PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA – Ahead of the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) holding in Kigali, Rwanda from 12-15 November, 15 ICFP satellite events were held around the globe on World Contraception Day. One of these events was hosted by Knit Together Initiative in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Themed “family planning needs, opportunities and lifelong investments in the Niger Delta”, the event is the first of its kind to be held in the country.
RuralReporters.com recently spoke with Jennifer Amadi, the co-founder of Knit Together Initiative. She gave us an insight into the ICFP satellite event and the state of family planning service in the Niger Delta region.
You recently had a satellite event for the International Conference on Family Planning in Rivers state. What was the rationale behind this and what were highlights of this event?
Given that everyone working in the family planning circle won’t be able to go to Kigali for the ICFP conference, the satellite event gives everybody an opportunity to contribute to the progress of family planning service in their state. The satellite outreach engaged family planning advocates, including representative from the River state government, Ministry of Women Affairs, Rivers State Family Planning Advocacy Working Group (RS/FPAGW) and Institute of Maternal and Child Health University of Port Harcourt. They all signed a commitment to advocate for increased investments, support expanded programs and policy implementation to expand access to family planning service. Participants also include fathers, mothers, and students who were all able to have a conversation without any reservation on family planning. That, in a way, helped to de-stigmatised family planning for young people.
The Family Planning 2020 goal seeks to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare. What are the current challenges in achieving this goal in the Niger Delta region and what are the current plans in place to address these challenges?
In Niger Delta, awareness and adequate information on family planning is still minimal. People are aware that family planning service exists but these services are not available in all places. Also, many people do not understand the importance of family planning as an individual, a community, region or state. For instance, in Rivers state, the knowledge of the different types of available family planning is limited. What most people practice is the withdrawal method or what others call the pull-out skill. As a result, they don’t see the need for family planning. Unknowing to them, this method is inadequate as the rate of not getting pregnant is very, very low. Now we are trying to mobilize male involvement in family planning because most females are not able to take up available family planning methods due to lack of support from their partners. We are hoping that by getting more men involved in family planning, the rate of family planning usage will increase. We are also working on intensifying advocacy for easy access to family planning service and making family planning information available, especially for young people.
Family planning is still a taboo in some places in Nigeria, what are the needs and opportunities available to bridge access gaps in contraceptive usage, especially in the Nigerian Delta Region where you work?
Access to family planning services in Rivers State exists, yet there is a lack of proper information on what methods and services are available, cost, proper use and good management of side effects. Also, there seem to be lack of youth-friendly services for adolescents and young people largely due to marital status. There are many young people who wish to use family planning or contraceptive services but do not get the services they require.
Also, myths and misconception on fertility and family planning persist, especially among the male population. Funding gap either from the government and the international organisations, low and unimplemented budgetary allocations for family planning by the government, as well as minimal advocacy on family planning, are the major access gaps to family planning in the region.
However, the opportunities include increase number of advocates (even young people) who are committed to seeing a significant drop in maternal mortality in the state, revitalisation of different working groups like the family planning advocacy working group and the state social and behavioural change communication committee.
Ahead of the ICFP conference in Rwanda, what key issues do you hope the conference will address, more importantly as it relates to your experience as an SRHR advocate?
With the coming International Conference on Family Planning, I look forward to being part of conversations that will usher in new paths for family planning, especially for young people. I am confident that the conference will speak strongly to the needs of advancing method choices for young people.