Civil Society for Family Planning

Family Planning Overview Brief

rgoodwin — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 13:49:03 +0000

Family Planning Overview Brief 2024 rgoodwin April 25, 2024 Download

Countries Global

Projects INSPiRE The Challenge Initiative Next Gen Regional Health Integration to Enhance Services in Eastern Uganda (RHITES-East)Ouagadougou Partnership Coordination Unit Scale-Up and Capacity Building in Behavioral Science to Improve the Uptake of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Services (SupCap)Civil Society for Family Planning MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics Ingobyi

Topics Family Planning & Reproductive Health

Publisher IntraHealth International

Where Are They Now? Guinea's Youth Ambassadors Continue to Promote Family Planning

kseaton — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 18:15:05 +0000

Where Are They Now? Guinea's Youth Ambassadors Continue to Promote Family Planning kseaton April 06, 2022

April 06, 2022

How CS4FP led to a sustainable youth leadership program in Guinea.

When Abou Maimouna Diallo was a teenager, he didn’t have much information about sex. He had never talked about it with his parents or learned about it in school. After his girlfriend became pregnant, he knew he had to educate himself.

“I decided to commit myself to the promotion of information on sexual and reproductive health and family planning,” he says. “To make sure I didn’t repeat the same mistakes, but also to help other young people.”

So in 2016, he became a youth ambassador with IntraHealth International’s Civil Society for Family Planning project (CS4FP). The goal of the project, which began over a decade ago, was to help the government and civil society organizations work with young people to promote the benefits of family planning in the region. And sustainability was key.

“I feel really proud of my work. The young ambassadors have become essential."

Now, a year after the project officially ended in Guinea, youth ambassadors for family planning are thriving, and it looks like their approach to advocacy is here to stay.

“We want young people to be in all regions and prefectures of the country,” Abou says. “We plan to mobilize and train 500 young people across the country who will become young ambassadors.”

The National Coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Family Planning in Guinea was born from CS4FP and supports 40 youth ambassadors in Guinea through their coalition. Consisting of 20 member organizations, the coalition partners with the Ministries of Health and Education to decentralize family planning and other health-related services. While their members span many regions of Guinea, their aim is to establish regional coalitions in the seven regions of the country.

They’re well on their way to achieving that goal. They support 17 clinics, ten of which are specifically focused on youth, and they focus on training coalition members on ethics, communication, and advocacy, as well as helping the government develop the most recent budgeted national action plan for family planning and curriculum on comprehensive sexual education.

“Guinea has, thanks to the coalition, a national program and a roadmap for comprehensive sexual education which constitutes support for all parliamentarians in the country as well as for the government and its technical and financial partners,” says Dr. Bintou Bamba, the president of the coalition.

They also focus on supporting and training young ambassadors, who talk to members of their community about the importance of family planning. The young ambassadors work with the National Coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Family Planning to organize campaigns (such as pregnancy-free Valentine’s Day and pregnancy-free summer vacation), network on digital platforms, and train other young ambassadors.

“As young ambassadors, we use door-to-door outreach, educational talks, and digital tools to inform and sensitize young people about sexual and reproductive health rights and family planning,” Abou says. “It is clear that many young people find themselves on social networks and are looking for information about family planning, which is why it’s important to talk about it there.”

The coalition’s efforts to remain sustainable after the end of the CS4FP project have not come without their challenges. On September 5, 2021, Guinea’s president was captured in a coup d’etat, which has stalled the integration and revision of the curriculum for comprehensive sexual education. Additionally, social factors still largely prohibit conversations about sex.

“People are reluctant to use contraceptive methods because of the weight of culture and religion, misinformation, or prejudice about the disadvantages of contraceptive products, and their high cost,” Abou says. “There is also a lack of user-friendly centers adapted to the needs of adolescents and young people in the country.”

But Abou and his fellow young ambassadors are chipping away at those cultural norms and providing more opportunities for conversations about family planning and sexual health. Alongside their door-to-door outreach and informational campaigns, they have been working with the Ministry of Health’s National Directorate of Family Health and Nutrition to help develop the Directorate’s political, programmatic, and strategic documents. And they are often invited to radio and TV programs to speak about their work.

“I feel really proud of my work,” Abou says. “The young ambassadors have become essential. We’re contacted all day long by young people with questions about sexual and reproductive health and family planning. I have a sense of self-pride and I hope that in five years, family planning will be available and accessible everywhere and for everyone.”

CS4FP was led by IntraHealth International and funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Dutch Embassy.

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By Jen Snell

Former senior technical manager

By Katherine Seaton

Former communications manager

Civil Society for Family Planning Family Planning & Reproductive Health Youth Engagement Guinea

Is In The Media

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Assessing Application of WHO Global Standards For Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Five West African Countries

kmelton — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 18:18:34 +0000

Assessing Application of WHO Global Standards For Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Five West African Countries 2021 kmelton June 21, 2021

This technical brief examines the results of the CS4FP Plus 2019 study of adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) service delivery in five West African countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger) and the degree to which ASRH service delivery in those countries aligns with the WHO/UNAIDS’s Global Standards for Quality Health Care Services for Adolescents. The brief also includes recommendations for policymakers and program planners in the five countries.

