Family Planning 2030 (FP2030), the global family planning partnership, has announced the location of its West African office in Abuja, Nigeria.
The FP2030 Executive Director, Dr Samukeliso Dube and Harriet Birungi, Population Council’s Vice President of International Programmes, formally launched the new hub in a video announcement on Tuesday in Abuja.
The announcement also outlined the vision for the new hub’s work on family planning in Africa.
Dube said that the newly created Abuja-based hub would be hosted by Population Council Nigeria and would serve as the office for North, West and Central Africa.
He added that “we’re accelerating progress that ensures our efforts are country-led and remain globally connected, while building on the strengths and successes of FP2020.
“We know that with Population Council Nigeria as our host partner, we are very well placed to succeed.”
He said that the council had been working with Federal Government and health organisations for more than five decades.
He added that “Population Council Nigeria is dedicated to meeting the needs of populations at risk, including adolescent girls and young women and promoting access to high-quality sexual and reproductive health, maternal health and family planning services.
“FP2030’s North, West and Central African Hub is one of the four new hubs to be launched this year, in addition to the existing North America and European Hub.
“A second Africa hub has also been launched in Nairobi, Kenya and will work to strengthen family planning access and sexual and reproductive health and rights in East and Southern Africa,” Dube explained.
The executive director said the North, West and Central African regional hub wound cover 30 countries in the region.
He said like the other regional hubs, it would include staff expertise in-country engagement, youth partnerships, advocacy and accountability, high-impact family planning practices, as well as fundraising and communications.
“It will provide support to FP2030 partners in the region with regards to developing their FP2030 commitments.
“It will also give technical support in specific topical areas across the advocacy spectrum, notably with regards to the needs of youths, humanitarian crisis services and preparation, and health integration.
“It is our goal to foster a truly country-led commitment process not only by ensuring countries set their own goals, but also to facilitate better and consistent connections.”
He added that the connection would be with other FP2030 partners in the region, creating stronger programmes and accountability.
According to him, regional hubs put countries and regional partners in the driver’s seat for agenda setting, monitoring progress and collaboration.
Madame Marie Ba, the Executive Director, Ouagadougou Partnership Coordinating Unit (OCPU), praised the launch of the new FP2030 hub in West Africa.
She said that “FP2030 and the OPCU have had a long and collaborative partnership, building stronger family planning network in Africa.”
Ba maintained that having an FP2030 office in Abuja would strengthen collaboration and galvanise coordination among partners across the region.
This, according to her, has been one of the longstanding roles of FP2030, but expects these networks to become stronger with the regional hub office support.
She said that the ultimate aim was to connect these stronger regional networks to a global movement for family planning.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that FP2030 launched its second decade in 2021.
NAN further reports that Federal Government launched its own national FP2030 commitment earlier in March 2022, having been one of the original FP2030 commitment makers in 2012.
The government has pledged to strengthen the integration of family planning into Nigeria’s socio-economic frameworks, including Universal Health Coverage.
The government has further committed to increase financing for family planning by allocating one per cent of the National and State Health budgets annually to sexual and reproductive health by 2030.
Government has also reiterated committed to addressing social and gender norms hindering female agency, autonomy and access to rights-based family planning, as well as social norms impacting men, young people and vulnerable populations. (NAN)
