O3 PLUS SOUTH SAHARAN AND EASTERN AFRICA BENCHMARK WITH UON

April 24, 2023:  Thirty (30) O3 plus ambassadors from different countries in Africa visited the University in a bid to benchmark on the implementation process of O3 plus project on Friday, April 20, 2023. The Project has been in implementation from October 2021.

The O3 plus Project seeks to promote health and wellbeing among students in institutions of higher learning in Kenya. The University of Nairobi in partnership with UNESCO and SIDA is implementing the O3 plus on Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future in addressing a range of Health and Wellbeing issues young people are faced with, including EUP, GBV, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, mental health and access to accurate information on sexual and reproductive health and services for young people in higher and tertiary institutions

The (30) O3 plus ambassadors were from different countries which included; Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, France, Ethiopia and Madagascar among others in the university VIP Lounge who visited Kenya for a week to benchmark a project on O3 Plus in the university of Nairobi that was produced out in 2022.

In an earlier meeting, the team had paid a courtesy call on the Vice Chancellor and expressed their appreciation of how the University has implemented the project that has since transformed many lives.

On his part, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Stephen Kiama highlighted the achievements that the project has had; including the Gender Desk, the establishment of three policies, the RADA UoN mobile application and positive health and mental well-being. He also reiterated his support to the O3 plus project within the University.

UoN O3 plus student ambassadors from the University of Nairobi took time to share their experiences and issues that were tackled during the promotion and production of the 03 Plus Project among the university of Nairobi students.

Ag Studio Manager and Lecturer, Department of Journalism, Mr. Fredrick Ogutu, took the ambassadors through the different strategies that the University used to manage communications of the O3 plus project to the student population. He showcased the videos on the UoN O3 plus playlist, the UoN O3 plus podcasts on different thematic areas. He challenged them to align their areas of interests with their implementation plan.

Mr. Ogutu went on to elaborate other communication management strategies that were used to implement the O3 plus project in the university. Some of them included; social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, Tik tok and mobile links, town hall sessions ,O3 plus hashtags ‘Kaa Rada’ and climbing of Mt. Kenya among university students.

 UNESCO visited the University of Nairobi to benchmark the O3 plus project that the university produced 2022 after the Swedish government launched the O3 plus project to educate learners across different countries in their different levels of learning on matters sexual reproduction health. The primary and secondary school levels will use O3 while the higher levels of learning such as universities and colleges will use O3 Plus hashtags to spread the message to learners on sexual reproduction health and other issues affecting them as they go about their studies.

Question and answer session followed where the floor was open to all ambassadors who had questions on the O3 plus Project by the university. Host student ambassadors from the University of Nairobi responded to the asked questions accordingly. The event ended by a vote of thanks from the university of Nairobi staff and a group photo session followed outside the university VIP Lounge.