STAKEHOLDERS GEAR UP FOR NEW TECHNIQUES IN SEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

STAKEHOLDERS GEAR UP FOR NEW TECHNIQUES

IN SEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU..source of pictures:google

Stakeholders rising from a recently held one day seminar on sexual reproductive health under the aegis of the AVAC Fellowship project and the Journalists Against H.I.V/AIDS epidemic[JAIDDS] have called on the entire media both local and global to support their advocacy on sexual reproductive health in Nigeria.

At a one day confab on sexual reproductive health in the presence of a cross section of members of the Nigerian press ,stakeholders affirmed that they could only make a success of what ever they were doing if they had the press supporting them all the way.

In his interventions, Mr David Ita ,an Avac Fellow who was at the event said that there advocacy was concentrated in areas where the H.I.V/A.I.D.S epidemic was at its peak .

He assured that the campaign was a year long project targeted at battling the disease in all ramifications as his major advocacy role was to help stimulate a change in behavior in school curricular.

He insisted that his agency was training people to help in advocating in the varying communities  on the dangers of H.I.V/A.I.D.S

According to him the United Nations Agency on AIDS had deducted in their study that there were poor health outcomes among all adolescents living with H.IV./AIDS and this was due to poor priorities of the teens .

The expert on reproductive health listed the a database for sex saying that one in every four pregnancy was not intended at all with 37.4 percent of female and 20.0 percent of males aged 15 to 19 years reported ever having sex .

Mr Ita then went deeply into his analysis by stating that teenage pregnancy occurred due to early initiations of sexual intercourse  leading to possible mortality rate of 814  per 100 ,000 live births as at 2015 and contributed about 19 percent of all maternal death globally .

His words :”adolescents aged between 15 to 19 years contribute about 10 percent to the situation,a survey in 2004 showed that there was 1 out four females who had reported experiencing sexual violence in childhood with approximately 70 percent reporting more than  one percent incident of sexual violence .”

“the age of health care services in Nigeria is 18 years but the participation in health research of non-invasive procedures  also will infer that the recommended age for consent is put at 14 years “

“the child rights requires that all action taken concerning the child whether taken by a private or public body must primarily consider the child’s bests interests ,the child rights act does not address  the age at which children should be allowed to independently consent to all forms of health care services “

“the eco-study that was done recently did not include the whole of west Africa as it concerns the usage of contraceptives “

Mr Ita listed access barriers to services under the sexual reproductive health as including the negative attitude of health care providers towards teens,fears of not being understood pretty  well by older persons,lack of privacy ,discriminating stigma, poor facilities

Mr Ita identified such features like not been too young to run, reliable heath workers should be provided ,effective capacity building for health workers ,availability of health care providers present at all times..,well equipped facilities,working with religious agencies  amongst t other features.

The health care sector guru pointed out that there were areas to be considered in adolescent sexual reproductive health and development  and this basically involved the transition from teen clinics such that there was a treatment regime for teen sufferers of the epidemic.

THE UNITED NATIONS !!!ROAD TO RECOVERY FOR A TERRORISM SURVIVOR

Terrorism survivor in Cameroon takes road to recovery: UN News special report

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Wala Matari, a former hostage of the terrorist group Boko Haram was abducted in Cameroon and raped on multiple occasions.

    

19 August 2019

Human Rights

“If I ever come face-to-face with a Boko Haram fighter and if I have strength and a knife in my hand, I will cut his throat and spill his blood! Because, it makes me sick whenever I remember the suffering I went through.”

The words of 29-year Wala Matari from Cameroon may be uncompromising, but they are a heartfelt and honest window into the suffering she has experienced, and the enduring torment of the unspeakable atrocities perpetrated by ruthless terrorists against this mother of six.

Twenty-nine-year-old Wala Matari, a former terrorist hostage, attends church with her children in the village of Zamai in the Far North region of Cameroon. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Every Sunday, she told UN News in her new home town in the far north of the country, she walks the dusty paths which cross-cross the parched and sparsely-vegetated landscape, to bring her children to church.

Today she has come to St Joseph’s, this airy and high-ceilinged Catholic church in Zamai, to hear a pastor deliver his homily on peace and acceptance to a congregation of perhaps 200 worshippers, many of whom have been subjected to similar horrors.

“I go to church to drown my sorrows, to move on from the bad memories. We sleep better after hearing the word of God. After church, I am happy to be alive,” she told UN News, following the service.

One Wednesday night in September 2014 armed insurgents attacked her previous home in the village of  Zelevet, ransacking and burning down homes and then dragging their occupants into the bush.

Unimaginable cruelty

They came at night, in the middle of the night, while I was sleeping with my children and my husband; they surrounded our neighbourhood, our house” she said. “They were completely masked, with only slits for their eyes.”

Her brother and his seven sons, her nephews, had their throats cut in front of her, an act of almost unimaginable cruelty; an example of the casual brutality deployed by armed insurgents in the region who terrorize and subjugate civilians in their path.

Hundreds of thousands of people, like Wala Matari, have been displaced and many thousands killed across the region over the past decade or so, as a result of an insurgency which continues to this day.

The reign of terror began in the north-east of Nigeria with the formation of a group which called itself Boko Haram – which roughly translates as Western-style education is a sin - and has since spread to include Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Taken hostage

Wala Matari and her children were taken hostage.  At the time, she  tried to disguise her sons in girl’s clothes, padding their shirts to suggest they had breasts, knowing that boys would probably be recruited into the ranks of the insurgents, or worse, just summarily executed like her nephews.

The boys were discovered and forced to take up arms and fight for the group in Nigeria. Meanwhile, Wala Matari was repeatedly raped over a two-year period, became pregnant on multiple occasions and miscarried each time after being mercilessly beaten.

