By Dr.Tuwilika Nafuka
Attending the 8th Pan-African Sexual Reproductive Health Right (SRHR) Scientific Conference in Mombasa, Kenya, as a first-time delegate was transformative.
Representing TupaBloom Care and the IANNA Community, and participating in the Africa CDC Plenary, I witnessed the clarity and conviction of Africa’s youth demanding better access, policies, and investment in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
The launch of the Africa CDC Strategy for Youth Engagement and Participation in Global Health (YES!Health) at the conference marked a turning point. It positions young people as partners in public health not just recipients of policy.
For me, as a Namibian building digital SRHR tools and youth-led programs, the strategy affirms what many of us have long known: youth are already leading. What we lack is institutional support and sustained funding.
One of the standout moments was the use of the Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis (IBPA) framework by fellow Bingwa PLUS Champion Sylvester Otieno Adhaya to evaluate Kenya’s Kisumu County SRHR Bills.
His work showed how policy, when disconnected from lived realities, often excludes the most vulnerable. The IBPA tool is a reminder that inclusive, equity- driven policymaking is possible and necessary.
This is especially relevant to Namibia. We remain governed by the 1975 Abortion and Sterilization Act, a colonial-era law inherited from apartheid South Africa.
Despite bold mobilization from activist Banshee Beauty Boois and several civil societies including IANNA Community, the law persists. It criminalizes care and puts thousands of young girls and women at risk every year.
At the same time, organizations offering SRHR services such as the One Economy Foundation, led by Mrs. Monica Geingos, the 3rd First Lady of the Republic of Namibia, face backlash for providing accurate, rights-based health information to young people, despite Namibia’s Child Care and Protection Act clearly stating that children from age 14 have the right to consent to health services.
In this context, the upcoming HPV vaccine rollout, targeting girls aged 9 to 14, presents both an opportunity and a test. If delivered well, it could be a game-changer in preventing cervical cancer.
But early signs of misinformation and vaccine hesitancy remind us that effective public health requires more than clinics and cold chains it requires trust, education, and youth-centered messaging. The vaccine protects futures, but only if we’re willing to talk openly and act urgently.
The Mombasa conference also reminded us that teenage pregnancy remains one of the clearest signs of systemic SRHR failure, often linked to sexual violence and compounded by stigma.
Across Africa, we heard stories of young people burdened with trauma but offered no justice. These are not isolated cases they’re signals of policy systems that still fail the people they’re meant to protect.
Despite all this, I returned home with hope. Youth-led solutions are thriving across Africa from digital health innovations to community-based care, data equity tools, and more. What’s needed now is political will and policy coherence.
At TupaBloom Care and through the IANNA Community project, we’re committed to carrying forward the momentum from Mombasa. In line with the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing, we’re advocating from systems that see young people not as passive recipients, but as co-creators of care.
That means youth-centered innovation, safe digital spaces, and SRHR policies that reflect lived realities, not outdated norms.
The HPV vaccine rollout, the abortion law debate, and the energy from the Africa CDC YES!Health launch, all point to the same conclusion: we cannot afford to delay. Youth are ready to lead. We just need the system to let us in and back us up.
* Dr.Tuwilika Nafuka is a Medical Doctor, Africa CDC Bingwa PLUS and DHSA fellow, and a champion for digital health transformation. She is passionate about harnessing technology to advance health equity and strengthen community access to essentialservices across Namibia and beyond.
