16 Percent Of Kaduna Women Want Family Planning, But Lack Access

By Longtong Ibrahim

About 16% of women in Kaduna state, northwest Nigeria want to space their births, but cannot do so due to absence of commodities and service providers in their localities. This is happening despite ongoing interventions by various partner organizations in the state.

Other factors that continue to hamper uptake of family planning services in the state include unequal distribution of qualified family planning service providers, inadequate supply of consumables, attrition of service providers, and poverty.

At the closure and Dissemination of Family Health Plus (FH+) Project in Kaduna, participants have called on Kaduna state government and other partners to take proactive measure that will ensure the provision of commodities, consumables and service providers, so that many more women would have the opportunity to take up the services.

The FH+ Project is a family planning support programme that trained service providers and supplied some of them with smart phones to tract and report data from their facilities.

The three year project was undertaken by a Consortium Group of three, comprising Marie Topes International Organization Nigeria (MSION); Marie Stopes International, Palladium Group. It was funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Speaking at the occasion, Marie Stopes Regional Director, North-West, Leonard-Angelo Viashima, said, to encourage uptake of FP services, his organization in conjunction with the Kaduna state Family planning coordinator, mapped out 120 facilities, out of which 85 were selected; conducted training of five master trainers who trained services providers, and in turn served 182, 286 women.

He added that Marrie’s Stopes had trained over100 FP service providers and healthcare providers in the state.

While calling on the Kaduna state government to improve the security level in the state, he noted that, fear over security concerns had affected service delivery in such places, adding that advocacy activities to such areas also became difficult.

He noted that, in its three year programme, “nearly 92,000 were served in 2014/2015, while in the last part of 2015/2016, in areas where insecurity had increased, number has dropped down and our concentration was more in the North where there seems to be adequate security.”

He added that, MSION further supported the Kaduna SMoH with some items in order to boost services in its facilities among which include; IUCD insertion and removal kit, Job aids, implants insertion and removal kits, IEC materials were donated.

In his remarks, the Kaduna state Commissioner of Health, Dr. Paul Manya Dogo, who was represented by Dr. Ado Zakari lauded the activities of the organization, saying Kaduna state is opportune to have partners in FP.

He also expressed delight over FP acceptance in the state, adding that, the religious and social-cultural challenge is close to an end, as many have better understanding of child birth spacing.

Food Shortage Threatens 2.4m People In Northeast, Says USAID

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced that, at least 2.4 million people in the northeast are under threat of short food supply.

The agency said the shortage is due to the activities of Boko Haram insurgency, which has reduced farming and food production in the region.

The information, which was posted by Mr Bruce Isaacson on the agency’s website, said the northeast needs urgent food and humanitarian aids.

He warned that the situation could become more severe if urgent steps were not taken to salvage it.

“We are faced with the challenges of ending hunger and malnutrition as food production adjusts to global warming. Nigerian government says violence has pushed food insecurity and malnutrition to emergency levels in northeast,” he said.

He warned that the survival of people was of great concern, adding it could lead to famine in the area’s most isolated places.

According to him, “It is difficult to judge the level of hunger due to the lack of access and data. A regional offensive last year drove Boko Haram from much of the territory it held in the area, undermining its seven-year campaign to carve out an Islamist caliphate.”

“But the militants have since struck back with suicide bombings and hit and run attacks on civilians. The violence, which has killed more than 15,000 people and uprooted 2.4 million in Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon, has pushed food insecurity and malnutrition to emergency levels in the northeast,” he added.

The USAID official stressed that people are struggling to obtain food due to lack of humanitarian access, disruption to markets and agriculture and rising prices caused by the naira’s depreciation

He said in the past, “improving security had enabled aid agencies to reach areas that were previously cut off, but many remain unreachable due to the ongoing violence and lack of security.”

The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) in May announced it would provide food aid to more than 400,000 people to avert the threat of famine in the area as the lean season approaches.

Corroborating, Luca Russo of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said, “Even if there is no full famine situation in those areas, it’s clear the situation is extremely dramatic.

The UN Children’s Agency has also said the people are already in a situation, which is very difficult to reverse in terms of degradation of livelihoods and nutrition.

“Tens of thousands of children in northeast may die of malnutrition this year unless they receive treatment soon,” it warned.

Culled from Guardian news