ARFH, The Global Fund and SFH honored by Federal Ministry of Education at the Close-out Meeting of Global Fund Supported FLHE Project Phase 1
ARFH as a Principal Recipient (Global Fund HIV&AIDS consolidated round 5&9) provided oversight functions to the Federal Ministry of Education to enhance the capacity of teachers to be able to deliver factual Family Life and HIV Education (FLHE) information to in-school adolescents using the curricular based approach.
Speaking at the Project close-out meeting, Prof O.A Ladipo, President and CEO of ARFH said that he was happy with the many success stories recorded through the projects. He further added that at the end of phase 1, a total of 1, 823,421 Students/pupils were reached with Family Life HIV Education across the 36 states plus FCT. He appealed to the ministry to fast-track the advocacy component of the project to the National Assembly to get additional allocation to enable the project to achieved more success stories.
Also speaking, Nicolette Selman Portfolio Manager GlobalFund said that she is happy to see the project implementation systemized and documented. She further stated that people don’t need to die because of HIV/AIDS and that it is not just about prevention but about acceptance.
Young people in Nigeria constitute a significant proportion of the population and face unique challenges, which may compromise their health and developmental potentials if not addressed. There has been a growing recognition of the need to respond effectively to the health and developmental challenges of young people in Nigeria. In this respect, the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Education and National Council on Education introduced the Family Life and HIV Education (FLHE) into the school curriculum at all educational levels starting from Upper Primary to Secondary school. The Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) is a school based programme aimed at providing young people with knowledge, positive attitudes and skills to foster behaviour change and thus reduce their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and other reproductive health complications. The Phase 1 project was funded by Global Fund. Society for Family Health (SFH) will now be the lead implementing partner in Nigeria with a total 4500 schools to be reached through the Federal and State Ministry of Education.
The Global Fund galvanizes support for the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria, working with partners to support the most effective prevention and treatment.
