OVERHEARD by Oyinye Oranezi: Looking Ahead to FP2030 Partnership and Fulfilling Commitments
By Onyinye Oranezi, Nigeria Health Watch
During the panel discussion titled “Looking Ahead to FP2030 Partnership and Fulfilling Commitments,” speakers shared key insights on innovative practices to advance family planning programs at both national and sub-national levels.
Joachim Chijide, a Family Planning/Reproductive Health Commodity Security Specialist with UNFPA Nigeria:
“Smart advocacy is key. Sustainable financing is the critical challenge we need to solve to achieve our goals. We must ensure the policy environment is enabled and private sector engagement is prioritized. We also have the advantage of two opportunities: the National Blueprint revision and a sector-wide approach.”
Dr. Samuel Oyeniyi, a Director at the Reproductive Health Department of Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said:
“If we want to accelerate progress, we must integrate family planning (FP) with maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH). The relationship between FP and MNCH is crucial, and integrating FP into MNCH programs is the direct tool we need to reduce mortality and meet our 2030 goals.”
Dr. Ejike Oji, Chairman of the Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP) said:
“Appropriate financing for FP is essential. The Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) has been integrated to support marginalized groups. High-impact practices are the best way to ensure that service delivery reaches the people.”
Felicity Nneoma, advocate in Nigeria's family planning and reproductive health sector, said:
“We can adopt an adolescent and youth strategy for family planning. Prioritizing adolescent and youth programs, championing youth leadership, and using data for decision-making will strengthen programming. Building allies is also crucial to moving forward.”
Professor Oladapo A. Ladipo, obstetrician and gynecologist and President Emeritus of the Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH) said:
“To mobilize communities, we need immediate transformational messaging around family planning. FP is not yet a fully inculcated idea, so we must deliver information through traditional communication methods that resonate with the community. Going forward, there must be a strong presence of FP messages in media houses, and youth must be involved—not just in programming, but also in advocacy.”
Stay tuned for more community-driven, community-inspired reporting from the 8th Nigerian Family Planning Conference, taking place December 3–6, 2024.