The Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP) conducted the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) One Stop Service Project in Zambia in cooperation with the International the Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Zambia, which is a local NGO, and district health offices with grant assistance for Japanese NGO Projects.
One Stop Service is a comprehensive health center that includes a maternal and child health clinic, maternity house, youth center, and midwife residence. While raising the quality of health services, the center also develops human resources such as health workers, maternal and child health support staff, youth peer educators, and promotes educational activities in community. The project for empowerment through sports seeks to reinforce youth educational activities and empower young women as a part of health promotion (physical development) activities by training peer educators. The program uses sports, which has the power to attract young people. Using participatory workshops to teach life skills and leadership by incorporating practical sports exercises and teaching the importance of health promotion through sports from the perspective of health promotion, prevention of non-communicable diseases, and sexual and reproductive health in adolescent, the participants will learn how to protect their own bodies.

The objectives of this program are as follows.
(1) In Masaiti District, develop peer educators who can conduct empowerment programs for adolescent women relating to life skills and leadership by incorporating sports.
(2) As a part of health promotion, reinforce programs that prevent pregnancy by young women, prevent transmission of HIV and sexually transmitted infections, and prevent sexual violence.

Phase 1
Six persons will be selected from among the 60 youth peer educators trained in Masaiti District of Copperbelt Province, the provincial capital, and an instructor training programs will be conducted over approximately three days with the cooperation of NOWSPAR, a local NGO, through a gender equality program that uses sports as a part of health promotion.

Phase 2
The six youth peer educators who underwent training by NOWSPAR will conduct empowerment programs for adolescent women that use sports over two days with sponsorship from NOWSPAR, district health offices, IPPF Zambia, and JOICFP and technical support and cooperation provided by an expert on gender equality through sports sent from Japan. The participants will be approximately 30 young, female peer educators between the ages of 14 and 24 years from Masaiti District. Also, during the workshop period, a survey of adolescent women, school teachers, and others involved in the project in Masaiti District will be conducted through interviews concerning awareness of women concerning and the significance of sports, impeding factors, and other topics.