‘Mantšali Phakoana
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) has launched an adolescent male empowerment programme on HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health (SRH) as well as human rights services.
Speaking to theReporter this week, the senior communications and advocacy manager of EGPAF, ‘Makopano Letsatsi, said the aim of the programme is to empower males from 10 to 24 years – both HIV positive and negative – to become better men in future.
Letsatsi said some of the skills contained in the curriculum are safe sex, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), mental health, self-esteem, self-awareness, gender equity and equality, respect, leadership and entrepreneurship.
She indicated that the programme will be implemented before the end of this year in the 11 health facilities that have ties with EGPAF.
The health facilities at which EGPAF has established the adolescents programme are Berea, Mohale’s Hoek, Motebang, Paray, Scott, Quthing, Maluti Adventist hospitals, and Pontmain Health Centre, Maputsoe Filter Clinic and Queen Elizabeth II. This was done in collaboration with the ministry of health.
“The inspiration behind the boys’ empowerment programme was not data-driven but due to concerns that most of the existing initiatives were exclusively focusing on empowering the girl-child and leaving out the boy-child.
“In Lesotho, some rural boys drop out of schools at a tender age of 10 to 12 years to be herd boys who look after their family’s livestock in the mountains, or are hired by other livestock’s owners.
“These herd boys usually perceive herding as some sort of rite of passage for Basotho males and hence attach more value to herding livestock than education. They spend their time away from homes and families and live in the mountains with others looking after livestock,” Letsatsi noted.
As a result, most of them are denied not only their rights to education, but also have limited or zero access to HIV and SRH services. They also have no guidance, support or life skills education.
Letsatsi said due to limited knowledge, some of the boys do not know how to protect themselves and end-up contracting HIV and STIs or perpetuating gender-based violence (GBV) They also find themselves violating the rights of others since they do not know their own rights.
“Access to health is a right, not a privilege. To address inequalities in relation to accessing health services, EGPAF has developed a boys’ empowerment curriculum and is currently training them,” she indicated.
She further underscored the importance of giving both girls and boys equal opportunities and access to HIV, SRH and human rights information and services.
The initiative, Letsatsi explained, focuses on educating boys and young men to know about their rights and to respect the rights of others, as well as to have access to HIV and SRH services.
She also stated that boys and young men also need to know and understand concepts like violating the rights of others and that rights come with responsibilities.
They also need to be empowered on their responsibilities in their respective communities without depriving girls and young women’s rights and maintaining this even when they are grownups.
One of the facilitators, Kumane Kahlolo from EGPAF in the Qacha’s Nek district said the curriculum is as important to boys as it is to facilitators.
He added they have learned a lot from it and promised to impart his newly acquired skills to empower boys in their respective districts.
“Our upbringing was different to that of this generation of children; we never had many opportunities like now.
“If programmes of this kind were available during our childhood, we would have done things differently. The programme will help build better future men,” Kahlolo noted. He added that having a high self-esteem is important from a tender age.