Download

Countries Côte d’Ivoire Guinea Mali Mauritania Niger

Projects Civil Society for Family Planning

Topics Family Planning & Reproductive Health Youth Engagement

By Cheick Oumar Touré, Moctar Diallo, Demba Traoré, Sujata Bijou

Francophone West Africa Adds 3.8 Million Family Planning Users

kseaton — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 16:27:36 +0000

Francophone West Africa Adds 3.8 Million Family Planning Users kseaton June 09, 2021 June 09, 2021

IntraHealth International’s Civil Society for Family Planning (CS4FP) project partnered with nine countries in francophone West Africa to add 3.8 million additional family planning users and doubled the number of women using modern contraceptives in the region.

For the past ten years, CS4FP has been working with strong, high-functioning civil society coalitions, young people, and religious and traditional leaders in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo (Ouagadougou Partnership countries) to collaborate with and advocate to governments to implement their national family planning costed implementation plans (CIPs). The IntraHealth team established and supported national coalitions in all nine Ouagadougou Partnership (OP) countries to unify and strengthen civil society and hold governments accountable for their family planning commitments.

And the project helped build a stronger, more coordinated civil society, which achieved several significant policy changes, including:

Free family planning services in Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo.
Integration of comprehensive sexual education in the national curriculum in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Niger, and Mauritania.
Amendment of the national family planning guidelines in all nine countries to allow community-based distribution of contraception.
Partnership with 285 active religious and traditional leaders and 589 youth ambassadors to raise awareness and break down cultural barriers to family planning.
Engagement with religious and traditional leaders and youth ambassadors in developing the CIPs in their respective countries.

The project’s success can be attributed to CS4FP’s efforts to support, coordinate, and strengthen civil society coalitions (and the civil society organizations they worked with), young people, and religious leaders.

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)

CS4FP organized workshops for CSOs on good governance, advocacy, resource mobilization, and fundraising. The project also secured commitments from CSOs to join or create family planning coalitions and provided small-scale grants for family planning advocacy. As part of this effort, CSO coalitions engaged young people and religious and traditional leaders to help encourage family planning in their communities. They developed a governance charter, mobilized resources, and developed key strategies for the future.

And they mobilized resources to stay sustainable—for each $1 provided by CS4FP, the coalitions raised an additional $5 to support their family planning activities.

Youth Ambassadors

CS4FP worked as advocates with youth ambassador networks in every country to ensure that national family planning plans and policies reflected the needs and wants of young people.

To do this, the project trained young people on family planning, social media, strategic planning for community mobilization, and resource mobilization to encourage sustainability. Youth networks were active on social media and digital messaging platforms and wrote blog posts on the CS4FP website to share their personal experiences with their peers.

Many adult networks implemented campaigns in their communities to raise awareness and share information about youth-focused family planning activities. As part of the information-sharing effort, youth participated in intergenerational dialogues in their countries and built a regional network linked to the CSO coalitions. Young leaders also received small-scale grants for family planning promotion.

Religious and Traditional Leaders

The project also worked with religious and traditional leaders in all nine Ouagadougou Partnership countries to encourage family planning. Organized at regional levels through the Alliance des leaders Religieux et Traditionnels pour la Santé et le Développement en Afrique de l’Ouest (Alliance of Religious and Traditional Leaders for the Health and Development of West Africa) with CS4FP support, religious and traditional leaders in the nine Ouagadougou Partnership countries and Chad worked together to develop their family planning strategic plan for the next three years.

They participated in family planning workshops to discuss religious texts and the intersection of religion and family planning, and to dispel myths and misinformation about reproductive health. They then developed booklets with key family planning supportive messages and received small grants for advocacy and community mobilization.

CS4FP’s support to civil society coalitions, youth ambassadors, and religious and traditional leaders helped these groups to become well-versed in family planning advocacy and resource mobilization and allowed them to take more ownership to ensure their autonomy and continued success.

These actions helped the West Africa region exceed their FP2020 goals, the only region to do so. Now, there is greater unity and better collaboration among civil society organizations, youth, religious leaders, and Ministries of Health, which has led to more and sustainable family planning and reproductive health activities in francophone West Africa.

CS4FP was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Dutch Government through the Embassy in Benin.

Benin Burkina Faso Côte d’Ivoire Guinea Mali Mauritania Niger Senegal Togo Family Planning & Reproductive Health Community Health Youth Engagement Civil Society for Family Planning

A Celebration of 10 Years of CS4FP

kseaton — Wed, 19 May 2021 18:26:57 +0000

A Celebration of 10 Years of CS4FP kseaton May 19, 2021

May 20, 2021 10:30am EDT

Join us to celebrate 10 years of the Strengthening Civil Society Engagement for Family Planning (CS4FP) project. Since 2011, IntraHealth has been establishing solid partnerships between governments and civil society groups to help promote the benefits of family planning in a region where use of family planning remains low. They have held governments accountable for the public commitments they made in 2011 at a meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and at the London Summit on Family Planning in 2012, and have advocated for the technical support and resources the countries need to meet their family planning goals.

IntraHealth International

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cqjUrxcERvyvrPBc_43ZFA

Our Participation

Civil Society for Family Planning Family Planning & Reproductive Health

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The Future of Health Care in Mali Starts with Women

kseaton — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 21:01:21 +0000

The Future of Health Care in Mali Starts with Women kseaton February 04, 2020

February 06, 2020

High-quality services are helping women receive and provide life-saving care.

