By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
The Interim Country Director of Marie Stopes International Organization Nigeria (MSION) Mr. Emmanuel Ajah has commended Emir of Dass Othman Bilyaminu Usman for the commitment of the Emirate Council in advocating for Child Birth Spacing and other health related challenges amongst communities in Bauchi State. The Organization also appointed the Emir as board member of MSION.
Mr. Ajah gave the commendation at the palace of the first class emir during a courtesy visit recently to the emirate.
The MSION Country Director said that Dass emirate council has become a household name among development workers because of the accommodating disposition of the emir and his passion in advocating for good health in the emirate, the state and the country at large.
“Your Highness, your zeal, passion and doggedness in advocating for access to quality health care services in Bauchi State and the country at large has been a topic of discussions among development partners.
“It is no wonder that every intervention that comes to Bauchi State, Dass emirate council is always selected as beneficiary because of the Emirate’s accommodating nature that creates enabling environment for any intervention.
“We also thank you for supporting MSION team that have been implementing our activities in your domain for sometime now.
“MSION is very proud to associate with your proactive stance in the areas of childbirth spacing and other sexual and reproductive health services” said Mr. Ajah.
In his response, the Emir of Dass Othman Bilyaminu Usman thanked MSION for the visit to the emirate and further recommits to carrying out health advocacies in all the nooks and crannies of the emirate and beyond.
The Emir also urged MSION to coordinate it’s activities with other partners in order to mitigate challenges of duplicities in programs and activities.
In related another development, the MSION Country Director had held an interactive session with some relevant Bauchi stakeholders in the propagation of child birth spacing.
Speaking during the interface the State Co-Chair of Social and Behavior Change Advocacy Core Group (made up of religious/community leaders and the media), Khadi Abdullahi Yakubu Marafa disclosed that available statistics has shown that there has been a significant improvement in the uptake of family planning services.
Khadi Marafa said that the improvement was as a result of consistent advocacy and enlightenment campaigns being carried out by the SBC-ACG and other stakeholders in the state.
In his remarks, the MSION country director described the manner with which the stakeholders carry on with their tasks of advocating for uptake of FP services as impressive.
He urged the stakeholders not to relent in their efforts in bringing quality health care services to their communities.
Earlier , the State FP Coordinator in her opening remarks appreciated MSION for the support and urged it to continue with the good work. She also applauded MSION’s support to the State that aided the improvement of the State’s Contraceptives Prevalence Rate (CPR) from 2.5 to 6.7 during the last survey and expressed optimism that the figure will rise when next the survey is conducted.
In her presentation on the overview of MSION, the Northeast Regional Manager Hussaina Maji, informed the participants on the organization’s concept of work, area of coverage, channels of operation (Outreach, Public Sector Strengthening, Marie Stopes Ladies among others) and services such as SHRS, FP, STI, Cervical Cancer and Treatment, Missed/Painful periods as well as Youth Friendly Services.
There were goodwill messages from Evidence for Action (E4A MamaYe project) Bauchi State Advisor, Khadija Katagum and her Breakthrough Action Nigeria counterpart Usman Inuwa (represented by Aliyu DanAsabe Ahmed).
They all appreciated MSION for extending their hands of friendship to them and look forward to having more fruitful collaboration in the future.
Our correspondent reports that the interface attracted stakeholders from the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, SBC-ACG, WDC, women faith-based organizations, Implementing Partners and the Media.