Group moves to tackle rising teenage pregnancy in Ekiti

A non-governmental organisation, Value Female Network, has expressed worry over the rising cases of pregnancy among teenagers in Ekiti state.

To address this menace and others, the group has empowered and trained no fewer than 50 girls in the state to serve as advocates against female genital mutilation(FGM) teenage pregnancy and childhood marriage.

The girls trained during a five-day programme held in Omuo-Ekiti, with participants drawn from Ekiti East and Gbonyin local government areas of Ekiti State, which was organized VFN with support from United Nations Populations Fund, UNFPA.

The Executive Director of VFN, Dr Costly Aderibigbe-Saba said the programme is targeted at empowering out-of-school girls’ as advocates against harmful practices in their communities.

According to her, the empowerment and safety programme is not just focusing on eradicating FGM but a comprehensive sexuality education aimed at tackling the issue of teenage pregnancy and early childhood marriage.

She said, “Value Female Network Africa is a youth and survival-led NGO working to advocate against harmful practices in Nigeria. We work to advocate against FGM and child marriage. We work in nine states in Nigeria and we are so glad that the UNFPA is partnering with our organization to bring this programme to the girls that really needs the impact.

“This programme is targeting out-of-school girl’s and they have been trained and empowered. We also expect the adolescent girls to go out and speak to their peers. Each girl is expected to reach out to 14 more girls and it means that out-of-school girls that are in the non-formal sector will be reached out to by the advocates.

“We want the community to also join the fight against FGM because it has no benefits and there is no reason to justify this harmful practice. One of the things we discovered that a lot of adolescent girls’ are already mothers. 16-year-old already have a 3-year-old child. You can imagine at what age she got pregnant and now she is a mother.

“For us, this programme is not just focusing on FGM, it’s a comprehensive sexuality education programme. It is tackling the issue of teenage pregnancy, how girls can negotiate life skills, be assertive, understand their bodies, rights and dignity and even how they can get help. We are going to follow up on their activities. We hope with these pilot girls, they are going to spark up the conversation around teenage pregnancy and early childhood marriage.”

On her part, the Gender FGM Analyst For UNFPA, Uzoma Ayodeji demanded that girls’ should be given their rights as individuals and shouldn’t be force into harmful practices that are inimical to their well-being.

She called on the participants to serve as champions against FGM, teenage pregnancy and childhood marriage in their communities.

In a remark, a Gender Desk Officer, Ministry of Health Ekiti State, Dupe Amodu advised the participants to speak out and spark up the campaign against FGM and other harmful practices.

Some of the participants who spoke with newsmen pledged to carry out the enormous task as champions and advocates against harmful practices in their communities.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE