Sex Hotline For Nigerian Youngsters

OneWorld UK

Young people in Nigeria will be able to use mobile phones to access vital information on reproductive health and HIV/AIDS issues, when a new service is launched by UK charity OneWorld UK in collaboration with Education as a Vaccine Against AIDS (EVA), MTN Foundation and National Agency for AIDS Control (NACA).

As part of the Learning about Living project, two informational services for young people will be launched at the Chelsea Hotel in Abuja on 20th November 2007 at 10am. MyQuestion will enable young people to ask questions through text messages, online or using a telephone hotline. By offering three free mediums to get in touch, there will be options for most young people according to their situation and choice. Even the shyest teenager will feel comfortable posing their questions about sexual health as they do not even have to say the question out loud. MyQuestion services will be answered by trained counsellors based in EVA�s Abuja office.

�Adolescence is a period where young people go through a lot of changes, and it is important to create safe spaces for young people to come forward with their sensitive questions. With support from NACA, we have providing the toll free hotline services for the past two year and we are now excited about expanding the services to include questions from from mobile phones and the web�, says Fadekemi Akinfaderin, Executive Director of EVA.

The second service is the competition, MyAnswer, where young people have the opportunity of winning prizes by answering a monthly question. This month�s question is �What is the difference between HIV and AIDS� and young people can enter the competitions by texting their answer. MyAnswer aims to engage and motivate young people to learn from and reflect on various issues. Each month ten winners will be picked from the qualified entries and win airtime sponsored by MTN and NACA.

MyQuestion and MyAnswer are part of the larger Learning about Living programme that includes the development and implementation of an e-learning tool based on the Nigerian Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) school curriculum. The highly interactive tool is developed by Butterfly Works from the Netherlands in collaboration with Action Health Incorporated and is the electronic version of the FLHE curriculum from NERDC It is available on www.learningaboutliving.com and will be used in and out of schools and available on school laptops from One Laptop Per Child and the Classmate project.

�Educating young people is pivotal in the fight against AIDS in Nigeria, and when working with young people it is important to do it in an engaging and exciting way that speaks to youth. Using information and communication technology (ICT) is doing just that,� says Uju Ofomata, Project Manager of Learning about Living with OneWorld UK.

Learning about Living has three goals. Firstly, it aims to use ICT to educate young people on issues around adolescent reproductive health so that they can make informed decisions about their sexual health and prevent HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence. Secondly, the project aims to improve the information available on sex education and encourage people to be more open about these issues.

Thirdly, Learning about Living aims to increase and improve gender equality by offering positive alternatives to existing beliefs that assume male superiority and contribute to an acceptance of violence against women in Nigerian society.

The project is being piloted in three locations: Lagos, Cross Rivers State and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, and in each of these regions an NGO will serve as the implementing partner alongside various state government organisations.

Notes

� The MyQuestion press launch will be held at the Chelsea Hotel, Plot 389, Cadastral Zone AO, Central Area, Abuja on November 20th 2007, 10-12am.

� Learning about Living is a multi-stakeholder project involving Nigerian and international partners, including government and civil society organisations such as: ActionAid International Nigeria as the Strategic partner; Action Health Incorporated; Education as a Vaccine Against AIDS; Girls� Power Initiative; Federal Ministry of Education (HIV/AIDS Unit); Federal Ministry of Health (ARH Unit); Nigeria Educational and Research Development Council (NERDC); Butterfly Works, Netherlands and MTN Foundation (through the MTN School Connect programme implemented by SchoolNet Nigeria).

� Funding for the Learning about Living pilot comes from Oxfam Novib, Netherlands; MacArthur Foundation in the USA, Butterfly Works and Finalist IT Group, Netherlands.

� Terms of MyQuestion: It is free to send questions and receive answers by text message. The answer will usually be received within a few hours during the office hours of Monday to Friday 9.00-17.00, otherwise the following working day. The telephone hotline, 08027192780-2, is free from all Celtel phones, and standard rates from other lines.

� Terms of MyAnswer: The question of the month will be announced in radio programmes, on the Learning about Living website, through schools and youth serving organisations. Young people can enter the competition by sending a text message at standard rate costs, or by completing the online form at www.learningaboutliving.com. The first ten accurate answers will be as winners and they will be notified directly either on the mobile phone the entry is sent from or the email address provided for online entries. The prizes are airtime, which is sponsored by MTN Foundation and NACA.

� The target group for MyQuestion, MyAnswer and Learning about Living generally is 10-25 year olds.