President Bola Tinubu has reaffirmed his administration’s dedication to the welfare and empowerment of girls, women and young people.
Speaking on Wednesday at the unveiling of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities’ (UNFPA) State of the World Population 2024 Report, Tinubu emphasised the need to address the challenges facing this vulnerable demographic.
The UNFPA’s flagship State of the World Population Report with the “Interwoven lives, threads of hope: Ending inequalities in sexual and reproductive health and rights”, followed the global launch, which held in Geneva on April 17, 2024.
Represented by the Minster of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate,the President highlighted the importance of ensuring that girls stay in school and avoid early motherhood, providing access to quality healthcare and services, and implementing laws to end gender-based violence and harmful practices such as early/forced marriages and female genital mutilation.
According to him, his administration is committed to keeping hope alive for girls, women, and young people by fulfilling its promises to accelerate actions in Nigeria, adding that his government will ensure that no woman dies giving birth, and that every girl has access to quality education and healthcare.
The administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda prioritises the empowerment of girls, women, and young people, recognizing their critical role in Nigeria’s development.
He noted that with a focus on strengthening the four D Principles – Development, Democracy, Demography, and Diaspora – the government aims to integrate modern solutions into policies and programs that benefit this demographic.
The Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, launched in December 2023, is a testament to the administration’s commitment to the health and well-being of girls, women, and young people.
This initiative aims to improve access to quality healthcare services, including reproductive health and family planning, and address the unique challenges facing this demographic.
“Meeting the aspirations of the population affected by these inter-woven threads, who are mostly women, girls and young people, places a great demand and a sense of duty on us all to keep that hope alive. We must fulfil the promises to accelerate actions in Nigeria and ensure no woman dies giving birth.
“We must ensure that girls stay in school instead of becoming mothers at tender ages, provide access to quality health care and services everywhere, including accelerated access to family planning as fundamental for managing our population.
“Also, we must ensure the implementation of laws to end gender-based violence and harmful practices like early/forced marriages, female genital mutilation, that are against women and girls and indirectly against true and enduring development of our nation and people.
“The narrative in the paragraph that was just quoted above, are part of the concerns that formed the Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly anchored on strengthening the four D Principles: Development, Democracy, Demography and Diaspora, aimed at integrating modern solutions into our policies.
“With a dynamic population of 220 million that is youthful, growing fast and projected to 450 million by 2050, making us among the fourth or fifth largest, most populous countries in the world by then, and with our rich cultural diversity, we are poised to harness our demographic potential for development of our country.
“I want to assure you, that we are taking bold steps and committed to addressing issues that affect our youth reproductive health, and in December 2023 I launched the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, which is anchored in a sector-wide approach and the Basic Healthcare Provision Pact,” he said.
