Higherlife, Delta partner in campaign for Cyclone Idai victims - NaijaAgroNet

Driven by young people committed to see more lives saved, Higherlife Foundation and Delta Philanthropies, are inviting other young people to join their campaign in support and stand with other young individuals impacted by Cyclone Idai, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Cyclone Idai, NaijaAgroNet recalls had hit Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi on 15 March 2019 and left in its wake some 700 deaths and hundreds hospitalised.

“When cyclone IDAI hit, we saw images and videos of people standing in queues with donations. Inspired by their tenacity and generosity, we have decided to ‘join the queue’, bringing together Africans, all over the world, who want to help in what has become the biggest humanitarian crisis to hit the region,” says Elizabeth Masiyiwa, Executive Director of Delta Philanthropies.

Also read: Britons raise 8m Pounds for Cyclone Idai victims – NaijaAgroNet

The model of the campaign is simple: give and share.
1. GIVE: We have set up a crowdfunding campaign for individuals and partners to contribute to efforts on the ground to all three countries. 

2. SHARE: On Wednesday March 27th, at 1PM GMT, we will begin with a coordinated social media blast. Alongside our crowdfunding goal, we want to tell a powerful story that Africans and friends of Africa can stand together in response to the crisis. We know that some do not have the capacity to give but they can use their voice to stand with those affected.

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Britons raise 8m Pounds for Cyclone Idai victims – NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Britons have raised the sum of 8 million Pounds Sterling for the Cyclone Idai victims in just a day, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Disclosing this to NaijaAgroNet on Tuesday, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of Great Britain said this was achieved in just a day after the exercise was opened.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of Great Britain, NaijaAgroNet gathers, work on world affairs for the United Kingdom (UK) Government and leads on promoting as well as protecting British people, prosperity and influence globally.

With this development, the UK government said it will match the grand with 2million Pound Sterlings moving forward through the UKAid.

According to the UK government on its LinkedIn page, following the British public’s amazing generosity the Disasters Emergency Committee has raised £8 million for Cyclone Idai victims in just one day - £2 million of which has been match by hashtag#UKaid.

“Now hashtag#UKaid will match a further £2 million of donations, £ for £,” UK government official declared.

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Cyclone Idai worries ARC - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The African Risk Capacity Group has expressed deep concern over the loss of lives, economic livelihoods and extensive displacement, reports NaijaAgroNet.

ARC, NaijaAgroNet is a specialised agency of the African Union and ARC Limited.

The displacement of thousands of people, NaijaAgroNet gathered were in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe resulting from the impacts of floods and tropical cyclone IDAI. Whereas the Governments of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe are founding members of the ARC family, having signed the ARC Establishment Treaty in 2012.

At the time of its establishment, the African Risk Capacity focused on building Member States’ technical capacities and development of risk financing mechanisms to combat drought risk which was the major catastrophe against food security on the continent.

A press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet, the UN ASG and Director General, African Risk Capacity, Mohamed Beavogui said that the efficacy of the ARC Drought Model was proved many times when Governments of Member States received insurance payouts triggered following poor rainfall seasons in the Sahel and Southern Africa, enabling them to provide timely assistance to the affected population.

Following requests from Member States, ARC has been intensively working on the development of River Flood and Tropical Cyclones Models to derive corresponding risk financing products that will provide immediate access to financing to African countries that are prone to such hazards and enable them to provide timely assistance to affected communities.

It is unfortunate that these massive disasters have happened whilst the development work for these tools is still in progress.

Technical experts from ARC have been working closely with other partners to provide information from the models on the areas affected and evaluate the extent of the impact from these two events.

We expect that this information will be helpful in facilitating a good response; and providing better understanding of the prevailing situation.

It is our sincere hope that the ARC River Flood and Tropical Cyclone financial products will soon be made available to Member State Governments to better prepare them for responding to disasters of this nature.

The African Risk Capacity Group would like to commend these governments and partners that have already responded, for their efforts in supporting affected communities and call upon more partners, donors, stakeholders and friends to join the ongoing relief efforts, in solidarity with the Governments and peoples of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, to mitigate the impact of this devastating catastrophe.

