The Federal Government will continue to prioritise the Family Planning (FP) needs of women for their protection and care even in the face of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen, said.
The minister made this known in Abuja on Monday during the women engagement event that would herald the 6th Nigeria Family
Planning Conference 2020 to open on Dec. 10.
The conference is a biennial event that brings together FP stakeholders to brainstorm on policies, finances, FP methods, availability of commodities, as well as share experiences on the progress made so far.
It is also to exchange ideas, identify emerging issues on FP/reproductive health and chart the way forward toward improving existing situation.
The women’s pre-conference event has “Impactful Strategies to Strengthen the Family Planning Agenda Post 2020: Adaptation, Innovation, Resilience.”
Represented by Mrs Jummai Idonije, the minister’s Senior Special Assistant, Technical, Tallen called for stronger collaboration to advance healthcare delivery in the country, especially family planning.
The minister, who described women as representatives of the society, said there was no society without women, noting that the Ministry of Women Affairs was working with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education to promote girl-child education and advance the cause of women and their wellbeing.
She emphasised the need for all to demonstrate the theme of the 2020 16 days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence; Orange the World: Fund, Prevent, Respond and Collect.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence is an annual international event that kicks off on Nov. 25 until Dec. 10 as strategy by individuals and organisations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.
It was started by activists at the inaugural Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991 and continues to be coordinated each year by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership.
Tallen, therefore, tasked all to fund, prevent, respond and collect data aimed at ending all forms of violence against women and girls, which, according to her, family planning is key.
She condemned all forms of violence against women and girls and assured that the ministry would continue to provide an enabling environment for women to
thrive in their businesses and stay healthy.
Dr Nike Adeyemi, a member of the Board of Trustees, Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP), said that the 6th Family Planning conference was aimed at mobilising resources toward ensuring that families have just enough number of children they could cater for.
Adeyemi added that the conference would focus on scaling up networking and technology to improve family planning, aimed at meeting unmet needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The medical practitioner, who said that family planning was key to improving women and children’s health for extensive economic development and
better conditions.
She said “improving women and children’s health, including access to family planning extensively contributes to economic development, which in turn, contributes to better conditions for women and children and creates precondition for economic growth and prosperity for the country.”
Adeyemi explained that the purpose of the Family Planning Conference was to harness key information from national and global experts and to share experiences toward adopting and adapting such information with the aim of making child spacing popular in the country.
The BOT member, who emphasised that women were the most affected during the COVID-19 lockdown, said there was need for
resilience and innovation to encourage women to contribute their quota to national development.
Dr Ejike Oji, the Chairman, Technical Management Committee, Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP),
urged state governments to key into Federal Government’s FP programmes to encourage more people to embrace it.
He added that AAFP is a national coalition of family planning advocates in Nigeria and it is formally registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission,
comprising more than 50 organisations, including networks, development partner projects, Non-Governmental Organisation,
Civil Society Organiaations (CSO), Ministries, Departments and Agencies and the private sector
Its mission is to have a nation where every person has access to high-quality information and high-quality FP services.
