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In its bid to enhance the capacity of women, The Women’s Helping Hand Initiative (TWHHI) in the first quarter of 2021 has trained women in selected Local Government Areas in Lagos and Ogun States.
Apart from the in-depth training, the organization also provided awareness and resource materials for women on COVID-19 by collaborating with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to implement its intervention programs.
The organization which believes that capacity building for women doesn’t stop at training but includes the extra efforts of providing resources and support to the affected has found a strong partnership with the UNFPA to ensure smooth operation and implementation of the Civil Society Organisation Engagement (CSOE).
The CSOE during the period of the project provided Essential Sexual and Reproductive Health services including Family Planning and information on COVID-19 preventive measures and awareness to three Local Government Areas in Lagos and Ogun State.
The aim of this project is rooted in the desire to organize a community orientation to firstly sensitize women and girls on COVID-19 preventive measures and also demystify the misconceptions about family planning and bring services closer to community members.
In implementing this project, Local Government Family Planning Managers/Reproductive Health Coordinators were supported to organize one Family Planning outreach per LGA to reach women and girls within the community.
A total of 308 participants were reached in Lagos State and 265 in Ogun State. The women and girls were educated on the various methods of family planning, myths were demystified and patients were allowed to make their own choices.
At the event, adequate referrals were made to the health facilities in the community for cases that could not be handled at the health fair.
Before the outreach, each of the two states was supported with supplies of family planning materials and resources which were to be distributed to all service delivery points.
To further strengthen the impact of this project, Local Government Areas conducting family planning outreaches would have access to more supplies of family planning
materials and resources to meet up with the demands from community mobilization to the health facilities and for community outreaches.
With regards to COVID-19, 180 health workers were trained on risk mitigation and protective measures to institute Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) protocol in three Local Government Areas each in Lagos and Ogun State.
Mr. Jude Ikenwobodo, a project officer with TWHHI said, much emphasis was put on the importance of instituting adequate protective measures in practice and being religious to these practices to reduce transmission.
In addition to the training, Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) were distributed in both states to solidify the practice of protective measures against the novel virus.
Conclusively, in the first quarter, TWHHI has been able to provide adequate training, awareness, and resources on COVID-19 and family planning in selected communities and LGAs in the two states by collaborating with UNFPA to implement these interventions programs.