More than half of Mali’s residents live in rural areas. Add to that the country’s shortage of health workers and high-quality training programs, plus political instability, and high-quality health care becomes much harder to access.

But over the past two decades, IntraHealth International’s Mali country director Cheick Touré and his team have worked to change that. We sat down with him to discuss the changing landscape in Mali and what the future holds for better health care in the country.

What accomplishments are you and your team most proud of in Mali?

I’ve been working at IntraHealth for 20 years and I have seen this organization grow and make progress around the world. In Mali, we’ve seen more people getting access to modern contraception, more births at health facilities, and reductions in malnutrition.

But there is a lot of insecurity and very few health workers in Mali, especially in the northern part of the country—about 6 health workers per 10,000 people. So we developed a national training policy and strategy with the Ministry of Health to help rural regions develop their own health workers, starting with nurses and midwives, and helped open the Gao nursing school in 2001.

A lot of people were skeptical because they thought teachers wouldn’t want to go to rural areas. But we started a scholarship fund that requires students to work for rural clinics and health facilities for five years after they graduate. Now, the Gao nursing school is self-sustaining and 89% of students pass their annual tests. So far, the school has produced 1,681 health workers including midwives, nurses, and lab technicians. It’s such a successful program that USAID asked us to scale it up and now we are supporting 10 more schools in other parts of the country.

Mali has really made strides in providing life-saving services for women. What kind of everyday changes have you seen as a result?

When I was young, every family had experienced death from postpartum hemorrhages. Thanks to programs like IntraHealth’s, that’s no longer the case. My own grandmother died from a postpartum hemorrhage and my mother became a midwife because of it. She is the reason I became a doctor—I wanted to follow in her footsteps and create change in our health sector.

So we developed a program for active management of the third stage of labor with funders and partner organizations. The maternal death rate in Mali used to be very high—836 deaths per 100,000 live births and 25% of those deaths were due to postpartum hemorrhages. We introduced postdelivery oxytocin, a uterotonic drug that is critical for women in the third stage of labor. We developed training materials and trained everyone involved in a delivery to make postdelivery oxytocin a routine practice. The Ministry of Health decided to scale-up the intervention, extending it to auxiliary nurses and birth attendants as well. This program, in addition to other key interventions (family planning promotions, a free c-section policy, emergency operations center programs, and skilled attendants at childbirth), reduced the maternal death rate in Mali by 33%.

Another project we are proud of in Mali is our fistula project. Before IntraHealth’s projects, there was only one place women could get comprehensive obstetric fistula services and it was in the capital city. But two of IntraHealth’s projects supported by USAID provided 1,674 surgeries, significantly decreasing the number of women waiting to receive the surgery. We trained surgical teams in four additional regional hospitals and now fistula operations are routine procedures all over Mali.

What investments will be most important for women’s health over the next decade?

One of the best investments will be improving access to family planning methods. Because in Mali, women have six to seven children on average—that’s very high. Contraceptives are not available everywhere, so we need to increase access to reduce maternal and child mortality.

We also need to focus on our shortage of health workers. We know that the density of health workers is high in the cities but in the rural areas it’s very low. We need to recruit nurses and community health workers there to provide services for women in their communities.

What does the future of health care look like in Mali?

In the last couple of years there have been a lot of security concerns. The health centers in northern and central Mali and some schools have closed due to those insecurities. That will really affect health care accessibility. But we remain optimistic because of the government’s commitment to health care and self-reliance.

To strengthen the long-term effectiveness and durability of projects we work closely with the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, training institutions, and civil society organizations. For example, our Civil Society For Family Planning project is helping civil society organizations support the government and make them accountable for their commitments. We are working with religious leaders, youth, and women’s associations organized to advocate together at the local level and better use resources.

We know that women are the leaders of tomorrow.

We’re also helping more girls to be leaders. Because we know that women are the leaders of tomorrow. We know that the future of health care in Mali starts with providing women with access to services and contraception, giving them support and comprehensive sexual education, and making sure they have the financial resources they need to make informed decisions.

But without health workers there is no health care. So we are implementing iHRIS—IntraHealth’s free, open source software that helps countries around the world track and manage their health workforce data—to provide decision-makers with timely and more accurate information to make decisions related to the health workforce. iHRIS now has 89% of all registered health workers in Mali in the system and the Ministry of Health can see real-time data on who is working where with what profile and experience. This information allows Mali to manage the health workforce efficiently and strengthen the health system, improving health and moving toward high-quality health care for all.

Dr. Touré leads IntraHealth’s work in Mali, which is funded by the US Agency for International Development, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Dutch Embassy.

This piece is part of IntraHealth's celebration of 40 years of commitment to health workers. Follow along: #TheFutureOf #IntraHealth40 #HealthWorkersCount

By Katherine Seaton

Former communications manager

By Cheick Oumar Touré

West Africa regional director

Civil Society for Family Planning Family Planning & Reproductive Health Maternal, Newborn, & Child Health Digital Health Education & Performance Leadership and Governance IntraHealth's 40th Anniversary Gender Equality Health Workforce & Systems Nursing & Midwifery 2020 Nurses Mali

Gao Nursing School in Mali. Photo taken by Trevor Snapp for IntraHealth International.

