Originally posted by Independent Nigeria
LAGOS – To ensure the successful delivery of FP2030 Commitments, Pathfinder International under its Advance Family Planning (AFP) has organised an AFP Smart workshop for three selected Advocacy Working Groups (AWG) each from Kaduna, Lagos, and the Gombe States to strengthen their capacity.
The AWG participants in the workshop were drawn from the Civil Society Organisation (CSOs), State Accountability Mechanism (SAM) and the media were being trained to track government and partners’ implementation progress and accountability.
Nigeria recommitted to the FP2030 partnership with the launch of the country’s FP2030 Commitment. Giving his presentation on Tuesday, Mallam Yusuf Nuhu, Programme Officer, Reproductive Health/ Family Planning, noted that the workshop would empower participants to track the progress of FP2030 implementation by the government and its partners and ensure that government fulfills its commitment.
Nuhu said, “To ensure accountability in the implementation of strategies aimed at fulfilling these commitments, Pathfinder is building the capacity of CSOs, SLAMs, and Media to track the progress of implementation by government and its partners and hold the government responsible to account on these commitments.
“This is with a view to promoting accountability as well as developing advocacy strategies to track and monitor the commitments using the AFP SMART approach,” the Reproductive Health/ Family Planning added.
He further said that the Advocacy Working Groups undergoing the three-day workshop in Abuja, are the Family Health Advocates in Nigeria Initiative, Kaduna, Public Health Sustainable Advocates Initiative, Lagos, and Saif Advocates Foundation from Gombe.
The groups are identifying commitments using AFP SMART objectives that will be implemented within the third and fourth quarters of 2022. Each of the Advocacy groups had at the commencement of the workshop given details of their activities in their respective States in the last year, including changes in the Family Planning policies, champions, funding, and funder among others.
Yusuf Nuhu stressed the need for Advocacy Working Groups, CSOs, and the Media to have an appreciation of what Nigeria FP 2030 is all about and their roles.
Advocacy Working Groups, he emphasised, should have a streamlined approach to the FP2030.
AFP project being carried out by Pathfinder International is focusing on increased financial investment and political commitment needed to ensure access to quality family planning through evidence-based Advocacy.
