Education for health: UNESCO supports over 16,000 youths

By Justina Auta
Youths
Abuja, Dec. 24, 2019 (NAN) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said it has supported over 16,000 youths under its education for health and wellbeing programme entitled “Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future (O3) Programme”.

The National Programme Officer for Education, UNESCO, Ms Ngozi Amanze, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.

“ The programme has reached 16,331 in- and out-of-school adolescent and young people through in-school, online interventions and community outreaches.

“There are on-going advocacy and sensitisation of community gatekeepers, women and youth groups to address deep-rooted traditional customs and practices that are regressive and are undermining to women and girls potentials.”

According to her, the programme will enable youths in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) realise positive health, education and gender equality, which would reduce HIV new infections, early and unintended pregnancy, gender based violence and child marriage.

She added that the programe would strengthen and support the delivery of good quality Family Life HIV Education (FLHE) that empowers adolescents and young people.

According to her, the programme has also supported the Federal Ministry of Education to develop a National Policy on Violence Free Schools for children in Nigeria.

She further disclosed that the programme has helped to build the capacity of basic and secondary education teachers to enable them deliver a culturally-sensitive and age-appropriate Family Life HIV Education (FLHE) lessons to adolescents and young people.

“O3 Programme has developed lesson plans using the revised International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education to boost classroom teachers’ confidence and comfort level to deliver quality FLHE lessons.

“By the end of 2019, more than 2,500 pre- and in-service teachers’ capacities have been enhanced including those teaching children with disabilities,’’ she said.

Amanze said the programme developed a prototype school rules and guidance that is inclusive of all forms of school-related gender-based violence as well as early and unintended pregnancy.

“O3 provided technical and financial assistance to National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) to develop a Parent-Child Communication Toolkit to encourage open and honest discussions on sexual reproductive health between parents and their wards’’.

The UNESCO official said the programme would develop adolescents and young people’s skills, knowledge, attitude and competence required for preventing HIV, reducing early and unintended pregnancies and eliminating gender based violence, among others. (NAN)
JAD/ZGA/MST
Edited by Zainab Garba/Muhammad Suleiman Tola