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On completion of the drug awareness week, KKAWF launched on February 17th the European Union best practice drug prevention education initiative “Unplugged – adapted in Pakistan as Hum Sath Hain”, at the Mashal Model School. KKAWF is the first civil society outfit to bring this prevention awareness programme to private schools in Islamabad. Delivered by KKAWF Education Consultant Ms. Lubna Hayauddin a Universal Prevention Curriculum (UPC) and EU Unplugged certified life-skills trainer, the programme has participation of 100 students and is being run for 12 weeks with one session each week. This interactive life skills program is targeted at 12-15 years old, where the students during the course of the programme are exposed to the knowledge on drugs and their ill-effect on the physical and social health of the individuals and others associated to these people. The youth are equipped in skills such as communication, problem solving, critical thinking to handle peer pressure and make wise decisions, raise drug use awareness and understanding to promote healthy behavior. The sessions bring an element of empowerment to the topic of prevention, which show our youth that there is strength in coping with life’s challenges without drugs. The student participants will receive their completion certificates at a concluding ceremony with attendance of distinguished guests.
KKAWF plans to continue implementation of Hum Sath Hain programme among teachers and students in schools across Islamabad and other areas. School teachers are trained on the Unplugged modules and enabled to deliver to more students, which will allow for benefits of the programme to outreach more students continually.
Speaking at the launch of the “Hum Sath Hain” programme, Cristina von Sperling Afridi, Chairperson KKAWF emphasized that the drug problem, with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic has become the most urgent public health challenge impacting individuals, families and communities in Pakistan and worldwide. Pakistan, sitting on one of the world’s busiest drug trafficking corridors- is putting at further risk to addiction of drugs its 130 million youth population under 30, which represents the second largest young population in the world today. She stressed that Pakistan needs to reset its approach to a 21st-century drug policy which weighs in on prevention at the center of its efforts to combat the menace of drug problem. She said that only last year, hundreds of teenagers had lost their lives and other hundreds of thousands unfortunately have started to indulge on drugs resulting in this big epidemic menace in our society and the future of the Country. She said that it’s clear that there is a rise in teens’ exposure to substances and reliance on untrustworthy information between the ages of especially 13 and 15, just when the risk for substance use increases. Thus by fostering conversations in schools and communities, we can all help make a difference in the wellbeing of today’s youth. She further stated that KKAWF is passionate about preventing early substance use as prevention and early interventions at young teens ultimately save lives.
KKAWF a national leader in combatting perils of drug problem – committed to youth empowerment is working since 2015 has gained rich experience on promoting healthy behavior among youth regarding adverse effects of drug abuse. KKAWF implements its mission by equipping youth with better knowledge and awareness, breaking taboos through prevention education using its five pillars of drug abuse, arts, sports, environment, civic sense to build protective factors for youth and engage with them to make healthy life choices and better identify, understand and manage emotions.
