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India has its largest ever adolescent and youth population. According to UNFPA projections, India will continue to have one of the youngest populations in the world till 2030. India is experiencing a demographic window of opportunity, a “youth bulge” that will last till 2025. India’s youth face several development challenges, including access to education, gainful employment, gender inequality, child marriage, youth-friendly health services and adolescent pregnancy.  Yet, with investments in their participation and leadership, young people can transform the social and economic fortunes of the country.

Key interventions of UNFPA in India:

Expanding life skills education: As a National technical partner, UNFPA extended technical assistance in formulating operational guidelines and curriculum for the Ayushman Bharat School Health and Wellness Programme (SHWP). Further, UNFPA is the lead partner for rolling out the SHWP in five states - Odisha, Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. UNFPA is also focused on reaching out to vulnerable young people by integrating life skills education in tribal residential schools, schools for adolescents with disabilities and in Madarsas.

 

UNFPA has supported the integration of Life skills education into 11 school systems across the country and has supported reaching out to 2.5 million adolescents with LSE through schools in 2022.

 

Implementing the National Adolescent Health Programme: UNFPA supports the health ministry for the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) and has played a key role in developing a comprehensive strategy to enable adolescents in India to realise their full potential by making informed and responsible decisions related to their health and wellbeing. UNFPA supported reaching out to 2.1 million adolescents through community-based platforms in 2022. 634,000 adolescents received mental health and psychosocial counselling through adolescent-friendly health clinics, helplines, and online channels in UNFPA focus states in 2022.

 

Menstrual Health and hygiene management (MHM): In Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha, UNFPA facilitated in conceptualizing and designing communication activities to promote access to safe and affordable commodities and in addressing taboos around the topic and in influencing government policies and schemes on MHM.