Foundation urges improved sexuality education for young persons with disabilities
As part of efforts to remove all forms of barriers against Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria such as stigma and discrimination , disability advocates have called for improved sexuality education for young persons with disabilities.
Besides social inclusion, the stakeholders said promoting sexuality education in secondary schools across the country, would boost public understanding of the sexual and reproductive health rights of young persons with disabilities.
The stakeholders spoke at a forum in Lagos recently organised by the Festus Fajemilo Foundation for counsellors of adolescent advocates in selected secondary schools in Agege Education District of Lagos under the Breaking All Barriers Project.
They stressed the need to raise more awareness on the sexual and reproductive health rights and challenges of young persons with disabilities.
One of the stakeholders and Leader of the Breaking All Barriers Project, Mr. Afolabi Fajemilo, said a lot could be achieved by training young persons with disabilities in secondary schools to become advocates for their peers.
Fajemilo said the pilot project which involves 17 private secondary schools in Agege Education District of Lagos, is a VOICE (OXFAM /HIVOS) sponsored project of the Festus Fajemilo Foundation in collaboration with the Centre for Youth Studies and supported by Access Bank Plc.
Fajemilo who is also Executive Director, Festus Fajemilo Foundation, noted that the project seeks to improve sexuality education for young persons with disabilities, with the aim of raising awareness on their sexual and reproductive health rights and challenges.
To increase the knowledge of these adolescent advocates that the Foundation had raised, their guidance counsellors were at the forum presented with topical training banners.
He explained: ” We have to continuously raise awareness on the sexual and reproductive health rights of young persons with disabilities and mitigate the challenges that they face accessing these rights.
“So, what we are having here today is the second monitoring and evaluation meeting with guidance counsellors of the schools we are working with in the project who are currently training 10 counsellors in each of their schools to become adolescent advocates.”
The Project Leader, Centre for Youth Studies, Mrs. Seyi Sanjo-Bankole, said the impact of the Breaking All Barriers Project was amazing as trained adolescent advocates went to their communities educating parents of children with disabilities to send them to school.
According to her, with the right support and education, young persons with disabilities can excel in any endeavour.
“We want people with disabilities to understand that they are persons first and disability second. So, we are impacting them with skills and attitude that will help them become better persons in the society”, she said.
Commending the sponsors of the project for their effort, Director, Monitoring, Evaluation and Orientation, Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA), Mr.Oguntoye Oyewole, urged stakeholders to unite and safeguard the rights of persons with disabilities.
Also speaking, one of the school counsellors, Fasuhanmi Adeyinka, affirmed that the project had helped in changing the mindset and orientation of persons with disabilities in her school as many of them are now having positive attitude to life.
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