[afro-nets] Communiqué: Conference on ASRH in Nigeria's Niger Delta

[Public Health <phirc2005@yahoo.com>]

Communiqué at the End of the Conference on Promoting Adolescent
Reproductive Health in the Niger Delta
---------------------------------------------------------------

Organised by the Public Health Impact Research Centre

 From Wednesday 15 March to Saturday 18 March, 2006 at Legacy
Hall, Port Harcourt

Under the Chairmanship of Mr. E. C. Odiaka (Communication Spe-
cialist of the Public Health Impact Research Centre) with the
Hon. Minister for Education as Special Guest.

Participants were drawn from Delta, Abia, Rivers, Imo and Akwa
Ibom States.

Theme: Moving Adolescent Sexual And Reproductive Health Forward
In The Niger Delta Region

Issues discussed included:
* Reaching Out-Of-School Adolescents
* Improving Parent-Child Communication On Adolescent Reproduc-
   tive Health
* Use of Information, Education and Communication Materials for
   the Promotion of Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
* Running a Youth Friendly Clinic/Centre
* Adolescent Reproductive Health in the Niger Delta: Issues and
   Challenges
* Empowering Youths through Youth Centres

Following the deliberations at the 4-Day Conference on Promoting
Adolescent Reproductive Health in the Niger Delta

Delegates identified that:

An adolescent is a person aged between 1`0 to 24 years as de-
fined by the National Adolescent Health Policy (1995).

In Nigeria, as in many developing countries young people 10 to
24 years constitute more than one-third of the population and
represent the potential workforce of the nation.

More than half of those newly infected with HIV today are be-
tween 15 to 24 years old.

A Youth Friendly Centre provides an instrument expected to give
the necessary guidance that would help create a ballast in the
adolescent which would help them navigate through the most tur-
bulent period of their lives, in a relaxed and enjoyable atmos-
phere.

The expected outcome of a well organized Youth Centre are bal-
anced adolescents who stand out and are recognized positively in
public and private circles in responsible position and who ulti-
mately become resourceful adults and positive societal change
agents.

Once adolescents have a sense of belonging in the society, they
will be less inclined to expressing themselves in destructive
ways and other forms of restiveness.

Early indulgence in sexual activities by adolescents is as a re-
sult of the impression created in their minds through peers,
home videos, pornographic books and other alluring materials.

Basically, all young people need and want information about
their sexuality and reproductive lives as well as the freedom,
right and power to exercise greater control over their lives as
they mature into adulthood.

Information, education and communication materials could help
determine how young people perceive things, the decision they
eventually take and their behaviour.

Parents are not usual sources of reproductive health information
for the vast majority of adolescents. They must be empowered to
be a major source of providing correct reproductive health in-
formation to their children and wards.

In the Niger Delta Region, the local environment exerts extra
pressure on adolescents and youths, which directly has conse-
quences in their health status and reproductive behaviour.

The capacity for promoting reproductive health in the Niger
Delta needs building up through a highly interactive network
preferably operated through the internet.


The conference delegates recommend that:

Networking of Ministries of Education, Ministries of Health and
Ministries of Women Affairs with NGOs should go beyond invita-
tion to meetings and workshops and extend into implementation of
programmes that can show high impact on the reproductive health
of the communities in general and the adolescents in particular
Parents should be encouraged to share positive reproductive
health information with each other in groups.

Cybercafes should be empowered to promote positive reproductive
health information to adolescents and work in partnership with
government agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
Individual NGOs and government agencies should set up Youth Cen-
tre across the Niger Delta region where youths can be engaged on
a one-to one basis and steered onto more productive paths of
life.

Stakeholders in the Niger Delta should impress upon the NDDC,
Oil companies, Local and International Donor Agencies and other
well-meaning individuals to assist credible Non-Governmental Or-
ganisations in the Niger Delta to get funding for their work on
adolescent reproductive health and to follow up on their activi-
ties by asking for their annual reports to make sure they imple-
ment their proposed plans of action.

There should be promotion of the use of a wide range of Informa-
tion, Education and Communication materials targeting all stake-
holders in adolescent sexual and reproductive health e.g. opin-
ion leaders, teachers, parents, male and female in-school and
out-of-school adolescents, health workers, pharmacy shops and
patent medicine stores, government agencies (at local, state and
federal levels), etc.

Religious bodies and faith-based organizations (FBOs) should be
made to play a major role in promoting Adolescent Reproductive
Health in the Niger Delta.

State governments in the Niger Delta Region, Niger Delta Devel-
opment Commission, multinational oil companies along with all
key players (e.g. NGOs, CBOs, FBOs women groups, and adolescents
should develop a time-bound State Adolescent Health Strategic
Framework and plan for each state.

There be the formation of a Niger Delta Adolescent Network
(NDAN) which will strengthen capacity in the Niger Delta for
Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and other burning is-
sues that affect the region.


Signed

Dr. M. I. Oseji
Chairperson, Conference Organising Committee

Dr. E.E. Giwa-Amu
Secretary, Conference Organising Committee

Dr. P.I. Okonta
Chairman, Scientific Committee