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Family Life Promotion Section
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Executive summary Family Life Promotion Section (FLPS) is structured under the Family and Laity Unit under ECS pastoral coordination as of January 2009. The service of FLPS targets Ethiopian Catholic Church institutions at Diocesan level and some Government and public schools. Family life section provides Teen STAR (Sexuality Training in the context of Adult Responsibility) to youth couples and Billings Ovulation Method (BOM) of family planning to pre-married and married couples and counseling and services including referral & VCT to all accordingly. Teen STAR is a sexuality education program that provides junior and high school age students with scientifically accurate information about sexuality and its biological, psychological and social consequences. Though Teen STAR does use the methods of natural family planning as an instructional tool, it is not a family planning program. Its goal and its practical effect is to promote responsible sexuality among junior high and high school age youth. For this age group, the functional definition of responsible sexuality is abstinence. Teen STAR addresses the first two elements of the ABC strategy. First, it promotes abstinence among youth and other unmarried adults in the population, and second, it promotes the concept of being lastingly faithful within marriage. Any progress on these two elements of the strategy helps break the chain of transmission for HIV. By fostering community knowledge, Teen STAR programs yield great benefits far into the future to achieve these objectives. Teen STAR’s in-country staff in Ethiopia has cultivated local partnerships that increase the effectiveness of the Teen STAR program in the near term. In the long term, these local partnerships will sustain the effort to contain the spread of HIV/AIDS. Parental involvement Parental involvement in the Teen STAR program is an identified factor to the success of the program, to the general acceptance of the program by the community and used as a channel of HIV/AIDS prevention messages. The key persons from Education offices of Modjo, Nazareth/Adamma, Wonji and Hawassa areas including the 2 Universities of Hawassa and Nazareth/Adamma were selected to be contact persons for Teen STAR activities at the sites. During the last 9 years (2001 – 2009) FLPS has addressed more than 70,000 people most of them being youth and parents through Teen STAR (Sexuality Teaching in the context of Adult Responsibility) program for youth and Billings Ovulation Method (BOM) for adults intensively and extensively. FLPS activities are financially Supported by Pathfinder International Ethiopia (PI-E) from 2001 -2009 and Natural Family Planning Center (NFPC) Washington D.C. through PEPFAR fund. The Section has gained experiences and learned from the feed back during the program implementation period. Achievements of Teen STAR activities From year 2001-2000 family life promotion section has introduced BOM of natural family planning and Teen STAR to 10 DCSs. Teen STAR program is being implemented at 3 Dioceses (ACS, Meki and AWCS). Close follow –up and monitoring with the help of partners from NFPC Washington DC and pathfinder international and stake holders gave chance to the program introduction and promotion. Pathfinder international-Ethiopia through Packard fund for women empowering programs through adolescent project for the last 8 year enabled Teen STAR program to be introduced to the community at the targeted sites Trained Teen STAR program teachers strengthened through refresher courses, seminars and regular meeting accordingly. The following achievements have been recorded so far 22,011 people are trained in the areas of family planning, HTP, drug abuse, abortion,, HIV/AIDS and STIs, peer education, 54,017 students, teachers and some community members are trained on Teen STAR program in different Catholic and Government schools. Challenges · Lack of integration of Teen STAR and Billings Method in related program of the Diocesan activities · Limited financial resources for both MOM and Teen STAR program activities · Limited means of transportation · Limited means of communities · Lack finance resource to hire person at Diocesan level for Teen STAR and BOM
The way forward · Continue introducing Teen STAR and BOM to all Catholic institution and respond for the demand of the community to be addressed thorough Teen STAR message · Secure financial resource for Family life section activities · Continue to consolidate Teen STAR and BOM activities to related Church programs · Mainstreaming Teen STAR and BOM activities · TOT in Teen STAR and BOM need to be given to All Diocese · Teen STAR manual, broacher and guidance materials should translated
Address:
Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat
This page was last updated on 10/10/2009 |
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©2005 Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat |