Canadian-African Parliamentarians visit to adolescent girls’ programmes in Zanzibar

ZANZIBAR: A delegation of six Members of the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association have visited Mtopepo Primary School in West B district, Urban West region of Unguja, to see programmes targeting adolescent girls supported by the Global Affairs Canada (GAC).

During the visit, the delegation, accompanied by Zanzibar’s Deputy Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Ali Abdulgulam Hussein, observed how life skills education is provided to students in that school, build their capacity to cope with the challenges they face to realize their full potential.

The life skill education is provided under the Girls Reproductive Health, Rights and Empowerment Accelerated in Tanzania (GRREAT) initiative, implemented by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in collaboration with Zanzibar’s Ministry of Education and Vocational Training with financial support from the Global Affairs Canada.

GRREAT is a five-year initiative to support the government of Tanzania and Zanzibar in improving sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) and well-being among vulnerable adolescent girls. This initiative is also implemented in Mbeya and Songwe regions in Mainland and all districts of Unguja and Pemba islands in Zanzibar.

During the visit, the MPs observed the trained life skills teachers delivering a life skill session to primary school students and students demonstrated their understanding and application of life skills.

Also, the delegation observed a session on problems of early sexual debut conducted by Youth Peer Educators (YPE) to adolescent girls and boys aged 15-19 and observed how community health workers support the YPEs conducting the session.

The delegation had an opportunity to interact with students and teachers and learn about their experiences and how the programmes have impacted their lives.
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The Canadian delegation includes Amina Gerba, Senator and co-chair of the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association, Brenda Shanahan, Member of Parliament and Co-chair of the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association, Ratna Omidvar, Senator, Salma Ataullahjan, Senator, Heather McPherson, Member of Parliament, Taleeb Noormohamed, Member of Parliament.