Life Skills and Peer Education for Chadian Youth

For the first time ever in N’Djamena this year, the Blue Cross Chad’s high school soccer tournament included a girls team – with seven participating schools! Both finals took place on Saturday 11 April and were in attendance by more than 600 people. The girl’s final was won by Lycée Moderne de Djougoulié - the newest school to participate in the Blue Cross Chad's Life Skills program. The boys final was won by the Lycée Félix Eboué.

The opening ceremony was presided by the Head of the National Programme to Fight Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs (PNLATD), which is under the Ministry of Health. A special emphasis was given to the new law on tobacco with sensitization events around the tournament. According to Eloi, Program Coordinator for Blue Cross Chad, Chad is only the 4th sub-Saharan African country having passed a tobacco bill (on 31 March 2015). The anti-tobacco law will come into effect on 9 November 2015.

After-school activity clubs and awareness campaigns are an important part of the life skills program in Chad. Activities like soccer tournaments are used to create visibility and raise awareness among the community about the dangers associated with alcohol and drug use. They are used to empower communities and youth to take ownership of important issues like reducing the sale of alcohol next to schools and reducing access to alcohol purchases for youth (Recent test purchases organized by the Blue Cross of Chad have shown that 100% of the test purchases by children as young as 10 were successful. Easy accessibility coupled with aggressive marketing by the alcohol industry is leading to increasing alcohol consumption especially among the African youth.

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