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Young Nigeriens Want Comprehensive Sex Ed and Solid Advice

mnathe — Mon, 24 Sep 2018 20:19:56 +0000

Young Nigeriens Want Comprehensive Sex Ed and Solid Advice mnathe September 24, 2018

September 24, 2018

In Niger, talking about sex and contraceptives isn’t always easy. But little by little, things are changing.

en français

Innocent Ibrahim started out as a family planning youth ambassador—basically, a young person who talks to other young people about contraceptives.

He knew only too well that something as simple as an implant or a condom could be the difference between an early, unwanted pregnancy and a future of education and prosperity—especially in countries like his, where fertility and maternal deaths are high and access to reproductive health services is low.

And he wanted to make sure his friends and peers in Niger knew it, too.

“I felt a moral duty to contribute to improving the health of youth, and the population in general, in Niger and beyond,” Innocent says.

So in 2015, he became part of a movement. He’s one of 364 young activists from across West Africa to become a family planning youth ambassador. They go through training, provided by IntraHealth International through its Civil Society for Family Planning Plus (CS4FP Plus) project, to lead family planning and reproductive health advocacy campaigns across the nine francophone West African countries that make up the Ouagadougou Partnership, a coalition that’s working to give 2.2 million more people in the region access to family planning by 2020.

The ambassadors advocate to their countries’ decision-makers to make their priorities heard. And they reach out to school-aged kids, young adults, and newlyweds to offer sex education and information on different contraceptive options, including long-acting reversible methods such as implants and injectables.

“The economic argument is often the most effective in getting through to people,” Innocent says. “Previously education and health care were provided for free by the government, but they’re not any more. So now people often can’t afford to have too many children. Spacing children allows both husbands and wives to contribute economically to their families.”

When sex education was first introduced in Niger, there was a strong backlash.

Since his youth ambassador days, Innocent has been promoted. He’s now country coordinator for CS4FP Plus in Niger, which means he oversees coalition activities, including those organized by youth ambassadors.

Part of Innocent’s new role is to serve as a bridge between the CS4FP team in the capital city and the activities on the ground. He coordinates between the ministries of health and education and the Ouagadougou Partnership, and between the ministries and the project. His role in managing the relationships of a complex consortium is a challenge.

An even bigger challenge, though, is expanding sex education in Niger. Together, the partners are making progress.

“When sexual education was first introduced in Niger, there was a strong backlash by some religious leaders, to the point that the government removed these modules from schools,” Innocent says. “Parents also opposed what they saw as something that was inciting their children to have sex.”

But it soon became clear that young Nigeriens’ needs for information were going unmet. So the government turned to a program of comprehensive sexual education to address these needs. Though, to ease parents’ concerns, Innocent says, “the curriculum is no longer called ‘comprehensive sexual education’ in Niger, but has been rebranded as ‘youth and adolescent reproductive health education’.”

CS4FP Plus has been adapting the education modules to make sure they’re comprehensive and customized to Niger’s specific sociocultural reality, in partnership the Ministry of Secondary Education (MSE).

Now the MSE is implementing the sex ed modules in middle and high schools by training 450 teachers in three regions of Niger (Tilaberi, Zinder, and Agadez) with the financial support of UNFPA. CS4FP Plus will help train 105 teachers in two regions of Niger (Maradi and Niamey). And the project has trained 60 trainers of trainers from Niamey and across the country with the support of Dutch government funding.

Kids in these regions will now have access to the information during classes as well as in after-school health clubs in middle and high schools.

“We just keep asking ourselves, ‘How can we best make sure the information gets to the students who need it?’” Innocent says.

I give them advice that I didn’t receive when I was a youth ambassador.

He and the CS4FP Plus team are also working to integrate family planning services in Niger with other services, such as nutrition.

“It’s important that someone coming to a health center can receive both services at once,” he says. “And it’s especially important for displaced or refugee populations.” The team also advocates for more youth-friendly reproductive health and family planning services.

After starting off as a youth ambassador, Innocent already had a pretty good idea of the realities and challenges of making contraceptives more widely available in Niger. So he works to make sure the youth ambassadors he supervises today have as much or even more support than he had when he was in their place.

“I give them advice that I didn’t receive when I was a youth ambassador,” he says. “I talk to them about the eligibility criteria, making sure they’re respected, how to conduct themselves and organize themselves as a network.”

Another thing that’s changed since his youth ambassador days: Innocent got married.

“Before I was married, a lot of my friends would come to me for advice for family planning because they trusted me, and I would proactively talk to them. But now that I’m married, it gives me an even better perspective on what young married couples want and need. I’m in their shoes now.”

Also read: Innocent Ibrahim: Future Planner

IntraHealth International’s CS4FP Plus project engages young people across the nine francophone West Africa Ouagadougou Partnership countries as Family Planning Youth Ambassadors. The CS4FP Plus initiative is funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Dutch Embassy. Additional partners include Coalition des OSC PF de la Côte d’Ivoire, Coalition des OSC PF de la Guinée, Coalition des OSC PF de la Mauritanie, Coalition des OSC PF du Togo, Coalition Régionale des OSC PF, Alliance régionale des réseaux de JASRPF, and Etrilabs. IntraHealth International hosts the Ouagadougou Partnership Coordination Unit primarily funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Les jeunes Nigériens veulent une éducation sexuelle complète, accompagnée de conseils solides

Au Niger, la sexualité et les contraceptifs ne sont pas toujours des sujets faciles à aborder. Pourtant, les choses changent peu à peu.

