By Our Reporter
Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria (HERFON), has intensified its advocacy for the provision of a dedicated budget line for Family Planning (FP) services in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
This, it has done, by strengthening the capacity of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the media to ensure the integration of a dedicated budget line for FP into the 2025 appropriation of the FCT.
The project is being funded by Rise Up, a US- based organization which has been a national and global leader in public health and development for over 50 years.
Rise Up works to support and scale local solutions to the most pressing challenges facing women, girls, and youth through provision of seed grants and also focuses on the improvement of justice and equity globally.
Speaking at the training in Abuja, recently, the HERFON Program Manager, Dr. Opeyemi Adeosun, said the training workshop is aimed at increasing the involvement of the media in sensitizing the public and also strengthening the capacity of CSOs and other Non-state Actors in the FCT to advocate for the approval of a dedicated FP budget line in the FCT.
The training workshop, he further said, is to enhance the knowledge of the National Assembly Committee on the FCT to approve a dedicated budget like for FP in the FCT.
Speaking on the rationale for the project, Dr. Adeosun noted that: “In the 2024 appropriated budget, the Federal Government created a specific budget line for FP for the first time. The dedication of a specific budget line of one percent of the federal health budget to FP may however not achieve the desired mobilization of domestic resources for the sexual and reproductive health of women and adolescents across the country unless the policy is similarly implemented at the subnational levels (States and LGAs).
“An important need to “domesticate” this policy at the subnational levels. This is particularly important at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the seat of the Federal government which has no dedicated budget line for FP at present.
“This requires the conduct of strategic advocacy to get the buy-in of key stakeholders, policy makers and all members of the National Assembly (NASS) Committee in the FCT who play important roles in the budget-making process.”
He further regretted that Nigeria, with one of the highest Fertility Rates (total birth per woman) of 5.2 contributes about 10 percent of the global death among pregnant women.
“In fact, the lifetime risk of a Nigerian woman dying during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum or post-abortion is 1 in 22, in contrast to the lifetime risk in developed countries (1 in 4900),” he stressed.
The HERFON Program Manager, however, disclosed that Family Planning (FP) contributes to reducing the number of births that expose women to mortality risk and helps to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, mis-timed/unplanned pregnancies, high-risk pregnancies and unsafe abortion (especially among adolescents and unmarried)
“Some identified non-health effects include high school drop-out by adolescent girls, limited women participation in the workforce which consequently increase poverty by impeding their financial independence and empowerment
“Nigeria’s progress in achieving the targets of FP has been slow and inconsistent, owing to poor government funding. For instance, between 2012 and 2016, the Federal government fulfilled only 11% of its FP2020 pledge to provide US$3 million annually for the procurement of family planning commodities,” Dr. Adeosun lamented.
