Nigeria
Nominated Mar 25, 2010
The issue of sexual and reproductive rights critically concerns everyone, particularly women. The various issues on reproductive health and rights of women include vesico vaginal fistula (VVF), early and forced marriages, unsafe abortion/unwanted pregnancies, female genital mutilation, rape, incest, bride-price related violence, mortality rates, and nutritional taboos. All of these affect women’s health and rights. Most of these issues also contributes to high incidences of HIV/AIDS and therefore, hamper the possibility of achieving the millennium development goals (MDGs) by 2015. In all, for rights of women and girls to be protected, men and young men also need to be sensitized, since they are often perpetrators of violence against women. However, the two issues below broadly need be taken into consideration, as a matter of fact, in the Nigerian society.
1. Human Rights:
In Nigeria, sexuality is scarcely discussed by parent with their young ones; in church and/or mosque, this attitude therefore, propels continued illiteracy on rights among young women. Young people particularly girls do not exercise their rights when it comes to issues on sexuality. Violence against women violates women’s rights to life, physical and mental integrity, to freedom from torture and it violates their sexual and reproductive rights. Upholding women’s human rights, including their sexual and reproductive rights, is essential to preventing and ending gender-based violence.
This is the case in Northern Nigeria where many women needs permission from husbands to attend local medical facility, thus, most women end up giving birth unattended, at home, and one in about ten women die either in pregnancy or childbirth.
2. Maternal Mortality:
For many young mothers across developing nations like Nigeria, what should be the happiest day of their lives becomes the last day of their lives, because every minute, a woman dies from complications in pregnancy or childbirth.
In recent years, there is an upsurge of young girls (aged 15-24) turn mothers, this result in an increase in maternal mortality rate where the country accounts for 10% globally, mainly because families in local areas lack adequate information. The Nigerian society needs bottom-up (local to urban) enlightenment on sexuality and reproductive health, using models that would guaranty sustainability of efforts.
Getting the Young Visionaries contest grant would help to educate many young women across Nigeria on sexuality and rights, as the technical assistance and manpower are already available.
What actions are you taking to promote and protect the health and rights of women and young people worldwide?
Challenges faced by young women are enormous and critical. I have come to see that these issues can actually be dealt with if young women have a little bit of education on their rights and what maternal mortality means.
Having worked with Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA) in Nigeria for the past two years to coordinate HIV/AIDS and sexuality programs for young people through local community sensitization and enlightenment campaigns and fora, counseling, and testing. One of the main focuses has been to educate youths on sexuality and reproductive health and related issues. Various fieldwork experiences have created opportunities for learning and working with various local, national, and international organisations including United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Nigeria, Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA), Ministry of Health, State and Local Action Committees on Health.
What is your vision of lasting change for yourself and for the world's young people?
I believe in the possibility for change, now that we have the means of sharing what works easily like the internet. Solutions can be replicated in other regions. Youth are a great force for change. Therefore, they have to begin to think and act the ‘positive change’. While developed regions have passed some hurdles, the developing regions still have to manage to get there. But then, we all share critical issues that require everyone’s attention and contribution to solve them.
If you could tell world leaders one thing, what would it be?
If we are to build the global community successfully, then, young people have to be incorporated in the solutions to the world’s problems –poverty, illiteracy, HIV/AIDS, maternal mortality, climate change and so on. World leaders have set up frameworks –like the MDGs, Kyoto protocol, Gleneagles agenda- as strategies for solutions, but it seems that solutions may not come until gaps are bridged by building sustainable and indiscriminate partnerships between government, corporations, businesses and local people around the world.
Mostly, we need world leaders to show political will so as to move on to achieving sustainable solution.
Website or Online Profile
http://profiles.takingitglobal.org/unyimeabasi
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
unyime,
This is a great and the issues you have put up here are real.
Good luck
THese issues affect women in almost every society of the world. If its possible to make it work in Nigeria, i think same can replicate in other regions.
I really lov my organization