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Access to FP: Adolescent, youth face wide range of barriers - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The challenges faced by adolescents and youth in accessing family planning in Nigeria have been underscored as very wide and key demoralizing factor, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Programme Officer, Reproductive Health Family Planning at Pathfinder International Nigeria office, Izundu Kosi, gave this insight during a presentation made at a 3-day capacity building workshop on investigative journalism organized by Pathfinder International Nigeria for Media and Advocacy Working Group (MAWG) on Family Planning in Lagos recently.

Dwelling on “Adolescent and Youth access to Family Planning” Izundu noted that adolescents and youth face a wide range of barriers in accessing high-quality Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services.

Some of these, she outlined to include what she described as structural barriers, socio-cultural barriers, and individual barriers to name a few.



She explained to NaijaAgroNet that ‘Structural barriers’ comprised such as laws and policies requiring parental or partner consent, distance from facilities, costs of services and/or transportation.

“… Long wait times for services, inconvenient hours, lack of necessary commodities at health facilities, and lack of privacy and confidentiality,” she decried.



Izundu also said that ‘Sociocultural barriers” involve such as restrictive norms and stigma around adolescent and youth sexuality; inequitable or harmful gender norms; and discrimination and judgment of adolescents by communities, families, partners, and providers.

On the individual barriers, Izundu went on to said that these include such as young people’s limited or incorrect knowledge of SRH.

This she said, may include myths and misconceptions around contraception; limited self-efficacy and individual agency; limited ability to navigate internalized social and gender norms; and limited information about what SRH services are available and where to seek services.

Although she recognized some of the government interventions to ensure the SRH of adolescents and youth in Nigeria to include the development of various policies nad laws to advance the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and youth people.

She listed some of the examples of such policies to include the “National Reproductive Health Policy and Strategy, National Adolescent Health Policy, National Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy, Family Life Health Education among others.”

Further, she pointed out that with the support of partners and other donor agencies, the government has put in place youth friendly health care centers and trained health care providers to provide youth friendly services

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Odusote urges National Park to improve IGR - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, has pledged to create an enabling environment that would help boost the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the National Park Service, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking weekend while on a working-visit to the head office of the National Park Service in Abuja, Mrs. Odusote said this would pave the way as part of Federal Government’s robust measures at diversifying the nation's economy.

The National Park Service is an agency under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Environment.

The PermSec highlighted the need for government to look inward and seek ways to harness alternative sources of revenue generation outside oil to fund its programmes and policies.

“With the right environment, the agency has a huge opportunity to assist the government to boost its IGR, especially now that oil prices have dropped significantly and there are some indications that it may drop further,” she said.

She also said that with an enabling environment, the National Park can help boost recreational activities, tourism, create jobs and massive wealth.

“Given the huge socio-economic benefits of National Parks worldwide, the Environment Ministry would do everything within its reach to collaborate with critical stakeholders to translocate animals that have either gone extinct or at the verge of extinction. This will help to attract tourism. As one of the most viable ministries in terms of revenue generation, we remain committed to helping the Federal Government boost its revenue source,” she said.

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Pix: Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, Mrs Ibukun Odusote.

Conflict: Lack of safe water likely to kill more children than violence - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Children under the age of 15 living in countries affected by protracted conflict are, on average, almost three times more likely to die from diarrhoeal diseases caused by a lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene than by direct violence, UNICEF said in a new report today.

Water Under Fire looks at mortality rates in 16 countries going through prolonged conflicts and finds that, in most of them, children under the age of five are more than 20 times more likely to die from diarrheal-related deaths linked to lack of access to safe water and sanitation than direct violence.

“The odds are already stacked against children living through prolonged conflicts – with many unable to reach a safe water source,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “The reality is that there are more children who die from lack of access to safe water than by bullets."

“In Nigeria, conflict has created huge challenges for people living in the north-east of the country, where violence has affected their ability to access water and sanitation, leading to diseases such as cholera,” said Mohamed Fall, UNICEF Nigeria Representative.

