2 day Capacity building editorial workshop on FP Lagos intensification for stakeholders in Lagos State
The media workshop supported by The Challenge Initiative (TCI), an organization led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, a ‘business unusual ‘platform that empowers local governments to rapidly and sustainably scale high impact practices and other interventions to benefit urban poor communities; was indeed designed fully to co-opt the media into the newly launched Family Planning intensification phase in Lagos State.
The two-day workshop took place at the AHI Residence, Jibowu, Lagos, between 8th and 9th August, 2024.
The objectives of the training include sensitizing journalists with the TCI FP Intensification phase; Increasing Media visibility on FP reportage; and Planning for a three-month editorial content or FP issues in Lagos State,
Lagos State Family Planning Intensification Phase initiated by the Challenge Initiative was designed to build on the projects carried out by the organization over the years as it has also been discovered that more work is still needed to advance and accomplish set objectives of TCI projects in Lagos in ensuring demand generation for family planning uptake in Africa’s 6th largest economy. Indeed such challenges as myths, misconceptions and misinformation obviously militate against achieving high rate of family planning uptake in the state and there is need to counter them through more credible information dissemination outlets.
No wonder TCI and her media partners, Devcoms Network organized a two-day workshop for journalists, including reporters, editors, analysts from both the electronics, prints and social media influencers to jaw jaw on how the Media could deploy its expertise in bringing about a more radical approach towards ensuring the success of the Lagos State Intensification Phase which was meant to take the family planning to the last mile and hard-to-reach environments. There was also the conviction that the mass media has the capacity and ‘believability’ feature as people tend to believe what they see, hear or read in the mass media, therefore the media was expected to help to convert those who are ignorantly against family planning in Lagos State.
Some of the impactful papers delivered at the workshop included but not limited to Family Planning Trends During the Lagos Family Planning Intensification Phase which was delivered by Dr. Omotunde Odanye, the Lagos State Manager, The Challenge Initiative. Another topic was Understanding Family Planning Current Challenges in Lagos State which was delivered by Victoria Omoera, Reproductive Health Coordinator, Lagos State Ministry of Health; while Addressing Persistent Myths or Misconceptions of Family Planning was delivered by Dr (Mrs) Ashiru Ajoke Sariyu, from Interfaith Public Health Advocacy Lagos.
Other papers include Partnership with the Media for Demand Generation delivered by Fanimokun Adesola, TCI Lagos, Demand Generation and Technical Support Lead. There was also a paper, Unlocking Media Opportunities in SBCC Intervention for FP in Lagos State which was delivered by the Lagos State Health Educator, Ministry of Health, Mr Olusegun Badejo; and Family Planning as a Tool for Sustainable Development. This was delivered by Elizabeth Talatu Williams, Executive Director, Sustainable Impact and Development Initiative, Lagos State.
In the paper Williams was able convinced many who before the workshop were unaware of the linkages between family planning and the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) which include poverty reduction SDG 1, hunger SDG 2, Maternal Health and Child wellbeing SDG 3; Education SDG4; climate change resilience SDG 13, gender equality SDG 5, among others. Talatu Williams convincingly and successfully expounded on the correlation between family planning and poverty even as world economy especially that of Nigeria continues to nosedive.
She stated that over bloated family size will definitely not guarantee nutritious meal for the family with the cost of virtually every foodstuff hitting the roof top; children from oversized family are likely not going to reach their desired education level which is a hindrance to the realization of Education and Youth Opportunity (SGD 4), a family that is not planned is likely going to contribute in the depreciation and distortion of available resources and in messing up the environment.
An unplanned family would definitely distort government budgets, definitely, as what government has planned from the available resources would be stretched beyond limit, hence hindering Sustainable Cities’ goal of SDG 11, among others. Extreme pressure on available infrastructure is another reason why family planning is germane, hence the focus of SDG in making the world a better place would be defeated if Nigeria and indeed Lagos State, don’t take the issue of family planning very serious.
The grand finale of the workshop was the visit to the Akerele Primary Health Centre in Surulere, where the Officer In Charge, who gave her name as Mrs Daramola, welcomed the team and took the media round the family planning facilities in the clinic. She succinctly explained their operations to the media and in the end she acknowledged that the government of Lagos State is doing great in terms of making sure that there are consumables, injectables, pills, intra uterine devices, implants, condoms, for those who seek family planning services.
The team was also able to interact with person’s who visited the facility for family planning services. Some came for injections, while others where there to remove and or insert new implants.
Earlier, the Programme Director, Devcoms, Akin Jimoh declaring the workshop open, was particularly concerned about the economic effect of over bloated family size which takes its toll not just on the family, but also on societal wellbeing inducing poverty and hunger. He also established a direct link between insecurity and unplanned family.
He decried a situation whereby the Managing Director of a company may have one wife and two children, but his driver has four wives and 17 children which is a serious matter needing serious discussion. He said that the issue of family planning to be discussed by the participants was beyond the pill of myth and misconceptions. “People need to see themselves in our stories. Another thing we are going to talk about is the aspect of infusing evidence in our stories, there is no aspect of family planning that does not have aspect of research in it, in such a way that people can see themselves in it.”
He decried a situation where journalists do copy and paste. So when people are looking at the stories it is the same thing all over. He queried, “When such family planning material is sent to the media, is there a way we can tweak it to enjoy some uniqueness. Let’s be open, lets discuss, let’s have editorial discussion, lets discuss and if there are other things we can do, can we freelance, can we write beyond the medium we are writing for, can we get information that another person will never get? And so on, so that we can enhance and don’t depend on one source of income.”
Indeed the workshop could be said to be a step in the right direction as the media remains a critical stakeholder in the efforts to navigate, reinvigorate, sensitize and conscientize the people of Lagos State to understand and key into the need for family planning uptake in Lagos State.
The workshop also made it possible for the attendees to understand that the Lagos State Government has indeed shown great passion in the provision of family planning materials in the state.
