Published by Smith Nwokocha

It was a power-packed three days solid training on Family Planning, held at LandMark Hotel, Port Harcourt on the 23^rd, 24^th and 25^th November, 2020.

The Challenge Initiatives aims to increased capability of Governments to implement effective Family Planning Programmes, especially among the Urban poor. TCI is a platform not a project. TCI is State-led. Finally, TCI provide technical support, drives ownership and participation, promotes resource sustainability and facilitate sharing and learning for scale up among others. Mrs. Uduak Ananaba

Some Experts shared insights on Family Planning or Child-Birth Spacing as the case maybe; Terminologies in Maternal Health, Family Planning and Adolescent Reproductive Health, also Myths and Misconceptions about Family Planning.. This session was anchored by the Family Planning State Coordinator- Igbanibo Doris (RSMOH) and Theresa Timothy (RSPHCMB).

At the end of the day, we discovered, that; Family Planning or Child-Birth Spacing (For the married) or Life Planning (For Singles) could solve the problem of “Domestic Violence in Nigeria”. In fact, “Low absence of Family Planning is responsible for high mortality rate in pregnant women and FP (Family Planning) can actually help Nigeria reduce this high mortality rate.

FP starts with counselling. We need to consistently engage Religious/Traditional rulers and Policy makers on issues related to FP. We also need to know, that Family Planning is different from Infertility.

A typical African Family talks about WAR CANOE HOUSE (Large family size), but the interesting thing is this; WHAT IS FAMILY PLANNING? According to Dr. Doris N:  Family Planning is simply; “having the number of children you can cater for. It includes making decision about birth control, reproduction and about deciding how to care for the child and emotional well-being of everyone in the family”. The implication/consequences on the Family/Society, include but not limited to the following; Unplanned/Unintended Pregnancy, Increase dependency, Insecurity, School drop-outs, Unemployment, High Maternal Mortality, Unsafe Abortion among others. Part of the solutions are; improved Healthcare and Environmental Hygiene, Abolish obnoxious practices in the communities and organize regular Family Planning education and promotes its benefits.

Family Planning in Nigeria, Trends, Practices, Attitudes and Barriers ; a session facilitated by Mr. Onche Odeh of Development Communications Network; He also mentioned “Demographic Dividend”, which refers to the growth in an economy due to a change in the age structure of a country’s population. Thailand was sighted an example. He emphasized; Family Planning as a Tool for Sustainable Development. FP is tied to SDG 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11 and 17. For SDG 1; “if we do more Family Planning, we will have less hands to feed with quality populace”. For SDG 6 and 8; FP mitigates population growth’s effects on access to Water and Sanitation.

For Media Practitioners, Mr. Onche, he advised that; “Writing a Compelling Human Angle Stories on Family Planning”, they should ensure that their stories are people/issue based, make the story simple and keep the story to one idea. Life experiences are key and introduce innovative angles to family planning. Social Media Strategic Approach in Promoting Family Planning among other relevant topic of discuss.

On the Day Two; participants alongside the organizers embarked on a field trip, visited some of the Health Facilities, including TCI Supported Facility in the city of Port Harcourt. At one of the Health Facility (Rumueme Health Centre), we met some newly mothers, women that came for family planning, with the consent of a young girl named Miss Favour, aged 20, in her interaction with some of the Media personnel’s, she said, her senior sister told her of how Life Planning will help her avoid early pregnancy, so she came for enquiry, before adopting FP. In her words; “Family Planning will help her stay away from unwanted pregnancy; she wants a great future”.  The Focal Person at Rumueme Health Centre (Tonagbari Gokana), mentioned that married men visit the facility with their wives and all the equipments for all Family Planning methods are available at the facility. Dr. Chisa Nweke, a medical doctor at the facility, said, “though Society is judgmental and filled with stigmatization with issues concerning family planning, but there has been some level of progress”. At the Orogbum Health Centre, which is a TCI supported facility; a grandmother, Women Community leader (Mrs. Onyemachi Grace Ogoloma), a Family Planning client, said, she has introduced my House help, her daughters, they all enjoy the benefits of Family Planning.

On the Day Three: Introduction To Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI) and Get It Together (Life Planning For Adolescent and Youths-LPAY-) facilitated by Oluchi Bassey: She emphasized that, LPAY focuses on increased demand for reproductive health knowledge and services. It equally helps young people understand how their bodies work and equip them with information and skills to make informed decisions about their reproductive health.

Media Involvement in Reducing Maternal Mortality and Family Planning, this session was facilitated by Onche Odeh; he said, “The Media is very critical to the success of Family Planning Initiatives”. Major concerns; there is a dangerous link between overpopulation and poverty. Research has linked high maternal mortality rate to lack of Family Planning in many cases. Pressing needs; The Policy makers need to be educated on the stack realities on ground. Some of the benefits of FP; FP services can avert high risk pregnancies, it can reduce maternal mortality rate, ‘When the woman is well, the family is well”, the nation can grow population in a controlled pace.