 

The United Nations is committed to supporting people who have been attacked, abducted, injured or traumatized by acts of terrorism wherever they are in the world. Ahead of the International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism marked annually on 21 August, read more here about how the UN is showing solidarity with victims and survivors.

“I was beyond suffering,” she said, and too scared to attempt to escape after seeing others punished for doing so.

“Some people tried to escape but were captured and later died from their injuries. They would have their ears, breast or a limb amputated, and would be left to die in the bush.”

Ultimately, Wala Matari and her family were helped to escape by people she describes as “men in uniforms”, walking at night and hiding during daylight in caves. “God is great, he never sleeps and thanks to his divine grace I escaped that hell”, she said.

Escape to Zamai

The family’s escape led to Zamai in Cameroon. Originally a village, Zamai has grown into a small town following the arrival of people displaced by terrorist activity.

Some 2,270 people who have fled their homes in other parts of the region live side-by-side in small now semi-permanent shelters made of mud and brick; they’re covered in the white plastic sheeting provided by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR; the telltale marker of the displaced in Cameroon, the Lake Chad region and indeed across Africa.

Men in the village of Zamai in the Far North Region of Cameroon, drink local beer brewed by the former terrorist hostage, Wala Matari. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Wala Matari has received support from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) including literacy classes and training in animal husbandry. She has also participated in a cash-for-work programme which enabled her to fund a small, and now thriving, business brewing “bilibili” a local beer made from red millet grain.

On Sunday afternoons she serves it to the men of Zamai who gather at her home to drink from a bowl-shaped container made from the gourd of a calabash tree.

“I am making the millet beer so that I can feed and clothe my children, buy the soap and to take care of my husband who is mentally ill. Before, my children and I we lived in extreme poverty. With my millet beer, I am fighting for my family,” she told UN News.

Wala Matari is rebuilding her life one gourd of bilibili at a time, earning money to support and sustain her family. It is unclear how long they will stay in Zamai and whether she will return to her original village, but while ongoing terrorist activity in the region makes a return impossible, she says that her Christian faith continues to provide her with the strength to face up to past horrors and the uncertainty of the future. 

Monday’s Daily Brief: World Humanitarian Day, Afghan massacre aftermath, Venezuelans in Brazil, Yemen war update, and reconciliation in Mali

© UNICEF/Patrick Brown

Nineteen-year-old Ruma travels about 30 mins by bus to teach the children at Kutupalong-Balukhali mega-camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (June 2019)

    

19 August 2019

Humanitarian Aid

Our main stories today: Women celebrated on World Humanitarian Day; Afghanistan bloodshed mars 100 years of independence; Brazil’s ‘exemplary’ response to Venezuelans; UN urges Yemen’s warring parties to down weapons; and UN expert calls for Mali reconciliation efforts.

Paying tribute and strengthening the role of #WomenHumanitarians on World Humanitarian Day

The work of women humanitarians makes a “huge difference” to the lives of millions of women, men and children in urgent need, the United Nations chief said in his message for World Humanitarian Day.

Marking the official day’s tenth anniversary on Monday, the UN is honouring the contribution of tens of thousands of women humanitarian aid workers who provide life-saving support to vulnerable people caught up in crises in some of the world’s most dangerous places.

Here’s our full coverage.

Afghanistan bloodshed mars 100 years of independence

Afghanistan is at a “crucial moment” in its history as it marks 100 years of independence, the head of the UN Mission there said on Monday, following a series of terror attacks in recent days.

In a statement, Tadamichi Yamamoto, Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said that despite decades of conflict, Afghans are committed to a nation that is stable, peaceful and prosperous, and that upholds the human rights of women and men alike. 

Mr. Yamamoto also expressed hope that elections due to take place next month would give voice to the people of Afghanistan, while also maintaining that there was “a real possibility for breakthroughs in peace” after so many years of war – a reference to on-going negotiations between Taliban extremists and the United States.

Read our story here.

UN refugee chief impressed with Brazil’s ‘exemplary’ response to plight of fleeing Venezuelans

While praising the “efficient, coordinated, humane and innovative response” by Brazil on behalf of fleeing Venezuelans, the UN refugee chief has said that the sheer number of those on the run is proving to be a major challenge, calling for greater international support.

“The solidarity of the people of Brazil with the Venezuelan refugees and migrants has been exemplary”, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Sunday from the Brazilian capital, Brasilia. “But the impact on the host communities in states such as Roraima and Amazonas, has been overwhelming”.

More on this here.

UN renews call to Yemen’s warring parties to down weapons

The UN’s top aid coordinator in Yemen has renewed her appeal for an end to the conflict.

In a statement on Monday, Lise Grande insisted that every aid worker in Yemen understands that the most important development the country’s people can hope for is for the belligerents to lay down their weapons and allow humanitarians better access.

Despite the dangers of working in Yemen, as Government forces continue to battle Houthi opposition forces in the north-west, Ms. Grande said that more than 12.5 million people still receive life-saving aid every month.

These people “would not survive without us”, Ms. Grande insisted, in reference to the fact that nearly eight in 10 Yemenis – 24 million people – need assistance, making it the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

Support Mali reconciliation efforts ‘in whatever way possible’, urges UN expert

Reconciliation initiatives in central Mali, to bring together local leaders and end ongoing violence, have been welcomed by the UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali, Alioune Tine, who said on Monday that they should be supported “in whatever way possible.”

The move follows warnings from the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, that central areas of Mali, especially around Mopti, are seeing an increased level of violence, including the killing and maiming of children.

Here’s more on the story.

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