Promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Eliminating Harmful Practices

To commemorate the 2024 International Condom Day, in partnership with Pathfinder International and the Federal Ministry of Health we hosted a series of activities flagged off with a youth hangout featuring engaging discussions, interactive games, exciting giveaways, and a condom demonstration ensuring its effective use and importance in preventing STIs and unwanted pregnancies. We also supported the rollout launch of the HPV vaccine in Nigeria, by conducting dedicated outreaches to remote areas, to ensure access to the vaccine for children in Kabusa Community and others within the Federal Capital Territory, raising awareness, and encouraging uptake. Through these initiatives, we successfully promoted sexual health awareness and access to essential services, making a lasting impact in our communities.In Nigeria, harmful practices like Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) persist, perpetuated by deep-rooted social norms and beliefs. In our efforts to end harmful practices, with support from United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) we are implementing the 03 project specifically addressing issues of FGM in Imo and Ebonyi States. So far, we have trained Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) as school FGM champions, equipping them with life skills, on Comprehensive Sexuality Education(CSE), and information on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and FGM. With teacher support, the champions have established school clubs/safe spaces, reaching 1,283 AGYW. Through these clubs, we have documented 25 stories of FGM, used to create infographics for a virtual exhibition during the 16 Days of Activism allowing us to bring together diverse stakeholders to gain deeper understanding of FGM from survivors lens. We facilitated the creation of safe spaces for AGYW to access support and resources. Furthermore, the capacity of teachers in various schools were built to provide factual and non-judgmental adolescent sexual reproductive health and rights (ASRHR) and GBV information. This initiative demonstrates our continuous efforts to ensure access to quality, sexual reproductive, health and rights information for adolescent and young people, especially AGYWs.