The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) on Thursday engaged 137 community leaders from various displaced communities on the need to promote child spacing in addressing the problem of maternal mortality and morbidity.
Addressing the community leaders at Muna Camp in Maiduguri, Mr. Adamu Hamman, a Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) Community Mobilizer with the fund, urged the leaders to support the women in accessing the free services being provided in the camps.
Hamman said that contrary to speculations, the use of contraceptives is not an attempt to reduce the community’s population but to contain maternal mortality and ensure a healthy family and society.
He lauded the leaders for their commitments to join hands with the government and other relevant agencies in supporting measures to improve their communities and urged them to sustain the tempo.
Speaking on behalf of the leaders, Malam Dunoma Ngumtai described the enlightenment as timely in checking the rising cases of birth and mortality in camps.
He said that the men and women in the camp are already benefiting from the services from UNFPA and would continue to do that as well as encourage others to do the same.
Amina Garba, Hafsat Saleh, and Aisha Mohammed, who are some of the beneficiaries of child spacing services at the UNFPA facility in the camp, lauded the development, which they said is a big relief to the women.
“We, the women and adolescent girls in the camp, were exposed to a lot of things that strengthened our knowledge of hygiene, reproductive health, gender-based violence, and how to protect our dignity.
“We were also provided the opportunities to learn skills that empowered us to also support our families. UNFPA is a household name in this camp,” Garba said.
Highlights of the enlightenment campaign included a rally conducted around the camp with various banners supporting the need for child spacing.
