Concerned about the growing funding gap in the implementation of family planning, stakeholders have appealed to the 36 state governments in Nigeria to make budgetary allocations for its effective implementation.
The United Nations Population Funds, UNFPA, made the appeal at a 3rd quarter meeting of the Family Planning Technical Working Group conducted by the Ministry of Health in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, south-south Nigeria. A UNFPA representative, Mr Emmanuel Emesowum, during a power point on Family Planning Financing, noted that donor funding was on the decline, while the demand for commodities has continued to rise.
Closing the gap
Emesowum, who unveiled the UNFPA Family Planning Implementation Guideline for Nigeria at the meeting, explained that the document would be disseminated nationwide to enable states scale up procurement of the commodities.
He hinted that out of 35million US Dollars required for the procurement of commodities this year, UNFPA has provided 8milloin US Dollars, while the Nigerian Government is expected to procure the rest. The Nigerian Government alone cannot sustain the funding.
“The funding gap here is about 80 percent, which requires that state governments need to contribute. The supply gap keeps widening and the federal Ministry of Health is unable to meet the demand for commodities. But what has also been observed that state governments in Nigeria lack dedicated budget line for family planning. This through advocacy needs to change.
“The state governments must be actively involved in family planning. The population growth across the world is rising and the supply of most of the commodities is reducing now more than ever. We have discovered that we cannot even meet the current demand and create awareness for more.
“So as part of UNFPA’s commitment to scale up supply, which witnessed a decline with the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war, this 77 page implementation guideline would be disseminated nationwide to enhance family planning and hopeful scale up procurement to address the situation.
Accurate planning
Also speaking, the Director of Public Health in the State Ministry of Health, Jonas Offor appreciated the partners for the work done in Cross River so far, noting that the current global economic situation has called for proper planning.
“I on behalf of the Cross River State Government appreciate UNFPA and all our partners. It is obvious that there is need for proper planning in view of the current economic situation in the country and world. We need to regulate the number of children and educate those ignorant to understand the need for family planning. There are so many factors affecting population such as cultural need for male child, crimes, over-stretched social amenities, increased maternal and infantile mortality amongst others.
“I can assure you that the ministry will continue to partner with our donors to achieve the needed success by increasing acceptance for family planning commodities, continuous community enlightenment and other areas.”
Implementing work plan
In an opening remark, the Family Planning Coordinator in Cross River State, Lucy Enakirerhi urged members of thematic committees, constituted by the technical working group to develop work plans that would serve as a benchmark for the group and partners in line with the national guidelines.
She further urged members to strive and implement the work plans to enhance the distribution of family planning commodities in the storage facility to villages located within difficult terrains and centres requiring needed intervention.
The meeting featured goodwill messages from partner agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO), hausa community, traditional institution, religious bodies, Ministry of International Development Corporation, Cross River State Budget officer and local government authorities as well as non-governmental organizations in the health sector.
