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UNFPA to Support Lagos on HIV/Aids

This Day
Funmi Ogundare
27th Jan. 2008

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has pledged its support to the Lagos State Government for its youth development initiatives

The Country Representative, Mr. Sidiki Coulibaly who disclosed this recently at the Jam Feast 2007 with the theme: " Protecting the Future Labour Force," aimed at sensitizing youths in HIV/AIDS prevention through competitions, organised by the Ministry of Education in Lagos, noted that since youths were generally more vulnerable on the pandemic, a range of interventions needed to be taken to cross the scale so as to achieve the Vision 2010 and 2015 goal of universal access to prevention, treatment, cure and the Millennium Develop0ment Goals (MDGs).

UNFPA as the convening agency for the Inter Agency Task Team on young people and HIV/AIDS takes the lead in global policy discussions regarding technical support areas establishing global and regional mechanism for delivery of country level support," he said

The Country Representative who was represented by his assistant, Dr. Lucy Idoko, noted that the agency has been providing support to improve youth health and development in areas of building the capacity of young people for effective participation at all levels of policy making.

The agency, he said has created a platform that enables youths participation in the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS) consultation in all the geopolitical zones in the country.

The Deputy Governor of Lagos State , Mrs. Sarah Adebisi Sosan, said with the formulation of the implantation guidelines on the national policy on HIV/AIDS for the education sector in the country, the fight against the pandemic becomes a joint collaboration for protection, care and support of learners, teachers and other stakeholders.

Sosan who also heads the Ministry of Education, said the programme has been created to shift the attention of the children and youths from acts that could lead them into contacting the dreade3d disease.

It is our belief that rather than engaging themselves in illicit act, they can exert their energy in more positive and rewarding venture of this nature", she said.

The issue of HIV/AIDS and its education, Sosan noted remain fundamental to the global effort to prevent its transmission adding that its prevention is a strategic measure to halting the spread among teachers and learners and particularly the in-school youths in the sector.

Awards of sponsorship were given to corporate bodies who threw their weight behind the programme. They were Promasidor Nigeria limited, Zenith bank plc, Nigerian Breweries plc, De-United Foods plc makers of indomie as well as MTN foundation which donated a sum of N150m to the Lagos State Security Trust Fund.

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