ECOWAS Court holds orientation programme for new staff membersGerman NGO Helping HIV/Aids Youth, Teenage Mothers In Migori

The ECOWAS Court of Justice has commenced a two-day orientation programme for newly recruited staff members at the seat of the Court in Abuja. Speaking at the opening of the orientation programme, Dr Yaouza Ouro-Sama, Chief Registrar of the Court, charged the newly recruited staff members to quickly familiarise themselves with the structure, processes and functioning of the various departments of the Court. He urged the new staff members to take advantage of the programme and utilise the knowledge gained from the orientation for the effective discharge of their responsibilities. Dr Ouro-Sama advised the participants to respect the organisation's hierarchy, rules and procedures, ethics, and to foster integrity, transparency, objectivity and team spirit across divisions and departments. In a welcome address, Dr William Towah, Director of Administration and Finance, who was represented by the Human Resource Officer, Mrs Mariame Kone enjoined the new staff members to uphold the ethics and diligently carry out their obligations. The periodic orientation programme is organised by the Court as part of its integration process for new staff into the processes and procedures of the organisation. Presentations will be delivered on various topics including the history of the Court, its vision, mandate and strategic goals, structure, legal texts as well as the judicial statistics of the Court.?? The new staff members will also be sensitized on the functions of departments and units of the Court, including the Research and Documentation Department, the Department of Administration and Finance and the Protocol, ICT and Communication units of the Court.?? Representatives of the ECOWAS Pension Office and the ECOWAS Staff Mutual Credit Union will also take their turn on sensitising the new staff about savings and retirement plans. Speakers at the programme include Dr Yaouza Ouro-Sama, Chief Registrar, Dr Athanase Atannon, Deputy Chief Registrar, Dr Ousmane Diallo, Director of Research and Documentation, Heads of Divisions and Units, and staff from the Protocol, ICT and Communication units. Source: Ghana News Agency A non-governmental organisation, German Foundation for World Population (DSW) has extended a helping hand to Migori youth and teenage mothers living with HIV/Aids to access better healthcare services. DSW Project Officer Lee Oluoch, who was addressing stakeholders in reproductive health sector in Rongo Sub County said the move aims to ensure every youth, teenage mother, and discordant couple in the remote villages access their daily ARV medication. One of the DSW main goals in East Africa is to address the youth-to-youth initiative that attempts to empower youth to play an active role in improving their sexual and reproductive health in their communities, through peer education, advocacy, and income-generating activities. Oluoch said that the non-governmental organisation has already helped the teenagers and youths through support groups to set up table banking to fund activities that generate income to sustain their young families. The organisation has also been helping the formal groups set up kitchen g ardens to provide nutritional aspects to improve the immune system of HIV-positive individuals through a better-balanced diet. 'We have also started other income-generating ventures like giving goats and sheep to the supportive groups to give them an extra edge in income generation,' said Olouch. He said that the support from the DSW will ensure the beneficiaries adhere to the culture of taking their medication on time and embrace table banking as a way to generate income as well as socialise by sharing ideas that can help the groups, especially the teenage mothers. DSW has rolled out a similar project in Kilifi County to help the youth and teenage mothers accept their social life of living positively to enable them to raise a better generation. 'We will keep engaging the youth and empower them socially and economically to give them hope for living positively for a better tomorrow,' noted Olouch. Rongo Sub-County Health Officer Ben Onuka said the project will help fight new infections acknowledging that over 50 percent of all the new HIV infections in the County are from adolescents and youths. Migori County remains one of the top five counties in Kenya with a high HIV prevalence rate of 10.4 percent with Awendo Sub County leading among the Sub counties with new HIV infections. Onuka said that adolescents and youths especially girls are the most vulnerable group as a result of their naivety which makes them prey to sexual advances from older men. County statistics on adolescent pregnancies in Migori as of 2023 stood at 19 percent and according to Onuka, most teenage mothers are ushered into motherhood with no experience of how to raise a child in addition to contracting the Hiv/Aids that sometimes overwhelms them leading to emotional stress. Source: Kenya News Agency