Au départ, Innocent Ibrahim était un jeune ambassadeur pour la planification familiale –essentiellement, c’était un jeune qui parlait des contraceptifs à d’autres jeunes gens.

Il était très bien placé pour savoir qu’une chose aussi simple qu’un implant contraceptif ou un préservatif pouvait changer le cours des choses et favoriser un avenir propice à l’éducation et la prospérité au lieu de faire face à une grossesse précoce et non désirée – surtout dans des pays comme le sien, où la fertilité et la mortalité maternelles sont élevées et l’accès aux services de santé reproductive est faible.

Et il voulait s’assurer que ses amis et ses pairs au Niger le savaient aussi.

« J’estimais que c’était mon devoir d’apporter ma contribution à l’amélioration de la santé des jeunes, et de la population en général, au Niger et au-delà, » dit Innocent.

Ainsi en 2015, il prit part à un mouvement. Avec 364 jeunes activistes de toute part de l’Afrique de l’Ouest, il devint un jeune ambassadeur pour la planification familiale. Ces émissaires reçoivent une formation, dispensée par IntraHealth International par le biais de son projet Civil Society for Family Planning Plus (CS4FP Plus – Société civile pour la planification familiale), afin de lancer des campagnes en faveur de la planification familiale et de la santé reproductive à travers neuf pays francophones d’Afrique de l’Ouest qui constituent le Partenariat de Ouagadougou, une coalition qui œuvre pour permettre l’accès à la planification familiale à 2,2 millions de personnes de plus dans la région d’ici à 2020.

Les ambassadeurs plaident auprès des décideurs de leurs pays pour que leurs priorités soient entendues. Et ils établissent le dialogue avec les enfants en âge scolaire, les jeunes adultes et les jeunes-mariés pour leur offrir une éducation sexuelle et leur donner des informations sur les différentes options en matière de contraception, incluant les méthodes réversibles et de longue durée comme les contraceptifs injectables et les implants.

« L’argument économique est souvent le plus efficace pour convaincre les gens, » explique Innocent. « Auparavant, l’éducation et les soins de santé étaient fournis gratuitement par le gouvernement, mais ce n’est plus le cas. Par conséquent, les populations n’ont pas souvent les moyens d’avoir un trop grand nombre d’enfants. L’espacement des naissances permet aux deux époux d’apporter une contribution à leurs familles sur le plan économique. »

Depuis son rôle d’ambassadeur auprès des jeunes, Innocent a reçu une promotion. Il est désormais coordinateur pays pour le CS4FP Plus au Niger ; c’est-à-dire qu’il supervise les activités de la coalition, y compris celles qu’organisent les jeunes ambassadeurs.

Dans le cadre de ses nouvelles fonctions, Innocent assure la liaison entre l’équipe CS4FP dans la capitale et les activités sur le terrain. Il coordonne la collaboration entre les ministères de la santé et de l’éducation, et le Partenariat de Ouagadougou, ainsi qu’entre les ministères et le projet. La gestion des relations d’un consortium complexe n’est pas tâche facile pour Innocent.

Pour autant, le plus grand défi reste celui de développer l’éducation sexuelle au Niger. À eux tous, les partenaires accomplissent des progrès.

« Lorsque les premiers cours d’éducation sexuelle ont été introduits au Niger, il y eut une vive réaction de la part de certains chefs religieux, à tel point que le gouvernement a retiré ces modules des programmes des écoles, » raconte Innocent. « Les parents s’opposaient aussi à ce qu’ils considéraient comme une incitation pour leurs enfants à avoir des relations sexuelles ».

Mais il s’est rapidement avéré que les besoins des jeunes en informations dans ce domaine n’étaient pas remplis. Le gouvernement s’est donc tourné vers un programme d’éducation complète à la sexualité pour répondre à cette lacune. Mais pour apaiser les inquiétudes des parents, Innocent ajoute, « le programme ne s’appelle plus "éducation complète à la sexualité" au Niger, mais a été rebaptisé "Éducation complète à la santé de la reproduction des adolescents et des jeunes" ».

Le projet CS4FP Plus a adapté les modules d’éducation pour veiller à ce qu’ils soient complets et correspondent à la réalité socioculturelle propre au Niger, en partenariat avec le ministère des Enseignements secondaires (MSE).

Pour l’heure, le MSE met en œuvre des modules d’éducation sexuelle dans les collèges et les lycées par le biais de la formation de 450 enseignants dans trois région du Niger (Tilaberi, Zinder et Agadez) grâce au soutien financier de la UNFAP (Fonds des Nations Unies pour les populations). Le projet CS4FP Plus aidera à former 105 enseignants dans deux régions du Niger (Maradi et Niamey). Aussi, le projet a formé 60 formateurs de Niamey et de l’ensemble du pays avec le financement du gouvernement hollandais.

Les enfants de ces régions auront désormais accès à ces informations pendant les cours et aussi dans les clubs de santé des collèges et des lycées après l’école.