Finally, the session on Policy Environment For Family Planning in Nigeria was facilitated by Uduak Ananaba.

SOME FACTS ABOUTS FP:

Family Planning is an advisory service that aids Birth-Control.

FP plays a huge role in reducing Child and maternal mortality.

Abstinence is also and the best method of Family Planning. It was a mind-blowing session and certificates of participation were awarded to attendees!

Collaborative Living and Development Initiative (COLIDEIN), a non-profit organisation implemented a project titled ‘’ strengthening good governance and democratic processes at local level’ funded by Women United for Economic Empowerment (WUEE) with support from UNDEF. The program which included community visit, advocacies and capacity building training was targeted at training 1000 participants across 5 communities in Port Harcourt City LGA (PHALGA). The communities were Abuloma, Orochiri, Orogbum, Oromeruezimgbu, Oromineke, Abam-Ama.

Highlights of the training:

Ms. Chidinma Mbaegbu, the Executive Director of COLIDEIN, started off the sensitization training by defining Civic Education as ‘the provision of information and learning experiences to equip and empower citizens to participate in democratic processes‘ (WUEE 2020). In order words, knowledge about citizens’ rights and responsibility in democratic governance. She mentioned that good governance and development comes only when people are aware of their rights and roles and take strategic actions in pursuing it. Ms. Mbaegbu pointed out that participatory governance does not mean a call for fights and conflicts rather calls for engagement and negotiation for better life. She listed some practical steps open for community’s civic engagement such as; participation in voting exercise; development of Community Charter of Demands to extract commitments from political aspirants; participation in Budget processes; and the use of Score-Cards to evaluate public officers and hold them accountable.

The community leadership thanked the organisers of the event COLIDEIN and their funders Women United for Economic Empowerment (WUEE) / UNDEF for coming and making their community beneficiary of the program. They reiterated the importance of civic education and urged the community members to empower their minds and actively participate in bringing about sustainable development in the community. Further, he urged the COLIDEIN team to not abandon the community rather it should adopt the community and find other means of empowering the women and youths with livelihood support schemes.

During the interactive questions and answer session the major issue from the community was on how the COLIDEIN team can help them to engage their political office holders and also give micro-credit assistance to those who want to start off business ventures. In response, the Executive Director;COLIDEIN, promised to support any community that calls for assistance and highlighted that the main aim of this civic education training is to awaken people up to their rights and responsibility. Also take actions to engage with their public officers for accountable and transparent democratic governance.

In Oromineke Community – The Royal Highness Eze Christopher Wonodi said; the community leadership thanked the organisers of the event COLIDEIN and their funders Women United for Economic Empowerment (WUEE) / UNDEF for coming and making their community beneficiary of the program. They reiterated the importance of civic education and urged the community members to empower their minds and actively participate in bringing about sustainable development in the community. Further, he urged the COLIDEIN team to not abandon the community rather it should adopt the community and find other means of empowering the women and youths with livelihood support schemes.

Communities Involved are: Abuloma, Orochiri, Orogbum, Oromeruezimgbu, Oromineke, Abam-Ama, all in Port Harcourt City (Phalga), Local Government Area.

UN SEC GEN emphasized that “we need shared progress, we need Solidarity and Unity to move forward.

Diplomacy needs presence and patience. Nothing replaces Personal Diplomacy with Human Contact, yes there is Virtual Platform in this era, but face to face meeting is essential.

We live in tough times and we can only face such Challenges with #Solidarity.

Independently, we need to come together to defeat the pandemic in a more economic and Inclusive Society.

To avoid future #Conflict , we should invest more in making #Relationships work in the present.

We have not yet look at #Governance mechanism and #IntetnationalCooperation and effective #MultilateralPartnership.

“Dialogue is the only way out of the present situation”.

Continue reading UNITED NATIONS PRESS CONFERENCE (25TH JUNE, 2020) WITH UN SEC. GEN. (HIS EXCELLENCY ANTONIO GUTERRES). →

June 22, 2020

The Arrest Of Foreign Illegal Miners: A Call For Stronger Regulation Of The Solid Mineral Sector

The Federation of Nigerian Mining Host Communities, Miners Association of Nigeria and the Civil Society Coalition on Nigeria’s Mining   Sector, are pleased to note and commend the political will of the Honourable Minister for Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite, in sanitizing the mining industry in Nigeria. This willingness was particularly demonstrated when in the month of May 2020, 3 separate sets of arrests were made of illegal aliens (particularly Chinese and Ghanaian miners) who have been mining without due authorization in Nigeria. We also note and applaud the improved cooperation between the Ministry and security forces across the country.

