Preparing peer facilitators to deliver comprehensive sexuality education to underprivileged youth in non-school environments in Ghana

Most studies of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) focus on examining the impact on students, and there is a lack of research on training peer facilitators. As part of a multi-country study in Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana and Malawi, we conducted implementation research to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of activities to train and support facilitators in delivering CSE to young people living with HIV and young people in detention in Ghana. This study, based on qualitative data from Ghana, assessed the feasibility, adherence, and success of preparing peer facilitators using document reviews, focus groups and interviews. While the project proved feasible, challenges in maintaining programme fidelity emerged due to internal and external factors. Despite these obstacles (e.g. lack of training for facilitators recruited during the implementation of the intervention and lack of sustained funding for ongoing support for facilitators), promising results and valuable insights for future work were observed.