Background
Eswatini also has a very youthful population, with about 34% of the population aged 10 - 24 years, which translates to over 400,000 young Emaswati. The government of His Majesty has made positive moves in youth development, guided by the National Development Strategy. Young people in Eswatini faces numerous challenges.
These include:
HIV/AIDS - continues to be one of the most pressing challenges that young people in our country are facing, with heightened vulnerabilities for girls and young women. HIV prevalence among young females aged 15-19 years stands at 10.2%, compared to 1.9% for males the same age. In the age group 20-24, HIV prevalence amongst females is 38.2%, compared to 12.3% for males in the same age bracket. HIV incidence is also significantly higher amongst young females Emaswati (15-19) compared to the males same age group standing at: 3.84 for females compared to 0.84 for males.
Teenage pregnancy - is also a challenge for our young Emaswati girls. Currently the adolescent birth rate in the country stands at 87 per 1000 adolescents, and teenage pregnancy is one of the main factors contributing to school dropouts in the country. Related to early and unintended pregnancies is early sexual debut, with the median age at first sex at 16 years for girls and 18 years for boys.
Gender-based violence – Young people in Eswatini continue to experience very high levels of violence, again disproportionately affecting girls compared to boys. The national estimate is that 1 in 3 women had experienced some form of sexual violence by the time they were 18 years (UNICEF 2007, Study on Violence against Children & Young Women). A very unfortunate statistic indeed, one that tells us violence is experienced by our children very early in their lives, at a time when all that should be occupying their minds is school and play.
Poor access to Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) information & services – A very limited number of health care facilities in the country have youth-friendly services, and this deters young people from accessing SRH information and services from these institutions.
Tune Me provide young Emaswati with easy access to SRH, HIV and GBV information. This platform inspire them to learn accurate information on their own sexual reproductive health, 2 HIV and GBV, and we hope it will trigger them to adopt protective and healthy life styles, as it will also link young people to youth friendly health services. Acknowledging the advancement of technology, the programme developed a mobile site under the Tune-Me concept. This mobisite is a platform where young people can access information regarding their sexual reproductive health and rights at the click of a button. It also provides an opportunity for the youth to ask various questions on how they can manage their sexuality and relationships therein.
It is against this background that the Ministry of Sports Culture and Youth Affairs, ENYC, FLAS with support from UNFPA Eswatini country office is recruiting an experienced consultant to manage and promote tune me. Purpose and Objectives The purpose of the consultancy is to manage and promote the Eswatini Tune Me Application through social marketing.
The Benefits of Social marketing: Social media is arguably the most effective media on which to reach young people as they spend most of their time on this platform than on any other platform. Social media platforms are able to provide detailed analytical data about the reach and effectiveness of the marketing campaign. Such data helps to inform future programming and it provides insights about the usage of the app among the youth. Social media is able to provide the following data:
o Number of people reached by the campaign information.
o Number of times each person was exposed to the campaign information.
o The number of people reached by the campaign according to; age groups, sex, geographic location, etc.
o The number of people who downloaded the app.
o The comments of people who are reached by the campaign information on the app.
o The reactions of people who are reached by the campaign.