« Nous nous posons toujours la question, "comment garantir que les informations parviennent aux élèves qui en ont besoin ? » poursuit Innocent.

Lui et l’équipe CS4FP Plus œuvrent aussi pour intégrer les services de planification familiale au Niger à d’autres services, comme celui de la nutrition.

« Il est important de faire en sorte que quelqu’un qui vient au centre de santé puisse recevoir les deux services à la fois, » dit-il. « Et c’est encore plus important pour les populations déplacées et les réfugiés ». L’équipe préconise aussi des services de santé reproductive et de planification familiale plus conviviaux auprès des jeunes.

Ayant fait ses débuts en tant que jeune ambassadeur, Innocent était déjà bien conscient des réalités et des difficultés que présentaient la mise à disposition plus étendue des moyens contraceptifs au Niger. Il fait donc en sorte que les jeunes ambassadeurs qu’il supervise aujourd’hui reçoivent le même appui, voire davantage d’appui, que lorsqu’il était à leur place.

« Je leur donne des conseils que je n’avais pas lorsque j’étais ambassadeur, » explique-t-il. « Je leur parle des critères d’éligibilité, en veillant à ce qu’ils gagnent le respect qui leur est dû, qu’ils se conduisent convenablement et qu’ils forment un réseau entre eux. »

Autre chose a changé depuis qu’Innocent était ambassadeur des jeunes ; il s’est marié.

« Avant que je me marie, nombre de mes amis venaient me demander conseil pour la planification familiale parce qu’ils me faisaient confiance, et je leur parlais dans une optique prévoyante. Mais depuis que je suis marié, j’ai encore une meilleure idée de ce que veulent et ce dont ont besoin les jeunes couples. Je peux désormais me mettre à leur place. »

Also read: Innocent Ibrahim: Future Planner

Le projet CS4FP Plus de IntraHealth International fait appel à des jeunes gens provenant de neuf pays francophones d’Afrique de l’Ouest, membres du Partenariat de Ouagadougou, pour être jeunes ambassadeurs pour la planification familiale. L’initiative du CS4FP Plus est financée par la Fondation William et Flora Hewlett et l’ambassade de Hollande. D’autres partenaires incluent la Coalition des OSC PF de la Côte d’Ivoire, la Coalition des OSC PF de la Guinée, la Coalition des OSC PF de la Mauritanie, la Coalition des OSC PF du Togo, la Coalition régionale des OSC PF, l’Alliance régionale des réseaux de JASRPF, et Etrilabs. IntraHealth International héberge l’Unité de coordination du Partenariat de Ouagadougou financée en grande partie par la FondationWilliam et Flora Hewlett et la Fondation Bill & Melinda Gates.

By Margarite Nathe

Strategic communications advisor, IntraHealth International

Civil Society for Family Planning Family Planning & Reproductive Health Nutrition Community Health Policy & Advocacy World Contraception Day Youth Engagement

Innocent Ibrahim (second from left) and his fellow family planning youth ambassadors advocate to their countries’ decision-makers to make their priorities heard. Photo courtesy of Moctar Diallo and CS4FP Plus.

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In West Africa, Youth Ambassadors Serve as Family Planning Advocates

mnathe — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 13:02:17 +0000

In West Africa, Youth Ambassadors Serve as Family Planning Advocates mnathe October 05, 2017

October 05, 2017

It's a grassroots approach that's already leading to change.

ABIDJAN — International health experts are hopeful that a West African family planning initiative will encourage wider contraceptive use by having young people act as “ambassadors” for family planning, furthering the discussion on reproductive health in the region.

West Africa has the world’s lowest contraceptive prevalence rate accompanied by the world’s highest fertility rate. While the world averages 2.4 children per woman, African women average 4.7 children. West Africa surpasses even the African average with five children per woman, and a 17 percent modern contraception prevalence rate as compared to the global rate of 64 percent.

In order to tackle that situation, groups of young people—molded into community-based family planning advocates in each of the sub-region’s francophone countries—have received training from health professionals on resource mobilization, advocacy techniques and program development. They then use these skills to lead high-level discussions with ministries of health and other partners to demand access to contraceptives; youth-friendly, rights-based reproductive health services; and involvement in shaping the policies that affect them and their peers.

Discussions facilitated by youth ambassadors have already influenced government decision-making.

“The base of our work is to strengthen civil society so we work in coalition [and] have the participation of religious leaders and community leaders to push acceptance that takes into account the social, cultural and religious contexts and work with an understanding of that to develop programs and activities even rural areas of the country,” said Moctar Diallo, coordinator of the Strengthening Civil Society Engagement for Family Planning in West Africa project.

Experts say better family planning empowers women in making sound decisions regarding reproduction and also increases health and economic benefits. Childbearing is one of the leading causes of death among adolescent girls worldwide. Spacing births is especially critical for young mothers-to-be under 18, because they are most at risk of pregnancy-related death and complications, and their children face greater health risks as well.

Discussions facilitated by youth ambassadors have already influenced government decision-making, Benin ambassador Romaric Ouitona confirmed. Conversations in his country led to the creation of a policy that offers free contraception to young people.

“With this process we have also been able to approach youth to discuss with them about responsible sexual engagement … not just to promote responsible sexual relationships but to encourage the general population to adopt a contraception method,” he said.

