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Tag: Hacey Health initiative

  • Initiative, foundation celebrate girl-child

    Initiative, foundation celebrate girl-child

    The HACEY Health Initiative, in partnership with MTV Staying Alive Foundation, has celebrated the international day of the girl child with students from several schools.

     The event, themed: “Girls’ Vision for the Future,” at the Ozone Cinema, Yaba, Lagos, showed support to 150 girl -students from different schools in Lagos State, teaching them that they do have the agency to demand change in society.

     Executive Director, HACEY Health Initiative, Rhoda Robinson, said that there’ve been an increase in strengthening female voices and the need to respond when they speak. “Over time, we’ve seen a gradual increase and strengthening of girls and their ability to demand agency and demand the things that are required for them to live healthy and sustainable lives.

     “And this event is showing, the different challenges that they have and how they have been able to overcome it and what we can do as, key stakeholders and as the adults in our society to ensure that every girl has an equal opportunity to achieve her desires,” she said.

    Read Also: Investors raise long-term stakes on Nigeria’s economy

    According to Robinson, there are platforms, such as the PAVE project, that provides safe spaces and, empowerment opportunity for girls that they are able to create the vision that they see for their future.

     She said:“So today, we are commemorating the 2024 International Day of the Girl Child under the theme: Girls vision for the future. And we’re using this opportunity to call attention to the powerful strength that all girls’ voices have and the need for us to listen and respond when girls are speaking.

     “We are here to support them, to provide them with the platform that they need through our different projects such as the PAVE project that provides safe spaces and, empowerment opportunity for girls that they are able to create the vision that they see for their future,” she stated.

    Country Manager, MTV Staying Alive Foundation, Anita Adesiyan, lifted the event with showcasing two short films, that addresses conversations around gender equity, empowering women within the society despite challenges they face.

     “So today, we will actually be screening 2 short films, 1 is called “AFEFE”, which was produced, written and directed by Lola De Adeleke.

     This actually, speaks about, the challenges that women in the Nigerian society faces in regards to their, obligations within the family, how they have to put their own dreams and aspirations aside just so that they can cater to, what the society expects from them. We also have another short piece called “PERIOD” where we are where we actually touch on or highlight the, disadvantages that we face with periods for young girls, period poverty,” she stated.

     She said that it is important to create more awareness for the conversations on gender equality and the place of a woman within her society, coupled with the challenges that she has to navigate through while dealing with cultural and societal expectations of her own self. “These are very important conversations that we need to face and promotes in the country right now because it’s something that is not spoken enough about.

     “We’re the ones showcasing these films today, that focuses on gender equity, the place of a woman within her society, and the challenges that she has to navigate through while dealing with cultural and societal expectations of her own self and also a short piece on, period poverty where young girls have to struggle to access, the right equipment or the right things that they need for their own health,” she added.

  • ‘Media should help curb rape culture’

    A media strategist and Public Relations Consultant, Mrs. Adenike Fagbemi has urged the media to help curb the dominant rape culture in the country.

    Fagbemi made the call at a media round table organized by HACEY Health Initiative held last Friday in Lagos.

    She said the media is the most powerful tool that can change the people thought towards sexual violence because it fosters public attitudes towards issues of human interest.

    According to her, media practitioners can play a major role in curbing sexual assault by following up on sensitive cases and not just reporting it.

    “ The media is the  tool to create mindset that sexual violence is a crime and it’s penalties are real,” she stated.

     

    Also speaking at the event, an activist on women’s right and film producer, Grace Edwin Okon said it is wrong to use the social media to stigmatize victims and make others afraid to speak up.

    “Victims should not be stigmatized, instead it should be the perpetrators. That attitude should stop so that people will suffer in silence,” Okon stated.

    Okon added that “the media should let the public know the cases of people who have been punished for the act to make them know that perpetrators can’t get away with the crime”

    The Director, Gender Programs at HACEY Health Initiative, Rhoda Robinson said the issue of sexual harassment should be taken more seriously as a crime that it is.