Continue reading Press statement For Immediate Release →

Public support for international cooperation surges amid global upheaval

Data from 186 countries indicates overwhelming public support for international cooperation – with a significant increase since COVID-19 began spreading around the world. Collected through hundreds of conversations and an online survey, the data is part of the United Nations’ 75th anniversary initiative (UN75). Launched in January 2020, UN75 is the largest exercise mounted by the Organization to gather public opinion and crowdsource solutions to global challenges.

Continue reading PRESS RELEASE →

15^th June 2020

PRESS RELEASE

NIGERIAN CITIZENS LAUNCH CAMPAIGN TO MAKE OUR HOSPITALS WORK

A group of Nigerian citizens has organised themselves to lead a community-based campaign to improve the functionality of hospitals and primary health care centres across the country. Consequently, they have launched the “MakeOurHospitalWork Campaign”. 

The #MakeOurHospitalWork Campaign has decried the fact that several billions of naira invested in Nigerian health sector over the years have unfortunately not translated to a significant improvement in the quality healthcare delivery at the various Primary Health Centers and hospitals across the country.

In a statement issued in Abuja and signed by the 354 campaigners from the 36 states across the country, they traced the unfortunate situation to corruption, minimal involvement of the people in the governance of health care and a lack of ownership by benefiting communities. They urged citizens to organize themselves, adopt health facilities in their communities, identify their needs, mobilize local resources and ensure active participation in order to be able to provide those health needs.

Continue reading PRESS RELEASE →

Health & Lifestyles with Jene Utomi on 99.1FM, the Voice of Experience, @ 11am every Thursday on Radio Rivers.

With Mr Smith Nwokocha, a UN volunteer, a UNEP Major volunteer for children and youths, an ambassador for Eco network and an SDG advocate.

On World Environment Day, 5th of June every year. And how we can keep our environment safe for our young girls citing the recent rape and murder of Vera Uwa Omosuve in a church in Edo state.

Theme of the World Environment Day is: “Celebrate biodiversity-focusing on time for nature”. The theme focuses on how we can nurture nature, rather than destroy nature.

Biodiversity is a word coined from 2 words- biological and diversity- which simply means the variety of all living things on earth- plants, humans, animals, microorganisms etc. And their communities and habitats on planet earth. For Example: humans- earth
Fish- water etc
Biodiversity boosts productivity of the ecosystem as a large number of plants species means a greater variety of crops for man to produce as foods.

Continue reading CELEBRATING WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2020 →

03/06/2020
Dear all,

We have launched a campaign to push for systemic change on Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) in Nigeria. Among other demands, we are calling for the declaration of a *State of Emergency on SGBV* in Nigeria.

TechHerNG working with Girl Child Africa, Connected Development, Enough is Enough Nigeria, Stand To End Rape, SilverChipFox, Yiaga Africa, Dorothy Njemanze Foundation, and Education as a Vaccine has come up with a social media and physical campaign to not only register our outrage but also force systemic action against SGBV in Nigeria. We’re using the hashtag *#StateofEmergencyGBV.*

Continue reading A CALL FOR THE DECLARATION OF STATE OF EMERGENCY ON SEXUAL AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE (SGBV) IN NIGERIA! →

ON THE 29^TH MAY, 2020, AT EXACTLY 11:00AM.

ITEMS DONATED TO THE CENTRE ARE AS FOLLOWS:

GARRI (3 BAGS -5 KG)

RICE (2 BAGS -5KG)

BEANS (3 BAGS – 5KG)

GINO TOMATO MIX (1 CARTON)

CWAY WATER (1 PACK)

75 CL GROUNDNUT OIL (3 BOTTLES)

WHOLE WHEAT MEAL (2PACKS)

1 CARTON OF INDOMIE.

We were welcomed by the Street Children and then a welcome address by the Representative of Our Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent The paul, an initiative in the Catholic Church family. We got an instruction: “NO VIDEOS”, but pictures are allowed, because of the sensitivity of putting out the faces or images of the Street Children. The Centre is headed by Reverend Sr. Josephine. And we had about seven (7) Care takers during the sensitization and over forty-seven (47) in attendance.

OPENING REMARK: AMB. SMITH NWOKOCHA: Thanked the Children for welcoming the Team of the Voice of The Vulnerables. In his words, we are here to identify with the vulnerable and we see you all as family. The essence of our presence is not only to support you with palliatives in form of Food items, but to also sensitize you on the dreaded trending global virus (coronavirus/COVID-19). This global pandemic has killed over millions of people have died out of being affected by the virus. So, we came with Experts, a Medical Doctor (Dr. Grace), with other knowledgeable Volunteers to share some insights on COVID-19, that will you all stay safe. The good news is that, you are secured here, since you are not moving outside. Continue reading VOICE OF THE VULNERABLES VISITS DE MARILLAC CENTRE (HOME OF STREET CHILDREN)IN DIOBU PORT HARCOURT →