YOUTH, Sport and Child Development Permanent Secretary Teddy Mulonga has warned that the use of half-baked peer educators is retrogressive and that organisations involved in the practice should stop. Mr Mulonga said in Ndola on Tuesday using peer educators with insufficient exposure was jeopardising the advancement of the fight against HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections generally.
He was officiating at a closing ceremony of a regional peer educators’ workshop organised by the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Child Development.
He said the adoption of the National Standards for Peer Educators would go a long way in advancing HIV and AIDS intervention programmes and the promotion of good practices in sexual reproductive health.
Mr Mulonga said peer educators played a vital role and a large proportion of the population depended on them as sources of information on various health issues.
He called on all peer educators involved in sexual reproductive health and HIV/AIDS education training to follow the provisions of the newly-adopted National Standards for Peer Educators.
Mr Mulonga said the purpose of the National Standard for Peer Educators was to enhance uniformity and change the quality of services being provided to young people so that the products of peer education could be meaningful.
“I wish to state that this document (national standards) could not have come at a better time than now when peer education has been taken, accepted and is being used as the best method of sharing information among peers,” Mr Mulonga said.
He called on provincial and district AIDS task force committees, and all stakeholders to get oriented on the national standards for sexual reproductive health and HIV/AIDS peer education programmes.
Mr Mulonga said the Government and other interest groups such as the United Nations Fund for Population Activities and Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia were interested in knowing the impact of the national standards on the work of peer educators.
And PPAZ director of programmes and partnerships, Edford Mutuma said the national standards adopted by the Zambian Government in March this year would among other things empower peer educators with knowledge about the diverse implications and effects of their work.
He said new standards demanded that a peer educator should be trained within 10 days as opposed to the past when peer educators were trained within three days.
Masala Theatre Production representative, Mayani Musumali said the adoption of the National Standards for Peer Educators would help the organisation which was using peer educators in reopening youth-friendly corners in which youths would easily access information on sexual reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and malaria in various clinics in Ndola.
Peer educators from the Young Men’s Christian Association, Masala Theatre Production, Zambia Red Cross Society and representatives from all the HIV/AIDS task forces in the 10 districts on the Copperbelt attended the workshop.
[Times of Zambia]