Sexual and Reproductive Health of Youth Present project is divided into three components:
# Developmental support of NIP to be funded by OXFAM Novib
# Research Project on #Sexual and Reproductive Health of Youth: Role of Related Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Life-skills#
# Collaboration in Organizing 6th International Conference Psychology of Gender: Issues And Challenges (November 3 - 4, 2016) by NIP

1. Developmental Support
We foresee much electricity failure issues in upcoming years; unfortunately, because of lack of funds in Public sector universities we cannot afford to provide support to our students to carry on their academic and research activities smoothly. During long hours of load shedding, students cannot get benefit from computer and internet facilities. They cannot concentrate on their studies under non-conducive weather conditions. Interestingly, as such there is no concept of summer vacations for research students of all levels (M.Sc., M.Phil., and PhD) and faculty, as research is compulsory component of  their academic program. Students keep doing their research work during summer and winter as well. Beside this, much of our training workshops are organized in summers that are intended for capacity building of various organizations and students as well. We feel much hampered in our daily activities because of electricity related issues. Back up support of generators is dire need for any educational institution in current scenario. Besides, wewant to bring your attention that currently we have only one active computer lab for students of all academic programs. Our PhD andM.Phil students need more graduated efforts in their research work for which efficient IT system is inevitable. Therefore, we will request to support us in establishing a computer lab with support system i.e., computers, printers along scanners, air conditioning system, and generators.
2. Research Project
Present research aims at exploring the dynamics underlying youths# awareness of their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) practices and rights. Psychosocial approach will be used to address factors at personal and social level. Personal factors involve the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and life-skills of the youth to address SRH related issues. At social level, role of peers, parents, teachers, and significant others need to be explored. Life-skills are skills that are required for survival of an individual in various settings. These skills include effective communication, empathy, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, emotionalregulation, and stress coping. Target population is youth with age range 10-25 years from total nine districts of four provinces and AJK region of Pakistan. Each age group has different developmental demands and expectations. Therefore, research project is divided into three studies with sample divided into three cohorts to achieve objectives of the research project. Current research will be based on three independent studies based on three age groups young group is from 10-12 years; middle group (adolescence) is between 13-18 years, and  older group (young adults from 18 to 25 years). From each age group, 900 participants will be included in the sample in a given study, hence, total sample for complete research based on three studies will be 2700.For each study, separate measures for study variables will be used; these may be developed or translated depending upon feasibilityplan and theoretical underpinning of research. Mixed method approach will be used for data collection. Self-report inventories willbe used for young participants, while 54 focus group discussions (FGDs) will be used for parents, peers, and teachers to consider youth#s need related to SRH from their perspective. This will help to get empirical evidences of risk factors and underlying processes that lead youth to become vulnerable to victimization and abuse. Lack of skills may have serious threat to mental health and psychological well-being of youth that also need to be studied. This will help to set recommendation for future lineof action in developing life-skills in youth and running awareness program for significant others to facilitate youth for their better mental health and well-being.  Snow ball and convenience sampling will be used for data collection as sample will be bothout of school and in-school children. Quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques will be used. Thematic analysis will be used to understand significant others# perspective. Triangulation will be used to establish links in findings. Guidelines forfuture policies about promoting SRH through education will be established.
3. International Conference
Along with the research history, NIP has hosted a number of international conferences, getting into details of whom, is out of scope of this email invitation. For a reference, please look at the last event hosted by National Institute of Psychology in 2014 on the following link http://www.nip.edu.pk/conference2014.html. The last international conference on Educational Psychology was a success with 600+ delegates participating from all over the world.
In purist of its traditions, National Institute of Psychology is planning to organize our 6th International Conference #Psychology of Gender inPerspective: Issues and Challenges# (ICPGP) on November 3 -4, 2016. The major objectives of the conference are to provide opportunities for social scientists, academicians, civil society organizations, developmental sector, and students from all over the world toshare research based knowledge and experiences and tohighlight the issues and challenges that need to be addressed.
The main proposed output is the formulation and declaration of a 2016 ICPGP Statement that will serve as a guide to academicians, government, NGOs and civil society, private sector and mediaonthe way forward to address the issues and challenges in the field of gender. Papers andother activities presented at the conference will be compiled into conference proceedings and selected papers will be published in a special edition of Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research (PJPR) which is an X category journal recognized by HEC.
The NIP would like to continue the global dialogue initiated at the conference through our website. It will facilitate high-impact partnershipsand synergies betweenmulti-stakeholders including academic scholars, researchers, field experts, policy makers, and representativesfrom the government, nongovernment organisations, international and national development agencies, private sector and civil societyto foster channels of research and action that create a sustainable impact.
The specific objective(s) are related to the concrete achievements that the project will try to obtain. For most projects it is sufficient to include only one specific objective. There should beno more than three specific objectives.

Establishing link between developmental sector and public academic sector. Academic sector through their evidence-based research will facilitate developmental sector to help government in policy making for developingcurriculum incorporating life-skills education to in promoting better SRH in youth. This liaison between two sectors will help to strengthen applied nature of research  by the support of developmental sector as public academic sector has lack of resources. Further, their link will help in doing ground breaking collaborative work in SRH which is often considered tabooed topics for doing research. Studying SHR will definitely reduce inhibition of researchers that too female researchers to work onsuchissues from psychological perspective and will increase knowledge based on empirical research evidence. Collaboration in organizing international conferencewill further facilitate to approach and present gender issues from both perspective (developmental and academic/research).
Youth (participants of research project) once involved in research experience like this in which their needs and desires are being discussedupon, will definitely help them to develop confidence in sharing  their SRH related issues in society that may help government for taking interest in their lives and problems faced by them through SRH based education and promoting life-skills.  Findings of the research will help stakeholders to understand that why youth#s problematic sexualbehaviours emerge in cultural context. What are the various factors involved in this? What role family is playing in such development? Why youth does not share their SRH related issues and prefer to share with peers who are like them? What role beliefs, values, religion, attitudes, etc. widely held by common people play in youth#s SRH? This will definitely help family to address their issues timely once they observe any mental health issues in reference to life-skills related to SRH in their family member.
In Pakistan, only NGO sector is trying hard in addressing youth#s SRHrelated matters. With taking unbiased approach by involving academic research for need assessment will help them in devising calculated interventions through present study.Information generated through objectives of the research is very much needed by them in howto handle problems and issues of youth when they lack in life-skills in handling SHR related demands and needs.

# Institutional capacity building through developmental fund
# Evidence based research basing upon three studies on youth 10-25 years #Sexual and Reproductive Health of Youth: Role of Related Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Life-skills#
# sponsoring three M.Phil researches
# International Conference on #Psychology of Gender: Issues and Challenges# (Nov 3-4, 2016)