In view of the aforementioned, I authored a book titled “Girls’ Talk: What Every Young Woman Needs to Know.” The book teaches pivotal reproductive health education and life skills to the girl-child. The chapters are presented in an easy-to-read manner with real life stories to facilitate learning. There are seven chapters in the book that deals with self discovery, anatomy, and physiology of the girl-child, friendship, physical, social, and psychological needs of the girl-child, her vulnerabilities and her possibilities.

With the $1000 Young Visionaries contest grant, I will publish 1000 copies of the book Girls’ Talk and distribute FREELY to 1000 girls in the grassroots’ schools who can not afford to buy the book.

The book was first published in 2006 and reprinted in 2008. In 2010, it was translated to French for the French-speaking African girls.
There has been positive feedback as to the positive impact the book has made in the lives of all that have read the book.

A complimentary copy would be sent to you at your request.

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.

It is in the light of these ugly developments that I will use the Young Visionaries contest grant to provide and improve contraceptive services to young people, especially in target rural communities where the availability is very poor due to socio-cultural problems, poverty, lack of awareness about other contraceptive devices, and poor policy which has had a severe impact on gender, especially for females, in certain parts of the country. I will also use the grant to provide protection to young women and children who have been victims of recent ethnic and religious conflicts in the northern part of Nigeria by making emergency aids available to them.

In Nigeria, the scenario is the same, especially within slum communities in the country. These communities which are involuntary settlements provide homes to a large percentage of the country’s population, many of who are women and youths. It is evident that the greatest problems young persons living in these settlements grapple with are lack of correct information on their sexuality and reproductive health rights. This has resulted in an alarming rate of gender based violence, leading to high occurrences of assault, rape and gross violations of human rights.

In proffering solution to this issue, as a way to educate the young persons in slum communities in Nigeria, I will use the $1,000 Young Visionaries Contest grant to organize a public forum for young persons. The public forum would be held in Mushin Olosa, a slum community in Lagos State. The forum, which would be a pilot, would provide a platform for discussions on sexual and reproductive health rights of young persons. Experiences would be shared by young persons whose courage in asserting their sexual and reproductive rights transformed their lives and the lives of others in their community.

This program is aimed at bring about behavioral changes amongst young persons. They would be able to assert their sexual and reproductive rights in the face of violence and made to see an alternative to the culture of silence in the event of violation. As a follow up, funds would be sourced to carry out this program in other slum communities across the country. This would promote the sustainability of the project.

In Nigeria, young people between the ages 10-30 years comprise about a third of the total population, and the need to address the developmental challenges confronting young people has never been greater. These many young people face numerous challenges that can negatively affect their reproductive health and development, such as early pregnancy and childbirth; abortion, sexually transmitted Infections, high rates of HIV infection—especially among young women; high unemployment rates; and high levels of crime. Many young people are also victims of various discriminatory gender practices and reproductive rights violation.

There have been an increased focus and high concentration on meeting some of these needs. We must:

•provide young people with Family Health Centers and services to manage early pregnancy, clandestine abortion, STI’s;

•provide anti-retrovirals for people living with HIV/AIDs

But one of the most important but insipid segment or concentration of services has been the legal assistance and support services, which is the core of advocacy over decades.
Young people have constantly been underserved with legal services while there continue to be increases in rape cases, sexual assault and harassment, female genital mutilation (FGM), discriminatory gender practices, reproductive rights violations, sexual rights and identity violations and discrimination.

With a $1000 Young Visionaries grant assistance, I will have the opportunity to help young people who are indigent of legal assistance by:

• Training, creating awareness, and mobilizing a critical mass of young lawyers for their support and volunteering to provide indigent young people with pro-bono legal assistance.

• And also help us in creating a website that will inform and respond to the legal assistance needs of indigent young people based on the fact that the internet has become a growing supply of information and response especially among urban young people.

This would strengthen advocacies of the past and also help us in pouncing on the gaps and grey areas in our justice system, especially as it affects young people.

The summit will bear in mind and consider the fact that there’s significant un-met need for information, education, and services for sexual and reproductive health for married and unmarried people and thus essential to create an environment conducive in keeping girls in school through secondary level and to address gender inequalities for successful development of the nation.

I believe and understand that the sexual and reproductive health of young people is the fundamental key to the development of nations – demographically, economically, socially, culturally and politically and as such meeting our needs (i.e. the needs of young people, is patently critical to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The summit, which will bring together youth and youth leaders, parliament members, professionals in the field of sexual and reproductive health, and other stakeholders will address issues on

- Information and services for contraception as well as post abortion – care for young people
- Sexuality Education
- Girl Child Education
- Gender Based violence
- HIV/AIDS and STI’s including cervical cancer

Recognizing that investing & empowering girls and women is one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to advance the development agenda, the summit will enable young people express their views and opinions on the need to develop an approach that allows meaningful participation, opportunities at the policy level that respects young people’s interest and needs in programming for HIV and reproductive health services.