forum on CSE in partnership with UNFPA. The launch was co-sponsored by the governments of France, Argentina, and North Macedonia, IPPF, AfriYAN ESA and Youth Coalition on SRHR.
- Collaborated with the South African national Department of Basic Education, Department of Health, Social Development and International Relations and Cooperation as well as the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health for a roundtable event to discuss South Africa’s commitments to the generation equality forum and ICPD @25 Nairobi Summit commitments.
- Requested by the South African National AIDS Council, UNESCO, and Department of Basic Education to facilitate national youth CSO’s consultation on ESA Commitment Beyond 2021 consultations.
- Under the auspices of the Generation Equality Forum, SAT is currently co-leadnig the action coalition on bodily autonomy and SRHR in collaboration with the National AIDS council of South Africa, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the French embassy in South Africa.