“More than 3.6 million people are in need of water, sanitation and hygiene services – 1.1 million of these are internally displaced (IDPs), having fled their homes due to violence and conflict. Many of them are out-of-reach, in remote areas still impacted by conflict. About 800,000 people are in hard-to-reach areas and 79 percent of these are children and women,” said Mohamed Fall..

In north-east Nigeria, 5,365 people were affected by cholera, with 61 dying in 2017, while 12,643 people were affected and 175 died of cholera in 2018.

UNICEF is working to scale-up lifesaving responses, especially in IDP camps, to ensure quality and sustainability of WASH services and facilities, minimize the risk of WASH-related diseases, and to provide preventive measures against cholera and other water-borne diseases.

Without safe and effective water, sanitation and hygiene services, children are at risk of malnutrition and preventable diseases including diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera and polio. Girls are particularly affected: They are vulnerable to sexual violence as they collect water or venture out to use latrines. They deal with affronts to their dignity as they bathe and manage menstrual hygiene. And they miss classes during menstruation if their schools have no suitable water and sanitation facilities.

These threats are exacerbated during conflict when deliberate and indiscriminate attacks destroy infrastructure, injure personnel and cut off the power that keeps water, sanitation and hygiene systems running. Armed conflict also limits access to essential repair equipment and consumables such as fuel or chlorine – which can be depleted, rationed, diverted or blocked from delivery. Far too often, essential services are deliberately denied.

“Deliberate attacks on water and sanitation are attacks on vulnerable children,” said Fore. “Water is a basic right. It is a necessity for life.”

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Fayemi commiserates with rainstorm victims - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

…..Promises government support

The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi has commiserated with victims of Tuesday’s rainstorm which damaged some buildings in Ado-Ekiti and some parts of the state and pledged the support of the state government towards mitigating their losses, reports NaijaAgroNet.

He also directed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to liaise with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to come up with the detailed record of affected areas and individuals for necessary support.

The Governor also appealed to the PHCN and BEDC to move round the affected areas and tidy up damaged electricity poles and cables so that power supply can be restored to the areas.

While government would do her beats in ensuring that support gets to the affected individuals and families, government is also appealing to well- meaning members of the public and philanthropists to come to the aid of the victims of the rainstorm in whatever way possible.

Government is of the view that effects of rainstorms or other natural disaster can be mitigated if individuals would take some precautionary measures. These measures include carrying out routine checks on individual buildings and structures; clearing of drainages and refraining from indiscriminate dumping refuse on rivers, roads, drainages and median.

The Governor has also directed that those who were affected by the rainstorm but who were yet to be visited by officials of the Ministry of Environment or SEMA should take photographs of their damaged buildings with other proofs and report at the office of the Agency for proper documentation.

Governor Fayemi says necessary measures would be put in place to ensure that the coming raining season does not bring havoc.

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Gossipmill fear tunes Lagos youth off family planning - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Lagos-based youths have expressed dismay over the attitude of some health care service providers, saying that the fear of becoming gossip mill tune them off family planning, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The youths, largely females, who speak with NaijaAgroNet under anonymity decried the attitude of some health care service providers, especially when they approach family planning centres for services or even to inquire.

They confirmed to NaijaAgroNet that in Lagos, for instance, they would not access family planning service in their immediate domain to avoid stigmatization afterwards.

Also, they noted that although Lagos State has some Hello Lagos, which is the life-planning centres for the youth, the bias evident at those centres discourages them.

The youth who spoke on the sideline of the 3-day capacity building workshop on investigative journalism organized by Pathfinder International Nigeria, told NaijaAgroNet they came from Ikotu, Alimosho and Agege.

They complained of being made to stand while interrogated during her visit, instead of being attended to or counselled based on their needs in the first instance.

According to one of them, 25-year old Halima and graduate of Business Admin, the service provider’s first question was on her age bracket and on learning she had three boy-friends at 25, the body language changed outside religious concerns and countenance, stressing that she was not even given an opportunity of seeing a condom or counselled properly on other options, hence she has to leave.