This grassroots approach aimed at educating rural communities and the youth is part of a bigger initiative by the nine francophone countries that make up the Ouagadougou Partnership—Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo—that has aimed to give an additional 2.2 million people in the region access to family planning methods by 2020. Youth ambassadors develop rural teams to reach populations beyond major cities who often have the least access to family planning methods and little knowledge of contraception. Youth also utilize social media with Facebook pages and blogs to spread messages online.

The objective is simple: to work with community leaders, religious leaders and government officials in building stronger communities and reducing the number of pregnancy-related deaths among youth. In educating young men, fathers-to-be also understand the high risk of unspaced births and possible health repercussions on women.

Not only do local communities benefit, but so do individual ambassadors.

Sociocultural barriers, however, often prove a lingering deterrent to contraception adoption in places such as Mali, where religious and community norms push women to average 6.1 children each. Religious pressure has made abortions and birth control controversial and difficult in certain communities. Access to condoms can also be limited.

“The religious side usually causes the most problems but this is being improved by civil society groups that push the religious to accept family planning,” explained Edouard Keita, a Malian youth family planning ambassador. Here, civil society organizations work alongside religious leaders to reposition family planning through organized trainings in mosques and churches.

Conversations about sex are taboo in her community, youth ambassador Nina Kone of Burkina Faso said. “We don’t talk about this within the family, parents don’t speak about it with children and also in the society often the stigma [on sex] for youth for religious or cultural reasons,” she added.

Beyond community outreach meetings, Kone and her peers work with the country’s Ministry of Health to create a national plan that includes debates, conferences, educational discussions and radio broadcasts on safe sex practices. Through this multifaceted communications strategy, it is hoped that more information gets spread about family planning’s advantages and on locations where family planning methods are available.

Diallo said not only do local communities benefit, but so do individual ambassadors as many go on to work at international health nongovernmental organizations in-country.

“They are not just prepared to help their peers but they are prepared for life as many of them have been recruited by organizations because they are strengthened in using social media, advocacy, mobilizing resources and are champions for the [family planning] agenda,” he said.

This post originally appeared in Devex.

By Christin Roby

West Africa correspondent, Devex

Civil Society for Family Planning Family Planning & Reproductive Health Community Health Gender Equality Youth Engagement

Romaric Ouitona, president of Youth Ambassadors in Benin. Photo by Trevor Snapp for IntraHealth International.

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In West Africa, Family Planning Youth Ambassadors Are Helping Their Countries Plan for the Future

mnathe — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 14:30:31 +0000

In West Africa, Family Planning Youth Ambassadors Are Helping Their Countries Plan for the Future mnathe August 11, 2017

August 11, 2017

Young leaders have the power to reach their peers and communities in ways most government officials can’t.

Abou Diallo was on vacation with his family when his girlfriend showed up to see him, agitated and worried. She hadn’t had her period for two months, she told him. A pregnancy test confirmed their fears.

“And she and I began the greatest nightmare of our lives,” Abou says.

Their parents kicked them out, disowned them. Abou’s father said he’d brought shame and dishonor on their family and ruined their reputation. When their daughter was born, Abou thanked God, but resolved not to repeat his mistakes.

Childbearing is one of the leading causes of death among adolescent girls worldwide.

Today, Abou doesn’t want any other young person in his home country of Guinea to go through what he and his girlfriend did. That’s why he became one of the 92 trained youth ambassadors who lead advocacy campaigns for family planning and reproductive health across the nine francophone West African countries that make up the Ouagadougou Partnership, a coalition that’s working to give 2.2 million more people in the region access to family planning by 2020.

Abou and his fellow ambassadors reach out to in- and out-of-school young people and advocate to their countries’ decision-makers to make their priorities heard—namely that young people must have access to contraceptives and youth-friendly, rights-based reproductive health services, and be involved in shaping the policies that affect young people in their countries.

Childbearing is one of the leading causes of death among adolescent girls worldwide. Every year, more than seven million girls 18 years or younger give birth in low- and middle-income countries. Being able to time and delay births is especially critical for adolescents under 18, according to the Guttmacher Institute, because they’re at greater risk of pregnancy-related death and complications, and their children face greater health risks too. In West Africa, maternal mortality and fertility rates remain high, and use of modern family planning methods and contraceptives remains low compared to other world regions.

But the youth ambassador program is working to change that. One 16-year-old in Burkina Faso summed up one of the biggest reasons why the peer-to-peer approach is so powerful during a conversation with youth ambassador Nina Koné:

“I preferred to meet with you,” she told Nina, “because in the health centers the midwives are the same age as my mother. They’re nice and sweet, but I’m afraid they’ll judge me.” So maybe it’s universal: Getting advice about sex is just way less agonizing when it comes from someone your own age.

The youth ambassadors don’t replace health workers in their countries, of course, but they provide another valuable source of information. Their training ensures that the advice they give is sound and that they can point their peers to youth-friendly health services.

This model of getting young people involved in civil society has multiple benefits.

