PAYDP'S programs yield positive results as several adolescence school dropouts return to classrooms

Madam Millicent Ocloo, Bono East Regional Programs Officer for Purim African Youth Development Platform (PAYDP) a non-Governmental organization helping teenage mothers and head porters (Kayaye) has revealed that; "their operations in the past three (3) years are gradually yielding positive results as several girls have returned to school".

Madam Millicent Ocloo made this disclosure in an interview with Journalists during a two (2)-day separate Reproductive Health Education and Services for Youth (RHESY) Facilitators' Refresher Training for the Term Mothers/Kayaye in Techiman Municipality and Kintampo South District both in the Bono East Region.

BACKGROUND

 A UNFPA-UNICEF joint program scheduled for 2018-2022 with funding support from Global Affairs Canada has been designed to support government implement its adolescent girl's vision and scale up the existing strategies and interventions to further an integrated policy response, which holistically serves the needs of adolescent girls, aged 10-19 years in Ghana. 

UNFPA is providing support to model, roll-ou,t, and learn from interventions facilitating adolescent girls’ access to gender-responsive comprehensive sexuality education and youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning and contraception across 36 selected districts in 8 regions. 

Purim African Youth Development Platform (PAYDP), an implementing partner of UNFPA would implement in 6 Districts (Assin South, Ningo Prampram, Kintampo South, Accra, and Kumasi Metros) in 4 regions (Greater Accra, Ashanti, Bono East, and Central regions) of the country.

Purim African Youth Development Platform (PAYDP) is organizing Reproductive Health Education and Services for Youth (RHESY) training for 78 club leaders. 

RHESY Facilitators would be retrained on topics such as teenage pregnancy, communication skills, assertiveness, gender equality, gender stereotype, contraception, youth as agents of change, and ions among others. 

The girls would also be taken through topics about Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. This training would last for 2 days. This training would build their capacity and help them in the future. 

The content of the training will also equip other club members as they facilitate sessions in their clubs. 

To train leaders of the clubs on Reproductive Health Education and Services for Youth (RHESY) to facilitate club meetings in the quest to build their capacity.

To refresh the knowledge of facilitators.

EXPECTED OUTPUT

RHESY Facilitators would be well informed and can pass on the knowledge acquired to their club members and the community.

Participants would be leaders of all 18 clubs. 78 girls, 13 from each of the 6 districts of implementation.

Some of the Girls ((RHESY Facilitators who received the training in Techiman and Kintampo expressed gratitude to PAYDP and UNFPA for changing their lives with a pledge to share the knowledge acquired with their peers.