By Vaye A. Lepolu
The Initiative for Women and Youth Entertainment has held a one-day family planning, budget review, and analysis meeting with MOH, PPA-L, and CSO, on the need for access to Contraceptive and Equitable SRHR Services.
The meeting occurred on Tuesday, the 20th of February 2024 in the pipeline community, Paynesville, under the Advancing Calls on Contraceptive and Equitable SRHR Services for All project.
The Chief Executive Director of Initiative for Women and Youth Empowerment Madam Musu W. Davis has said, that the Advancing call for contraceptive and equitable SRHR Services For all projects, is to increase budgetary allotment for family planning in the Ministry of Health budget.
According to the Executive Director for I.W.Y.E, the Initiative for Women and Youth Empowerment (IWYE) has been closely working and coordinating efforts with both local and international organizations to undertake the project of “Advancing call for contraceptive and equitable SRHR services.”
She claims, that from the establishment of GFL Inc. in 2015 and now IWYE Inc., the organization has been vigorously implementation programs and projects for Women, Youth, and girls empowerment, meanwhile, she said the organization is also on advocacy and awareness raising on health-related issues such as teenage and adolescent pregnancy, family planning, contraceptive and among others services.
Madam Musu W. Davis stated that the call for Contraceptive and equitable SRHR Services project is designed to tackle issues that are affecting adolescent girls’ access to contraceptives in rural and urban Liberia, she said, the project will also tackle low budgetary support from the government towards the health ministry.
However, the Executive Director for IWYE said that the February 20th, 2024 dialogue program, the initiative for women and Youth Empowerment (IWYE) would focus on family planning, Budget Review, and analysis, is one of the IWYE actions planned with the national government and major shareholders through responsible dialogue.
According to her, she is hopeful for Initiative for Women and Youth Empowerment to obtain good results that will bring happiness to the faces of Liberian girls and public health care centers across the country.
The Initiative for Women and Youth Empowerment (IWYE) organization’s vision is based on the elevation of young girls, women, and youths to acquire good knowledge, skills, and training they desire to become self-relevant and good leaders with dignity in society.
Meanwhile, she said the project will be implemented through two (2) specific objectives, which include, advocating for an increased budgetary allotment for family planning in the Ministry of Health’s budget from 20,000 to at least 100,000 by July 2024.
The other will carry on the Collection, analysis, validation, and publish relevant data on the shortage of Contraceptives in public health facilities and the demand for them in 10 counties by July 2024 Workplan and Budget.
At the same Ministry of Health Representative Madam Sametha George said adolescent girls in the central and Northern regions of Liberia are more likely to experience teenage pregnancy compared to those living in the Southern region.
She said, adolescents are experiencing the growth of SGBV cases in number most especially in rape, she stated, young people’s lives are at risk of sexual behavior through an unplanned pregnancy, unsafe abortion, misconception FP, STI in sexual emotions including HIV/ AIDS.
According to Madam George, teenage pregnancy is associated with women’s education, occupation, marital status, wealth quantitative access to information about SRHR, and modern contraceptive methods.
Ministry of Health representative Madam George claims, 33.4% of married women and 38.1% of sexually active unmarried have a high unmet need for FP.
She said the ability of individuals and couples to anticipate and attain the desired number of children, the spacing and timing of childbirth is based on FP, the access to FP is a human right and economic development that attention from all shareholders.
On the dialogue program of IWYE in the pipeline community, Paynesville made a statement that modern contraceptive methods are most effective to reduce unwanted pregnancy, enabling women and couples to plan how many they have and when to them.
