The Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service is rolling out a comprehensive sexuality training programme to six regions found to have a high HIV transmission rate among girls and young women. 

The programme is targeting girls between the ages of 14 and 24 years to equip them with sex education and economic strengthening skills. 
The nbc News team caught up with youth officers conducting the training at several villages in Kavango East's Mukwe Constituency.

Among other villages, Shamangorwa and Shanyashi attracted a high number of adolescent girls and young women. 

The Chief Youth Officer Tangeni Haiduwa says the programme is aimed at addressing escalating teenage pregnancy and HIV transmission among the youth. 

"They have been found to have a higher number of HIV and Aids spread specifically among those teenage and adolescent girls and young women, the region where we are now Kavango East has been found to have a high rate of teenage pregnancy and as a Ministry, we have to intervene like any other stakeholders to how best we can reduce teenage pregnancy among teenagers and of course to help them become self-reliant."

Haiduwa says there is a need to reduce the girl's economic vulnerability, which exposes them to risks.

He says at least 2 500 youth from Khomas, Oshana, Oshikoto, Zambezi, and Kavango East and West regions are expected to benefit. 

"We move on to SGBV where we look at aspects of sexual and gender-based violence, it came to our attention that young people are sexually vulnerable, because of their economic vulnerability, hence we now want to empower them with economic strengthening whereby we are going to give them information about financial literacy, employability as well as entrepreneurship."

Haiduwa says the current one-day training exercise will be followed by more comprehensive and longer training for selected participants. 

The Ministry will provide grants to the youth to create income-generating projects to employ themselves and others. 

Young men are also encouraged to take part in the programme, which also educates them against sexual gender-based violence among others.


 

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Photo Credits
Omega Youth Office
Author
Chris Kupulo