The Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture is collaborating with the Namibia Planned Parenthood Association to reopen youth-friendly clinics across the country's 14 regions.

This is in response to issues specific to young people, including sexual and reproductive health needs.

One such clinic was reopened at Keetmanshoop in the ||Kharas Region.

The Youth Friendly Clinic at Keetmanshoop is situated at the Multi-Purpose Youth Resource Centre and includes family planning services, screening and treatment services, psychosocial support, and counseling.

Other services provided at the clinic include life skills education, comprehensive sexuality education, and condom and femidom demonstrations for correct usage and disposal.

The health centers would also serve to increase knowledge and skills among young people regarding adopting protective sexual behaviors and accessing reproductive health services.

"I would like to plead with the community and the youth to come and visit our clinic at the youth center in Keetmanshoop. As for our center, we do campaigns at the schools; we conduct demonstrations; we distribute condoms; and as we distribute, we show them how they are used and the types of contraceptives that can be used, while also emphasizing the importance of knowing your status and understanding your nutritional status. Every service that we provide is very important to us, so we are offering more education for the youth."

On the issue of confidentiality, Nurse Cloete had this to say:

"We are very committed to confidentiality, so we would like the youth to know that it is very safe with us, and your information is secure. Your confidentiality is a top priority for us, so when we provide counseling, nothing needs to be disclosed."

Emma Abed, the ||Kharas Regional Coordinator for the National Youth Council, welcomed the reopening of the NAPPA Clinic in the region.

"Now we are really grateful that NAPPA is here and that we have a clinic. We actually foresee a high turnout of youth coming to make use of our youth-friendly facilities here at the center."

The Youth Friendly Clinic at the Keetmanshoop Multi-Purpose Youth Resource Centre can be visited on weekdays between eight in the morning and five o'clock in the afternoon.