Centre for Development and Population Activities(CEDPA ), Nigeria: Doing a great service to women of Nigeria
Reported, December 10, 2011
Women and girls in Nigeria face daily challenges in leading healthy, fully productive lives. Nigeria has a 40 percent rate of illiteracy among women, one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world, and the third largest number of HIV infections. And, as with any new democracy, there is tremendous opportunity to increase womens participation and leadership in Nigerias governing structures. Currently, women hold only about seven percent of parliamentary seats in the country.
CEDPA has worked in Nigeria since 1985 to increase support for girls education and empower women and their families to improve reproductive health and improve maternal health. With Nigerias emergence from military rule in 1999, CEDPA/Nigeria has led efforts to raise womens political participation, leadership and governance. And, CEDPA/Nigeria has led efforts to engage faith-based organizations and cultural leaders to increase community support to confront the AIDS epidemic.
Today, CEDPA/Nigerias Better Life Options program works with girls, boys and their parents in Akwa Ibom State to breakdown gender stereotypes and increase support for girls education. The program also provides practical life skills education such as literacy and vocational training, family life education and leadership training to increase self-esteem, confidence and self-worth. Results show that out of the 1440 youth enrolled, 84 percent completed the program (969 girls and 241 boys), and at least 51 percent of those who completed returned to formal or vocational schools.
To advance reproductive and maternal health in a country where a woman has a one in eighteen change of dying during childbirth, CEDPA/Nigeria leads the MacArthur Safe Motherhood Nigeria program to promote interventions to reduce barriers to safe motherhood. CEDPAs Nigeria Family Welfare program engages families and entire communities, through religious and community leaders, to recognize the benefits of family planning and the need to meet the reproductive health needs of young people.
The Positive Living project, with support from the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the U.S. Agency for International Development, mobilized faith-based and community organizations to strengthen and expand the delivery of HIV/AIDS services. Concluding in 2010, the project expanded gender-sensitive, community-based palliative and home-based care services to 197,431 people living with HIV/AIDS and their families; reached 2.6 million Nigerians with HIV prevention messages; provided livelihood programs; and strengthened institutional management and technical capacity of national faith-based organizations, non-governmental organizations, networks of individuals living with HIV/AIDS and other organizations.
Through the Democracy and Governance program, CEDPA/Nigeria led voter education and training in the April 2007 presidential elections in the country. This work built on more than a decade of efforts to increase womens participation in decision making in Nigeria. CEDPA/Nigeria partnered with local community activists to mobilize and register more than 750,000 people to vote in the first Nigerian election in 1999, nearly a third of all the countrys voters. In 2003, CEDPA led a consortium that deployed 4,620 election monitors in 19 of Nigeria’s 36 states in the 2003 elections. (Read more about the 100 Womens Groups in Nigeria).
Over 700 Nigerian women and men have participated in CEDPAs training programs. By partnering with these alumni, along with community and non-governmental organizations, and focusing on leadership training, social mobilization and advocacy and women’s political skills, CEDPA/Nigeria empowers women to improve their lives, families and communities.
CEDPA is currently working to implement USAIDs Targeted States High Impact Project (TSHIP), in targeted states in Nigeria. TSHIP aims to use a tri-focus approach to improve community engagement, quality of health care services and health system effectiveness. CEDPA will be using their extensive expertise in building community coalitions and providing public health education to increase the integration and sustainability of family planning, reproductive, maternal and child health programs implemented by TSHIP.
Along with the TSHIP project, CEDPA is working with the Leadership, Empowerment, Advocacy and Development (LEAD) project. The goal of LEAD is to strengthen local governance, increase the capacity of local organizations and improve service delivery. Working with RTI, CEDPA is supporting the project by ensuring the integration of gender considerations through all elements of the project. Since beginning the project, CEDPA has worked on integrating gender into the budgeting process as well as meeting with teams to ensure they notice strong and weak areas in regards to gender.
Contact Information:
CEDPA/Nigeria
Ground Floor, Bel House,
22, Port Harcourt Crescent,
Off Gimbiya Street,
Area 11, Garki,
Abuja, Nigeria
Tel: +234 9 461 8863
Fax: +234 9 461 8864
[email protected]
Credits & More information:
http://www.cedpa.org/section/wherewework/nigeria
