Subtopic: A Systemic Approach to Strengthen Mental Health & Psychosocial Support for Resilient Teachers and Learners in Africa

Join a webinar discussion to deliberate on systemic approaches and promising practices to strengthen Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) interventions for teachers in Africa in achieving learning outcomes.

Organized jointly with the UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa, the webinar will 1) present the key issues impacting teacher mental health and wellbeing 2) share national and regional interventions on MHPSS for teachers; and 3) identify strategies to create linkages with various stakeholders.

Date: Tuesday, August 22nd, 2023

Time: 15:00-17:00hrs (East Africa Time)

Click on the Zoom link to join the webinar:   https://unesco-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIofu-vqz8pGtHfzgWPHJ_pcE24epqKgsXl

Duration: 2 hours 

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As FutureLife-Now! continues to expand its reach and impact, it remains dedicated to empowering Zambia’s youth and ensuring a healthier and brighter future for all.

The FutureLife-Now! Programme in Zambia recently participated in the 2023 International Trade Fair (ITF). This high-profile event provided an excellent opportunity to promote the Programme and showcase its commitment to the well-being and empowerment of Zambia’s youth. Through networking, new partnerships were established, with the aim of raising awareness about crucial health and wellness issues and the empowerment of the next generation of youth.

This annual event, which draws many dignitaries, was held from 26 June to 2 July 2023, under the theme, “Stimulating Economic Development Through Partnerships, Trade and Investment”.

Visitors to the exhibition stand

FutureLife-Now! has a strong partnership with the Zambian Ministry of Health. “During the event, we proudly shared our collaboration with the Ministry of Health to strengthen healthcare for adolescents. President Hakainde Hichilema visited our stand and expressed his satisfaction with this partnership,” said Country Coordinator in Zambia for FutureLife-Now! Charity Banda. She explained that this critical alliance ensures that the Programme can make a significant impact on the health and well-being of Zambia’s youth.

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“Voices of the youth”: a learner presenting at the launch

South Africa’s Department of Basic Education (DBE), in partnership with MIET AFRICA, UNICEF South Africa and the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT), recently launched two youth empowerment initiatives in Pretoria. These two programmes—the Southern African Development Community (SADC) FutureLife-Now! Programme and the Ubuntu Youth Leaders Movement—contribute to the Department’s Care and Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL) Framework and the SADC Child and Youth Agency Framework (CYAF).

Following a successful first phase (2019–23) implemented in Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, South Africa now joins the second phase of FutureLife-Now! (2023–26), which sees a scale-up of FutureLife-Now! to additional Member States in the SADC Region. For South Africa, FutureLife-Now! contributes to building the human capital of the country’s approximately 22 million young people by empowering them to be responsible, actively engaged citizens who lead responses to 21st century development challenges, specifically those related to health, gender inequality and climate change.

Initially, the DBE will pilot a contextualised FutureLife-Now! package of support in 10 secondary schools, commencing in June this year. Following the pilot, the Department will roll out the tested package across the country.

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Trainees and trainers taking a selfie!

The first phase of FutureLife-Now! is drawing to an end. Phase 2, which will commence in July this year, will build on the youth agency and leadership work commenced in Phase 1. Phase 2 will introduce new and innovative interventions in the 10 schools in Zimbabwe; these will be scaled up over time to the additional 30 schools to be added to the programme. One of the new elements that aims to develop youth leadership for service among young people in our communities is the Ubuntu Youth Leaders’ Programme, run in partnership with Instituto Padre António Vieira (IPAV).

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In Zambia, sexual and reproductive health topics are seldom discussed in family settings. Speaking openly about sexuality and sexual relationships is considered taboo in most Zambian communities. As a result, family members and teachers rarely have conversations on these topics, leading to low levels of knowledge about HIV and certain aspects of sexuality.

With this in mind, the FutureLife-Now! Programme in Zambia held a comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) workshop in April 2023 at David Ramushu Secondary School. The event was attended by 37 stakeholders, ranging from teachers, parents, councillors, nurses and district officials to youth facilitators. Recognising its importance, Ntinga Remnant, the District Education Guidance Coordinator noted that “our culture considers sexual and reproductive health as a taboo and this training should equip teachers and parents with skills and knowledge to solve this conflict between CSE and tradition.”

