Communication Of Life Skills To In-school Adolescent Girls With Special Reference To Hivaids

Ethiopia, like many countries of the developing world, has a huge proportion ofrnyouth. Young people between the age of 10 – 24 years constitute one third of thernpopulation.. At the same time the country has one of the highest numbers of peoplernliving with HIV/AIDS in the world.rnIt is an established fact that thee major route of transmission of HIV AIDS isrnunprotected sex. . As youth and specially adolescence (mainly 10 – 19 years ofrnage) is a period of high developmental changes in physical, mental and socialrnconditions. Specially the onset of strong sexual awareness and developmentrnrenders them venerable to HIV AIDS as problems arise from lack of understandingrnand proper response to the changes and related emotional loads, peer pressurernand lack of experience in the social system, in short lack of life skills. The fact thatrnthe highest HIV prevalence still occurs in the age group 15 – 24 years. Is strongrnevidence.rnThe situation is even worse in the case of adolescent girls. The culturally deeprnentrenched gender inequality and the dependent socio economical standing ofrnwomen and girls have deprived them of any chance to develop the life skills thatrnwould help them fight through life renders them the most vulnerable in everyway.rnThis vulnerability, however, could be minimized if life skills developmentrnopportunities were provided with an appropriate communication strategy.rnIn this study the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), which describes a dynamic,rnongoing process in which personal factors, environmental factors, and humanrnbehaviour influence one other to bring a behavioural change,.has been the basis forrnrnthe investigation as it encompasses useful constructs that have proved to bernsuccessful predicting behavioural change among young people..rnAccording to SCT, psychosocial life skills, which are related to behavior and socialrninteraction, are essential to adapt skillful behaviors, which in turn help thernadolescents protect themselves and enjoy life safely.rnThough the concept of life skills is not new in Ethiopia, the attention given to it byrnthe, government, the community, and those working in the prevention of HIV AIDS,rnsill leaves a lot to desire.rnThis is evident from the fact that the range of life skills adolescents possess at a skillrnlevel is very minimal as compared to their knowledge and awareness of it. .rnFurthermore, the fact that studies done on this issue and the local literature availablernon this issue are very minimal.rnIn dealing with adolescents, schools hold a social position and that is where a largernnumber of adolescents are found together at the same time and convenientlyrngrouped more or less by level of development.rnThe general objective of the study is to establish the role of communication inrnpromoting life skills of in school adolescent girls in relation to HIV/AIDSrnThe study was conducted in Addis Ababa Schools. The study population weernreached through the help of Addis Ababa Education bureau and the respectivernschool administrations. Data was collected using a multistage probability samplingrnusing and close-ended questionnaire, quantitatively and in-depth interview and focusrnrngroup discussion, qualitatively.rnA total of 400 adolescent girls were surveyed. The age group level is almost equallyrndistributed between 10 – 14 year olds (44.3%) and the 15 – 19 year olds (55.3%)rnThe orthodox religion followers constitute 70.3% of the entire sample followed byrnMuslims 17.8%.rnIrrespective of their age, economic back ground, parents education level or the typernof school they attend to, the adolescent girls showed that they are aware of the lifernskills and know how to avoid risk. However, their capacity to put this knowledge tornuse i.e. the life skills is very minimal.rnThe major and preferred sources of life skills for the adolescents are their parentsrnfollowed by their peers. The information and level of skill available in these sourcesrnis not even sufficient for them let alone to pass it to the needy adolescents. Thernschool environment, which possesses huge structural advantages, is hugelyrnunderutilized.rnFurther study is recommended to deeply investigate find out the effect of life skillrncommunication and the methods and sources with the highest impact on them. Alsornto investigate and establish mechanisms that assure life skill developmentrnopportunities are provided to the adolescents and are reconfirmed and fostered inrntheir homes, in their schools and in the community as well.rnThe introductory part of this document gives the background and problem situationrnand of adolescents in general, and adolescent girls in particular, in Ethiopia in therncontext of the rampant HIV AID pandemic. The objective of the study and itsrnlimitations are also described here.rnIn the second chapter extensive coverage is given to the description of adolescencernrnin relation to HIV AIDS and life skills. In chapter three the methodology of the studyrnis described Chapter four contains the results of the survey, focus group and indepthrninterview conducted regarding in school adolescent girls in Addis Ababa. Inrnchapter five, the results are discussed with some detail. In the last chapter, chapterrnsix, conclusions and recommendations are given.rnThe survey questionnaire, the list of key informants with the leading questions for therninterviews and some detailed findings have been annexed.

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