The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #71464

Rehema Mwateba¹, Heather E. Kelly, MPA², and Ellen Brazier, MIA². (1) Family Care International /Ubora wa Afya kwa Familia Duniani, P.O. Box 13414, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 255-22-21-51-699, uborawaafya@cats-net.com, (2) Anglophone Africa Program, Family Care International, 508 Broadway, Suite 503, New York, NY 10025

While school-based sexuality education programs are an obvious and essential vehicle for transmitting sexual and reproductive health information and life skills to large numbers of youth, such programs remain in nascent stages in many developing country settings. Sexuality education remains controversial and contentious. Even where appropriate curricula and materials exist, they are often not implemented fully, heightening young people’s risk for a range of serious reproductive health problems. Through collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC) in several districts in Tanzania, FCI has been working on a multi-level training program to build commitment and capacity among teachers and education officials to facilitate implementation of a comprehensive sexuality education program that is being introduced in selected primary and secondary schools. Training for involved stakeholders focused on addressing participants’ values about sexuality education and imparting practical skills for using a set of sexuality education resource materials. A key aspect of the intensive and practical training program was a small-scale research activity focused on young people’s knowledge, attitudes and practices related to sexual behavior--an activity that dramatically changed participants’ perspectives on adolescent sexuality and young people’s need for sexuality education. This presentation will cover the content and approach used to sensitize district-level education officials and teachers involved in implementing a sexuality education program. In addition, it will describe the impact of the training on participants’ knowledge and attitudes, and on the ultimate implementation of sexuality education in the classroom.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the session, participants will be able to:
• Discuss the critical importance of sexuality education for adolescents in Africa
• Identify effective strategies for training educators and sensitizing education officials to ensure broad-based support for implementation of school-based sexuality education initiatives

Keywords: Adolescents, International, Sexuality

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.