Summary

In this study session, you have learned that:

• Adolescence is the period between 10 and 19 years of age (early adolescence is 10-14 years, late adolescence is 15-19 years and post-adolescence is 20-24 years old). Young people are those aged 10-24 years.
• Adolescents undergo significant physical, intellectual and psychosocial changes as they move into adulthood.
• In the process of moving toward independence, young people tend to experiment and test limits, including practising risky behaviour. This makes them especially vulnerable to reproductive health problems.
• Not all young people are equally affected by negative reproductive health problems. Services need to be targeted toward the most vulnerable, who include young girls in rural areas and orphans.
• Ethiopia has a population that is predominantly young and likely to grow considerably in the coming years because of the early age of marriage and low levels of contraceptive use.
• Adolescents and young people have the right to accurate information and appropriate reproductive health services. Laws protect young people’s rights.