She alleged that her welcome was not warm as anticipated, wondering if it should have been better to have unplanned pregnant to receive required attention at family planning units of Public Healthcare Centre (PHC) despite being sexually active.

Another female youth, Helen, 22, who acknowledged being sexually active lamented that the health service provider, she accosted at the Hello Lagos Life planning centre, was visibly furious on noticing she is a Catholic, did not given her required attention and courtesy of offering her a seat or any attempt to make her to relax before supposed grilling.

Helen said that in the course of their tensed-discussion, she understood that both female and male condoms were available at the facility, but she was not given the female condom which she had demanded but a male condom was offered to her.

As said by her, she decided to take away the male condom roll-of-four because half-bread is better than none, stressing that she was concerned that at her back, she became subject of gossip.

For 20-year Ayoshe, who is a makeup artist, the PHC centre she visited was near her community and because of their prying foot-dragging responses to her questions as a teenager wanting to access family planning services, she had to switch role from personal inquiry to on errand for her mother.

She was not shown any options of family planning but told that for her to access any available service, must be during ovulation, which family planning experts, Mrs. Abiola Adekoya disagreed with, even though some pregnant women still ovulate whilst pregnant.

Adekoya, a retired nurse told NaijaAgroNet that these service providers in these cases were bad examples and opposite of what they should be, especially for these youths by counselling them and sharing available options with them and possibly allow them to make informed decision.

Mrs. Adekoya insisted that those service providers need to be trained in the right contemporary path to help the teeming youth who may come across them.

She posited that with the narratives aforementioned, these youngsters may not likely return to the centres again eventually even when they may be ready for family planning, describing it as a missed opportunities to win a soul for family planning and better equip the youth.

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pic: country director, FP Dr Farouk Jeba

Jega says knowledgeable family planning service providers will make difference - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The country director of the Pathfinder International Nigeria, Dr. Farouk Jega, has said that having a knowledgeable family planning service providers would make a lot of difference in the nation’s health care sector, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Chatting with NaijaAgroNet in Lagos at the ongoing 3-day capacity building workshop on investigative journalism organized by Pathfinder International Nigeria, Dr. Jega said well-informed service providers will bring about enormous change towards building trust in the adoption of family planning uptakes in the country.

“Having service providers who know their jobs will make a lot of difference,” he asserted.

NaijaAgroNet gathered there are several types of health services providers which range from medical doctors, obstetricians cum gynecologists, and physician assistants, to nurse practitioners, licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, and advanced practice nurses, to pharmacists, and specialists.

Also, Dr. Jega said that every woman, especially in developing economies like Nigeria deserves quality family planning information so as to make informed decision.

“Every woman deserves quality information on family planning,” he declared.

As said by him, every woman no matter the age has the right to know and assess quality family planning information.

Pathfinder International Nigeria, he told NaijaAgroNet believe so in provision of quality family planning information for families, and mostly women, insisting that there should be no coercion on the part of women as far as issues on family planning is concerned.

He advised women to have children at the appropriate time as it has some health implications both for them and child, lamenting “if born at the age nearing menopause.”

NaijaAgroNet gathered that menopause equally known as the climacteric, is the time in most women's lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children.

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Pix: Dr Farouk Jega, CD, Pathfinder International Nigeria

South-South tops in HIV prevalence - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet 

The 2018 Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) has revealed that the South-South zone has the highest HIV prevalence in the country with North West with the lowest, reports NaijaAgroNet .

NAIIS showcased this indicating the South-South zone has the highest HIV prevalence with 3.1 per cent and North West has the lowest 0.6 per cent. 

The latest NAIIS is a cross-sectional survey that will assess the prevalence of key human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related health indicators. This survey is a two-stage cluster survey of 88,775 randomly-selected households in Nigeria, sampled from among 3,551 nationally-representative sample clusters.

According to NAIISResult made available to NaijaAgroNet , showed that HIV prevalence in Nigeria in 1.4 per cent; there are 1.9 million people living with HIV in Nigeria. HIV prevalence is 1.9 per cent among females and 0.9 per cent among males.

The HIV prevalence in Nigerian prisons, NaijaAgroNet gathered was twice higher than in general population.

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