In September 2022, the Anneozeng Ogozi Aid Foundation (AOAF) launched a project titled Promoting Family Life and HIV Education among Adolescents and Young People in the Federal Capital Territory with approval from the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) and the Secondary Education Board (SEB) to provide adolescents and young people in schools with information necessary for their development using the nationally approved Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) curriculum also knowns as Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) around the world achievable through an outreach work plan to schools to the schools and also to adolescents and young people in poor communities.
This project became a priority for the Anneozeng Ogozi Aid Foundation (AOAF) because many adolescents and young people in Nigeria lack the knowledge and sound decision-making skills required for Menstrual hygiene management, friendship and peer pressure, responsible Sexual and Reproductive Health decisions etc, leaving them vulnerable to infections, coercion, addiction, cultism, sexually transmitted infections, early/unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion, and dropping out of school. Hence, this project creates a safe space and builds agency for the students and adolescents through life skills development to enhance their academic, health and social experiences
The Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) curriculum is an age-appropriate and culturally sensitive curriculum that ensures the delivery of accurate and culturally-sensitive information about sexual and reproductive health, menstrual hygiene management, abstinence, body image, values, assertiveness, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence prevention/reporting, confidence, friendship, boundaries, self-esteem and Sexually Transmitted Infections prevention, including HIV/AIDs. The project team will also work with the teachers in charge of social and health clubs in the schools to better engage the students and provide support within AOAF capabilities.
The objectives of this long-term project are to build agency for adolescents and young people to make positive decisions daily by utilizing life skills information, to promote an understanding of children’s rights and ability to report to school authorities whenever their rights are being threatened, to strengthen social and health clubs at school and to create a safe space for children at home by promoting parent-child communication.
The Anneozeng Ogozi Aid Foundation (AOAF) started the outreach in the month of October and has visited 9 government and private schools in the last 2 months before the start of school examinations. The schools visited for the Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) outreaches are JSS Apo Resettlement, JSS Area 1, JSS Apo, Lightway Academy, Victory of God international School, JSS Durumi 1, JSS Apo Legislative Quarters, Kuje School for the Deaf, and JSS Durumi II.
At the 45 minutes outreaches, the AOAF facilitators ensure a participatory method of sensitization that allows the young people to express themselves without pressure or judgment. At the sessions, the facilitators share information in an age-appropriate manner and encourage questions from the young people while ensuring factual responses are given to clear the myths and misconceptions, they have about real-life issues as highlighted in the identified topics and especially in menstrual hygiene management. The project is also designed to promote parent-child communication which is missing in most families leaving children depending on peers for advice by teaching the adolescents and young people how to encourage conversations about their teenage experiences with their parents, and guardians and how to identify trusted adults.
The AOAF team will continue the outreaches at the beginning of the new term in January 2023.