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Three School Health and Nutrition days are scheduled annually on the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) school calendar (in 2023, these are 3 March, 19 May and 22 September). They are intended to highlight the collaboration and linkages needed between the MoET and MoH as directed by Lesotho’s School Health and Nutrition Policy of 2018, because the promotion of the health of learners in schools is a critical step towards quality achievement in education.

On 3 March, to celebrate this relationship, a School Health and Nutrition Day was conducted by the MoET, in collaboration with Ministry of Health (MoH), and with the support of the FutureLife-Now! Programme. A total of 13 high schools in the Mafeteng district participated, where the FutureLife-Now! Programme is supporting schools.

The district education manager, Mahlompho Shaabe, delivered a word of appreciation, noting that she is indeed thankful to FutureLife-Now! for the support provided. It was her firm belief, she said, that learners would benefit from the health services to be provided that day.

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Addressing barriers to teaching and learning needs a holistic approach and is everyone’s responsibility.

With this in mind, between January and November 2022, the FutureLife-Now! Programme in Malawi ran Care and Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL) School Community Workshops in its 10 pilot schools. These were aimed at improving education outcomes by bringing together all key stakeholders (teachers and other educators, those in management structures, parents, community leaders, health workers, child protection workers, forestry assistants, agriculture officers, police officers) to develop their knowledge, capacity and commitment to addressing barriers to teaching and learning.

Schools are now reaping the fruits of these workshops. Umbwi Secondary in Dedza is one such school. Here are some of the initiatives that are bringing benefits to all its learners, including those experiencing barriers to learning.

Health workers have commenced conducting talks on topics such as HIV&AIDS and other aspects of sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR); these have raised awareness and created demand for integrated SHRH, gender-based violence and HIV services, as well as strengthening the referral system between Umbwi Secondary and the Dedza District Hospital.

“The health talks have changed my life,” says Thokozani Alfred, the school’s head boy. “I now understand the SRHR package, its importance and how I can access the services. They have also cleared some myths and misconceptions about HIV&AIDS through provision of accurate information.”

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The following is a departure from our usual news stories. It’s a moving account of inspiration and transformation, written by Lumba Mwale (not her real name), a learner in one of the Zambia FutureLife-Now! schools.

It is often said that your past doesn’t have to determine your future, and this is very true for me. I have transformed from an ugly caterpillar to being a wonderful butterfly that is soaring above the ground. Here is my story.

I am now an 18-year-old girl. I come from a broken home.  My parents divorced when I was 10; after that, everything started going bad. My mother was a pastor and travelled a lot, but after she had a stroke she couldn’t do much anymore.  After she stopped work and my father left, my elder siblings started smoking and drinking, and things deteriorated in our family. Watching my family falling apart and we becoming a dysfunctional family tore me apart: it was something I had never anticipated.

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During the second last week of February, delegates from across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region assembled in Durban to learn, to share best practices and to network at the annual Care and Support for Teaching (CSTL) and FutureLife-Now! Sharing Meeting.

Delegates during the breakaway session on ‘Sharing post-COVID challenges and good practices’ on Day 2 of the FutureLife-Now! Sharing Meeting

Over a hundred people participated, online and physically, with 14 of the 16 SADC Member States represented, as well as FutureLife-Now! partners such as UNITAR, UNICEF and Save the Children International.

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FutureLife-Now! schools in Zambia are greening their future, and it shows. The 10 schools have embarked on youth-led, climate change projects that include developing the necessary skills learners need to engage in tree-planting and vegetable gardens projects.

One of these schools, Mwembeshi Secondary, has set itself the target of planting 2 500 trees by the year 2025. The FutureLife-Now! Programme is helping to make this a reality by providing materials such as fertilizer, and implements like spades and hoes, irrigation pipes, shade-netting and seedlings. It also provided the school with 250 trees.

Learners at Mwembeshi Secondary School receiving awards for best food gardens and tree-planting.

In 2022, each of the approximately 300 learners in Grades 8, 9 and 10 was given a tree seedling to take care of. The learners pot the trees until they are ready to be transplanted in the ground, provide water and check them for pests. When necessary, they also re-pot the trees if they show signs of stress.

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