By Chibuike Alagboso, Nigeria Health Watch

At the Youth Pre-Conference of the Nigeria Family Planning Conference, a recurring theme was clear: young people are not just stakeholders in the family planning space; they are changemakers who need the right tools, platforms, and opportunities to thrive.

The discussions have laid the foundation for an exciting couple of days at the 8th Nigeria Family Planning Conference in Abuja, Nigeria.

Rethinking tech
Kosi Izundu, Program Lead at Girl Effect, delivered the keynote address but shared a crucial perspective while responding to a question. It’s about reframing how we think about technology in family planning.

“Technology could mean anything—from WhatsApp groups, radio programs, cartoons, etc. Because when you think of tech, it’s about what works for the community,” she explained.

This resonated deeply, especially as technology interventions are often equated with high-level solutions like web and mobile apps. While these are important and lifesaving, Izundu’s reminder that tech interventions should be tailored to community needs was a call to action for programmers and implementers to adopt more inclusive, grassroots, co-created approaches.

What is data telling us?
Jason Bremner, Senior Director for Data & Measurement at Family Planning 2030, shared some useful insights during his session. “Unmarried young people want to prevent pregnancy but use methods that are not very effective. What informs this action? Choice, ease of access, or cost of accessing the right family planning method?” he shares during his presentation on Nigeria Youth Family Planning Data.

Bremner emphasized that understanding the data is key to designing interventions that meet the needs of specific communities. He pointed out the need to understand what needs to be provided and when.

Learning from the elders
Veteran reproductive health advocate Professor Oladapo Ladipo, co-founder of the Association for Reproductive and Family Health, highlighted the intersection of quality reproductive health, youth potential and national development.

“Quality reproductive health will help Nigeria’s talented and creative young people stay healthy and reach their full potential,” he said, emphasizing the importance of sufficient funding and proactive youth participation. He noted there’s value and power in working as a collective rather than in silos, urging young people to speak up and challenge retrogressive policies.

During a chat on the sidelines, he shared insights from an early project he led, where university students provided reproductive health information and referrals to their peers. This doesn’t mean the trained youth champions were sexually active, but they understood their peers better and their needs. According to him, this illustrates that young people can lead change if given the opportunity.

But the lingering questions remain:

- Why are successful interventions like the one Professor Ladipo mentioned not being replicated and scaled?
- How can young people overcome fragmented interests and priorities to work collectively?
- Are there platforms/collectives to amplify youth voices so they can be more strategic when speaking out? While social media has made it easier, there’s still a need to capture youth voices from communities.

As the conference progresses, these reflections offer a roadmap for action. From leveraging diverse technologies to amplifying youth voices and building scalable, data-driven solutions, one thing is clear: young people must not only be part of the conversation but must lead the charge.

Stay tuned for more community-driven, community-inspired reporting from the 8th Nigerian Family Planning Conference, taking place December 3–6, 2024.