    “It should be a crime to the extent that people will have a second thought at the wages of their actions like that of stealing in the market.”

     

     

  • Demographic Dividend: Group calls for private sector partnership

    To galvanize private sector involvement in accelerating the process of demographic dividend in Nigeria, the National Population Commission, UN agencies led by UNFPA, HACEY Health Initiative, GBC Health. Population Council and One Campaign have organized the first Private Sector Conference on Harnessing the Demographic Dividend in Nigeria.

    In an interactive and impactful-laden atmosphere, the conference took a holistic look at the challenges and opportunities in implementing the Nigeria Road Map through private sectors investments in young people, hence, calling on all private sectors key players to play the lead on several deliverables of the democratic dividence roadmap.

    The conference which held at Four Points by Sheraton, Victoria Island, brought together group of business executives, corporate managers, technical experts, government officials, program implementers and global advocacy community to develop strategies and programs that will accelerate the impact of interventions focused on harnessing the demographic dividend.

    Speaking at the conference, the Project Director, HACEY Health Initiative, Owolabi Isaiah, noted that “the conference seeks to increase the understanding of and discussions around the ‘Demographic Dividend’ and its potential impact on Nigeria’s development, among private sector organizations.

    According to him, the event it seeks to create a Business Coalition on Harnessing the Demographic Dividend in Nigeria and foster a call to action by the private sector to promote investment in harnessing the demographic dividend.

    In the same vein, the UNFPA Representative Ms Diene Keita reiterated the need for the private sector to join in the efforts of the Government, the UN and Development Partners to harnessing demographic dividend in Nigeria by investing in health, education and employment of young people especially young girls, as this is not only necessary for the realization of the SDGs but will result in greater profit for entrepreneurs in the country.

    The Chairman of the National Population Commission, Eze Duruiheoma also added said that young people are  pillars of the future, and can become economic super powers today and always if partners across different sector work together to invest in the health, education and employment of young people in Nigeria.

    Also read : Okowa Calls for private-public partnership

     

     

  • Experts urge Private Sector to invest in Youths

    In an attempt to overturn the economic situation of the country, experts have charged members of the private sector (organizations and businesses) to invest in Nigerian youths so as to help turn around the economy.

    The experts who double as high-level stakeholders spread across National Population Commission, UN agencies led by the United Nations Population Fund [UNFPA], HACEY Health Initiative, GBC Health, Population Council and ONE Campaign yesterday, held the first ever Private Sector Conference which bothers on how private sector can invest in young people to harnessing the Demographic dividends in Nigeria, at Four points by Sheraton, Lagos.

    According to the Director of Research & Development, Hacey Health Initiative, Paul Ojajuni, empowerment and education of young people is vital to the promotion of accelerated economic growth, urging the concerned parties to tap into the resources of the youths of Nigeria so as to develop the economy.

    He said that the Nigerian population is really young, so, we consider that an untapped resource and then we believe that if investment is made in that population, there will be returns on investment which will lead to accelerated economic growth.

    The concept of Demographic dividend is having a very young, healthy and productive young population that can actually contribute to the society, he added.

    Furthermore, Ojajuni urged the Nigerian youths to value opportunities and advised them to hold the bull by its horn so as to tap into the opportunities that are available and will arise as a result of this initiative.

    “The youths need to be proactive regarding things that they need to do, secondly, they need to be able to create opportunities rather wait for the government to create opportunities for them,” Ojajuni added.

    “The population of Nigeria is increasing rapidly and we need to control the size at which the population is increasing and improve our life expectancy. The government cannot do it alone; the development partners cannot do it alone ,” Sylvia Adebajo, country director, Population Council said at Nigeria’s first Private sector Conference on Demographic Dividend in Nigeria held yesterday in Lagos.

