The International Day for People of African Descent was celebrated on 31 August, and we are also amid the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015 – 2024). Advancing social justice and promoting inclusive development for all human beings is essential for achieving the SDGs.
At this opportune moment, we bring the efforts and achievements of the DAPC grantee Global Initiative on Substance Abuse (GISA) to Nigeria. In Lagos State, GISA worked to provide support and training to better equip youth and teachers with evidence-based prevention strategies and messages.
GISA collaborated with the Ministry of Education to identify potential participating schools, and selected and provided training to teachers, ministry officials, and students to support their role as trainers throughout the project. Refresher training were conducted for national trainers, and teachers/ministry officials were selected and trained as Substance Abuse Prevention Officers (SAPOs). In addition, students were selected and trained as Drug Abuse Prevention Peer Educators (DAPPEs), using the training manual developed by GISA.
GISA Prevention Leadership Action Team (GPLAT) and Drug Free Skills Clubs were established in all participating schools, and substance use prevention school policies were developed. GISA monitored the engagements of the trained teachers and peer educators in their respective schools. In addition, the GPLAT also engaged with parents through physical and virtual meetings, thereby creating awareness of the role of parents in substance use prevention at school.
Amidst challenges owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, GISA positively reflects that all schools have a substance use prevention team and drug-free clubs to support youth, and they have also gained engagement from parents. They adopted a collaborative approach to engage several stakeholders from an educational perspective and drew public attention to the delivery of evidence-based substance use prevention interventions in the school setting.
Congratulations to GISA on not only meaningfully engaging with youth as future changemakers but also considering the sustainability of such efforts so that the impact may extend beyond the duration of the project!
