Projecting sexual reproductive health through drama

In commemoration of International Youth Day 2020, a UNFPA-sponsored dance drama Protect Yourself, promoted the need for optimal sexual and reproductive health practices. It was held in conjunction with AFRIYAN Nigeria and Tru Dance Art in Abuja.

THE use of drama as a medium for sharing messages and driving advocacy never goes out of fashion. Its popularity globally has been attributed to its ability to trigger the retention of the dominant message in audiences. This continued with the premiere of a dance drama entitled ‘Protect Yourself’ on August 27 in Abuja.

Sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in conjunction with AFRIYAN (African Youth and Adolescents Network) and Tru Dance Art, the dance drama which focused on the importance of optimal sexual and reproductive health behaviour, was part of month-long activities marking International Youth Day which holds on August 12 of every year.

As an annual event, it draws attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth globally. This year’s theme of ‘Youth Engagement for Global Action’ remained true to that goal.

In her 2020 statement, Executive Director of UNFPA, Dr Natalia Kanem had encouraged the youth to continue as catalysts of change despite the COVID-19 pandemic that had ensured a new normal.

“To reach and engage young people during this pandemic, we must share information, clarify misinformation, and we must equip them to take action to contain the spread of the virus. We must validate the leadership of young people and uphold their human rights,” Kanem said.

With the contraceptive prevalence rate for Nigeria, using all methods, at 17 per cent, the statistics left a lot to be desired in the areas of acceptance and usage. This made it essential for the reiteration of messages on safe reproductive behaviour and the benefits of contraceptive adoption. Beyond such messages are objectives such as sustained family planning and reproductive choices- a reinforcement of the UNFPA mandate that shows that healthy populations will guarantee any country delivering on its demographic dividends. Simply put, these demographic dividends are the growth applicable to an economy as a result of changes in the structure of its population. Such changes in age structure are typically brought on by a decline in fertility and mortality rates- determinants of whether a country can exude growth or not.

The dance drama had elements of love, rape and consequences of unprotected sex interwoven with contemporary dance steps and language easily understandable. It lasted for around 10 minutes with a call for youths to embrace the responsible contraceptives use.

It was followed with a question and answer session that featured UNFPA Nigeria Country Representative, Ms Ulla Mueller and AFRIYAN Nigeria members, Oladimeji Ibrahim, Anita Graham, Yasmin Mustapha Buba and Felxfame Enisire. They discussed pertinent matters around sexual and reproductive health in Nigeria.

The Artistic Director of True Dance Art (TAD), Wale Alebiosu, said the preventive messages of the drama were still as relevant as ever, especially during a pandemic that might have stolen the headlines from other discussions around health. According to him, people needed to protect themselves from both the pandemic and sexually transmitted diseases.

“Since people are protecting themselves from sexually transmitted diseases, they should also protect themselves from COVID-19,” he noted. “We’re considering taking the play to places where we can engage more youngsters and older people on condom use. We hope we can start a conversation on how to reach out to more people.”

 

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