Empowering young people with life planning and livelihood skills that can help in preventing  HIV among young people. The socio-economic vulnerability of young people; particularly those marginalized by gender is recognized as causes of the conditions that put young people at risk of HIV/AIDS. Although governments are desirous of creating jobs for young people, the mechanism to do so has been elusive. AHIP established a livelihood skill acquisition center and integrated peer health, HIV and STI education into the livelihood skills acquisition program of the Institute for human development. The program trains over two thousand and five hundred young people each year. The trained young people are then encouraged to train three young people each. The various trades are ICT; Photography; Video coverage; tailoring; knitting; tie and dye; soap making, pomade making; typing; bags and other crafts of interest; health management; home management; funds management and small business management. The center also engages in advocacy, production and promotion of sales of the centre’s products. The livelihood skill acquisition center produces bed sheets; quilts; veils, cardigans, baby shawls, shawls and some mufflers for children, young people and adults. AHIP through its institute for human development is recruiting a technical team of experts to work out a model for an NGO-government-private sector partnership and collaboration on livelihood options and job opportunities for youths in Jigawa and Kano states.

Training Livelihood Development

The training on integrated livelihood skills development was conducted and 41 participants were trained.  Topics addressed at the training were Sustainable livelihood development for young people; the rationale for such intervention; Livelihood framework, Building human capital; Building social capital, financial capital, physical capital,  Natural capital, Developmental assets and capacity of local service providers. Assets (external and internal), Challenges, Possible outcome, Strategies, 40 developmental assets; External assets: support, empowerment,  Boundaries and expectations, and constructive use of time, Internal assets: commitment to learning, positive values, social competencies and positive identity, Livelihood skills development, Factor conditions, Understanding external context, Conditions to enable    livelihood skills opportunities, Demand conditions, Institutional conditions, Industry conditions.

Continuing Learning

The continuing learning initiative is a new addition to the training centre activities. This is a one year remedial class for students, who finished secondary, school but were not able to make their papers.

Day Care Centre Unit

The day care unit, which was meant to serve as kindergarten for AHIP’s staff, has expanded to accommodate children from nearby working class mothers’ children. The unit was equipped and additional Posters and teaching aids provided for the teacher in the centre to facilitate teaching.

Training Professionals and Community-based Health Workers

Systematic training in community development and management skills are conducted for health professionals and those who supervise the operational level, health workers whose responsibility it is to mobilize communities to form committees and to support  their functioning and most importantly, for the committee members. Emphasis are given to equity and quality of care issues with particular reference to the health needs of vulnerable groups, such as mothers and young children, who are presently under-served with essential health care.

Leadership Training

Are organized and conducted for different categories of leaders: Moslem and Christian religious leaders; youth leaders, health professionals, students, traditional leaders and married adolescents. Topics addressed differ from training to training. Topics for leaders’ training includes Pre-Test; RH Concept & Components; Reproductive Anatomy and Physiology; Stages Of Development/Safe Motherhood; Sex and Sexuality; Reproductive Rights; Child Spacing And Contraception; Child Rearing And Social Implication;  Sexually Transmitted Diseases/HIV-AIDS; HIV/AIDS, Drug Abuse and Social Implications; Leadership Roles and Styles; Leadership and Reproductive Health; Team Building and Problem Solving; Team Building and Problem Solving; Gender based Violence; Communication; Advocacy; Managing Change; Managing social change; Mobilization  & Networking;  Social Mobilization And Networking; Planning; Action Planning; Post-Test; Evaluation.

Garko women association project 

These women that are based in Garko community  formed an association under the AHIP umbrella. They are developed to plan and implement programs to move the community forward. They are involved in production and processing of food crops like rice, groundnut, groundnut oil, and others. They were also trained in how to improve on their existing trade and additional skills were taught them to enable them have additional income generating skills. This we believe will tide them over when the various crops are not in season. AHIP only   provided structure, equipment and supervisions.

Key Activities

AHIP have different activities every year for the realization of the organization’s objectives. Some of them are as follows:

• Advocacy-AHIP advocates for the promotion of the socio-economic well being of young people among community leaders, religious leaders and policy makers .The AHIP youth forum also does its share of advocacy to institutions, orphanages, schools and ministries.

• Training & Workshop-AHIP conducts various trainings for different groups of stake holder which includes principals of schools; headmasters; teachers; guidance and counseling teachers; members of the press; traditional leaders; policy makers; youths and youth leaders etc. to create awareness on adolescent reproductive health and its relatedness with problems young people face.
  • Adolescent are also trained as peer health educators in the area of reproductive health
  • Opinion leaders are also sensitized in consultative meetings that bring about meaningful suggestions on how to improve reproductive health standard of young people.
  • AHIP conducts special trainings for drug addicts a
  • Acts as consultants in conflict management training for schools and other parastatals.
  • Train leaders for health

• Carnival of learning- AHIP organizes a carnival of learning every year, creating an avenue for young people to showcase what they gained through the AHIP in-school project. Young people also showcase their talents in other field such as: craft, fine arts, presentations, cooking, barbing to mention a few. This, the organization believes will encourage the young people to develop their God given talent to be used in future for the individual’s livelihood. An average of 20 schools and about 3000 students participate every year, at the end of each carnival the best male and female from  the health talk is crowned as the King and Queen of the Carnival of learning for the year and the King and Queen becomes part of AHIP program and works as a young facilitator for other young people.

• Graduation- AHIP sends off an average of 250 students from the vocational training school every year in a colorful ceremony graced by eminent personalities. This is aimed at doing some marketing of the organization, while building the self-esteem of the graduating students especially those that may never be opportune to attend or graduate from any form of formal school.

• Sensitization trainings –in order to help the young persons, the young facilitators organize a sensitization training once a week, where participants are given factual information on issues like knowing their values, making reasonable decisions, knowing about HIV\AIDS etc.

• Research-AHIP has conducted researches on matters relating to the health and socio-economic factors relevant to and affecting young people. Research conducted include:
  • Situation of NGO’s in northern Nigeria
  • Adolescent Sexual Behavior in Kano state
  • Child survival and sexuality in Northern Nigeria
  • Leaders in productive health
  • Safe motherhood.