Kids &Teens Resource Centre (K&TRC) Nigeria, with support from UNESCO organized a 2-day training of 455 teachers on Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) delivery across Taraba, Kaduna and Nasarawa states of Nigeria. The training was conducted in the senatorial zones in their respective states.
Martin-Mary Falana presented the overview of the program and objectives of the training to make the teachers understand the purpose of bringing them together. He introduced the O3 (Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future) programme, a UNESCO Education for health and well-being project that is providing the support for the training to ensure that FLHE is reactivated and sustained to save today’s young people. Therefore, encouraged to see this as an opportunity for personal and career development in FLHE.
This programme is designed to contribute to the improvement of Sexual and Reproductive Health, gender and education outcomes for adolescents and young people in Taraba, Kaduna and Nasarawa States of Nigeria and for Nigerian young people at large by curtailing the monstrous spread of sexually transmitted infections, early marriage and unintended pregnancy and gender-based violence for all young people both in-school and out-of-school.
Teachers are faced with challenges in some critical circumstances especially when teachers are the perpetrators of these evil acts; some students have suffered gender based violence from their peers as well. Many become pregnant and drop out of schools. The teachers are strategic in ensuring a safe school or learning environment that is safe for our young people. The trained teachers were aware of new and teaching mechanisms and mainstream about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, life building skills. Trained teachers expressed that the programme facilitated open dialogue about response to rape, and other adolescent reproductive health issues and they are prepared to contribute their own quota to ensuring a safe school for young people.
According to Martin-Mary Falana, the program will leave no stone unturned until all forms of school related gender-based violence are eradicated and schools and communities are safe for child development. We need conducive environments for adolescents and young people to make informed decisions about their health, sexuality and reproduction, reduce number of new HIV infections and early and unintended pregnancies, and improve access to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
To reach the out-of-school young people, the National Youth Service Corps members who were already trained Peer Education Trainers (PETs) or NiBUCAA Ambassadors trained on SRH were selected to trained youth leaders in the communities through peer education program thereby enabling each leader trained to train his/her peers within same community.