Global Family Planning Body Launches West African Office In Nigeria

Global family planning body, Family Planning 2030 has  launched 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 said, “We are accelerating progress that ensures that 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 noted that the council had been working with the federal government and health organisations for more than five decades.

Dube said, “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.

The executive director said the North, West and Central African regional hub wound cover 30 countries in the region.

He explained that 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.

Dube further said that the connection would be with other FP2030 partners in the region and would create 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, applauded the launch of the new FP2030 hub in West 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