    Experts urge Private Sector to invest in Youths

    “We need to engage the private sector to contribute to the development of our human capital to achieve demographic dividend,” Adebajo said.

    “The shape of the population of any nation determines its level of development and demographic dividend is not automatic, it has to be planned for,” Osaretin Adonri, assistant representative, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representing Diene Kieta, country representative, said.

    “We must create the population structure that we want and that structure must be the one that has more of our population working than the percentage that is dependent.

    Read Also: HACEY advocates usage of technology to develop sexual orientation In Africa

    “To be able to increase the population that is working and reduce the dependent population we must start from planning the population and that is where family planning is very important,” Adonri said.

    One of the aims of the conference is to ensure government and private sector collaborate to invest in the youths of the country so that the can both, as one, work towards the common good of all by harnessing the Demographic dividends in Nigeria.

    As such, Ojajuni, urged the government to join the train by putting in place some workable policies to grease the engine of the new train.

    “We expect there to be certain policies in the country that will enable young people reach their full potentials.

    “Such are policies regarding health, policies regarding entrepreneurship, policies regarding education and not just enacting policies but policies that are well translated at all levels to action.

    He also added that, “to harness demographic dividend the private sector to play huge role. We’ve seen the private sector over time (such as Access Bank, Microsoft, etc), initiate programmes and projects across sectors which have been successful in health, financing and others.

    “The private sector is a huge partner in this and that’s why we are doing this for the private sector and all Nigerians.

    “We strongly believe that Nigerian youths are not lazy but very productive people, he concluded.

  • HACEY, NiBUCCA Recommend Scale Up of Condoms In 2018

    HACEY, NiBUCCA Recommend Scale Up of Condoms In 2018

    In attempt to curb the effects of HIV/AIDS on Nigerians, Hacey Health initiative, a non-Governmental organization, has teamed up with the Nigeria Business Coalition Against AIDS (Nibucca) in order to ensure a more convincing and effective battle is fought against the killer disease HIV/AIDS.

    This gave birth to an organized session by both parties to educate young people and couples on HIV/AIDS; how to prevent the infection as well as how to manage the infection should they contact it.

    Speaking during testing and counselling exercises which was supported by Access Bank Plc in line with the belief of the bank that private sector can play a huge role in eliminating HIV, Programme Coordinator Hacey Health Initiative, Owolabi Isaiah said that the recent UNAIDs report shows that in 2016, Nigeria had 220,000 new HIV infections and 160 000 AIDS-related deaths.

    According to Isaiah, the collaboration by both bodies will go a long way to ensure that the effect of the killer disease is curtailed with the country experiencing an unprecedented rise in the mortality rate cause by the disease as well as rise in infection.

    He explained that the only way to prevent, care and reduce the prevalence of HIV was to ensure that those tested positive have access to treatment.

    “It is in attempt to achieve this that Hacey Health Initiative and NiBUCCA conducted tests for about 576 people, which includes 321 females and 255 males during the organized session. Two people were tested positive; both male and female. This was solely supported by Access Bank Pls.

    “Young people in Ilorin, Kwara state also benefitted from the project as they were educated on HIV/AIDS through the IEC materials and one on one engagement. About 1,780 young people were engaged during the programme which also included sponsorship of 304 viewers to a cinema show as they watched an Access bank funded movie which enlightened young people on the potential risks, perceived vulnerability to HIV, myths surrounding the spread of HIV and description of the dynamics of the virus in the human body,” Isaiah noted.

    Following the success of the programme, Hacey Health Initiative and Nibucca recommended the scale up provision and distribution of condoms to reach 2 million young persons across Nigeria by the end of 2018, also increased support to 100,00 persons living with HIV by providing Anti Retrovirals (ARTs) and enabling strong referral channels.

    This project was supported by Access Bank Plc in line with the belief that private sector can play a huge role in eliminating HIV in our generation. It is apt to note that the project was implemented in Surulere,  Ajegunle,  Ilorin Kwara State.