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.