Civil Society for Family Planning (CS4FP) Plus, which trains the youth ambassadors, is working with civil society groups and community leaders to increase the use and accessibility of family planning services for women, families, and youth, and ultimately to improve maternal, newborn, and child health in the region. This model of getting young people involved in civil society has multiple benefits, and can even help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Here’s why:

Citizen groups empower young people. It’s a great way for them to get the practical skills they need to get more involved in their communities, hold their governments accountable, and shape their countries’ futures—and their own.
Leading the tidal wave of 1.2 billion young people fast approaching adulthood are young professionals—health workers, journalists, activists—who have unprecedented power to mobilize their peers and communities and to change social norms. Civil society engagement offers them opportunities to lead change, whether it’s helping more people use family planning, protecting the environment, or keeping more kids in school.
Getting more girls and women involved in civil society is crucial not just for Sustainable Development Goal 5 (gender equality) but for all the goals. From eliminating poverty to creating strong global partnerships, civil society organizations open up opportunities both for young women and for their countries’ economic development.

The new UN report World Population Prospects estimates that by 2050, around 2.2 billion people could be added to the global population, and that more than half of that growth will occur in Africa. As part of the biggest generation of young people in history, Nina, Abou, and the other youth ambassadors will all be running the show by then. And they know that having a healthy, prosperous future for their generation means they need to start planning now.

“If I had one piece of advice for the youth in my country,” Nina says, “it would be this: You are the future of Burkina Faso. So it’s high time and critical you engage in sexually responsible behavior and prioritize your sexual health.”

IntraHealth International serves as the Ouagadougou Partnership Coordination Unit primarily funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. IntraHealth’s CS4FP Plus initiative is funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Dutch Embassy.

Want to know more trailblazers like these? Meet the Young Future-Planners of West Africa and stay tuned to the Future Planners series on IntraHealth’s Picture It, where you can meet the people behind health care. And join the conversation on International #YouthDay, August 12, 2017.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

By Margarite Nathe

Strategic communications advisor, IntraHealth International

Civil Society for Family Planning Family Planning & Reproductive Health Community Health Leadership and Governance Policy & Advocacy Youth Engagement Benin Burkina Faso Guinea Mauritania Togo

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Meet the Young Future-Planners of West Africa

mnathe — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 16:21:42 +0000

Meet the Young Future-Planners of West Africa

mnathe August 09, 2017

August 10, 2017

They’re informed, determined, and looking ahead for the good of their peers—and their countries.

They want to help girls stay in school. To take control of their own futures. To make sure other young people don’t make the same mistakes or have to live the same nightmares they did.

There are a lot of reasons why almost 100 young activists from across West Africa have become family planning youth ambassadors, but they all have something in common: they’re part of the biggest generation of young people in human history. And they know that having a healthy, prosperous future means they need to start planning now.

What makes West Africa’s family planning youth ambassadors tick? They told us.

These ambassadors are trained to lead family planning and reproductive health advocacy campaigns across the nine francophone West African countries that make up the Ouagadougou Partnership, a coalition that’s working to give 2.2 million more people in the region access to family planning by 2020. They reach out to school-aged kids and young adults, and advocate to their countries’ decision-makers to make their priorities heard.

And they’re shaping their countries’ futures in the process.

Intrigued? So were we. We wanted to know what makes West Africa’s family planning youth ambassadors tick. And they told us.

Say hello to:

Ibrahim Kané of Mauritania
Fatouma Nina Koné of Burkina Faso
Abou Maimouna Diallo of Guinea
Aoussi Yandi of Togo
Romaric Ouitona of Benin

Want to meet more trailblazers like these? Stay tuned to our Future Planners series—and meet more of the people behind health care—on IntraHealth’s Picture It. And join the conversation on International #YouthDay, August 12, 2017.

IntraHealth International’s CS4FP Plus project engages young people across the nine francophone West Africa Ouagadougou Partnership countries as Family Planning Youth Ambassadors. So far, it’s trained 92 youth ambassadors. The CS4FP Plus initiative is funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Dutch Embassy. And IntraHealth International serves as the Ouagadougou Partnership Coordination Unit primarily funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

"Being a youth ambassador has changed my life," Abou Diallo says. "I’ve become more and more the person I dream of being. Young people and adults come to me now for information on reproductive health and family planning." Photo courtesy of Abou Diallo.

Fatouma Nina Koné shares information with young people in Burkina Faso about different contraceptive methods during debates over tea, shows on stage, and awareness-raising sessions in schools. Photo courtesy of Nina Koné.

“I’ve learned so much about how associations in my country work, and about leadership,” Romaric Ouitona says. Photo courtesy of Romaric Ouitona.

Aoussi Yandi is proud that girls come to her for advice on contraception, and that she's seeing fewer pregnancies in schools. “The future is us,” she says. “To be a leader tomorrow, we must protect certain things." Photo courtesy of Aoussi Yandi.

“I became a youth ambassador to help girls in my country continue their studies,” Ibrahim Kané says. “I want family planning to be applied everywhere.” Photo courtesy of Ibrahim Kané.

By The Editorial Team

IntraHealth International

Civil Society for Family Planning Family Planning & Reproductive Health Community Health Policy & Advocacy Youth Engagement Benin Burkina Faso Guinea Mauritania Togo

Romaric Ouitona, president of Youth Ambassadors in Benin, speaks to his peers at a youth center that offers family planning services and education in Dangbo, Benin. Photo by Trevor Snapp for IntraHealth International.

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