Copperbelt University

   Title: Our rights, Our lives, Our future plus (O3 plus) Call for abstracts, Concept notes, Posters.

2^nd international conference on sexual and reproductive health and comprehensive sexuality education – 27 to 29 November 2023

THEME: Nexus between Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) AND Drug and substance abuse in tertiary institutions

Background

The Copperbelt University and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – Regional Office of Southern Africa (UNESCO ROSA) invites stakeholders within the O^{3 PLUS} project as well as other academics in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) to submit abstracts for the above-named call for abstracts. Researchers should ensure that they contribute to at least one of the themes through conducting research into how to improve the implementation of the O^{3 PLUS} project or how the O^{3 PLUS} project activities could benefit SRHR service provision, or to give feedback on the delivery of the project in the respective Higher and Tertiary Education Institutions (HTEIs).

The O^{3 PLUS} project vision is;

“Young people in higher and tertiary education institutions in SADC are empowered, educated, healthy and resilient, with the capacity to reach their full potential and contribute to the development of their community, country and region as graduates, professionals and young leaders.”

In line with the above vision, UNESCO is working with HTEIs in Eastern and Southern Africa to improve students’ access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) services, as well as Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) within the campus environments. The project’s key objectives for higher and tertiary education institutions in eastern and southern Africa are to contribute to: the reduction of new HIV infections among students; reduction of unintended pregnancies among female students; and reduction of gender-based violence.

The project is promoting and supporting cutting edge research on SRHR issues, facilitating the sharing of good practices and proven innovative approaches to widen access to CSE and SRHR services and to reform curricula to match new digital learning and teaching. By focusing on upstream evidence-driven interventions, the program will contribute to the institutionalization of CSE and SRHR services within HTEI structures, thus ensuring sustainability.

The objective is to generate a body of knowledge for a deeper understanding of the HIV, STI and GBV burden in colleges and the overall context for SRHR-related activity and service utilization, including insights on student ‘demand’, HTEI-based ‘supply’, and the broader campus environment. Operations research to document the process of implementing the interventions, and to assess the acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed model on key desirable outcomes, such as an increase in CSE-related knowledge, uptake of SRH services; reduction in unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortion; and reduction in sexual and gender-based violence are also welcome.

Themes for the call

Abstracts, Concept notes, Posters are invited from students, researchers and academics on any of the following themes in relation to the HTEI environment in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Drug and substance abuse among tertiary students

• Causes of drug and substance abuse
• Proliferation of drugs and substances among students on and off campus, common drugs and illicit substances abused
• Addiction signs and symptoms
• Availability of systems to detect drug and substance abuse
• Rehabilitation for addictions

Drug and substance abuse, unwanted pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)

• STIs and unwanted pregnancies obtained as a result of having sex while intoxicated
• Interface between drug and substance abuse and night club life, sex parties, orgies, pimping etc

Drugs and substance abuse and gender-based violence (GBV)

• Evidence of GBV being motivated by drug and substance abuse both for perpetrators and survivors
• Prevalence and intensity of GBV cases among students that are linked to drug and substance abuse

Policy response to Drug and substance abuse in HTEIs

• Policies to prevent the proliferation of drugs and illicit substances on campus
• Policies to guide response to abuse of drugs and other substances on campus
• Policies on the treatment and support for students who become addicted to drugs

Interventions to tackle drug and substance abuse among students

• Health facility interventions
• Awareness raising interventions
• Peer to peer interventions
• Whistleblower systems
• Multi-stakeholder interventions
• Role of Comprehensive Sexuality Education

Conference and publication

The selected abstracts and concept notes are expected to be developed into full papers to be presented before the 2^nd international O^{3 PLUS} hybrid conference.

After the conference, all presented papers will be published firstly as conference proceedings, and then peer reviewers will go through a process to select suitable papers for open access publication in an edited book.

What UNESCO and partner HTEIs offer?

• Opportunity to share your research output with fellow researchers in the O^{3 PLUS} project community in East and Southern Africa.
• Publication of presenters’ papers firstly as conference proceedings.
• Editorial, academic support and mentorship provided by the editorial team for those researchers whose papers are selected for and after the conference.
• Opportunity to be included in a UNESCO supported edited book.

Eligible applicants

The call is open to all researchers and institutions however, preference will be given to papers co-authored with students and staff of HTEIs that are involved in the O^{3 PLUS} project. Co-authors from different institutions, different disciplines and non-academic institutions are encouraged.

Editorial team

All abstracts and Concept notes will be reviewed by an inter-disciplinary team of reviewers from different HTEIs.

Abstract submission

Abstracts should be submitted to, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 5pm CAT on 18^th August, 2023.