…Commends UNFPA Ahead of Anatomical Models Donation to Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria
On Wednesday the 8th of July 2015, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa Founder-President, H.E. Mrs. Toyin Saraki, in her role as International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) Global Goodwill Ambassador received a delegation of United Nations Population Fund representatives who paid a courtesy visit to the ICM Ambassador to discuss issues of mutual interest and collaboration, ahead of the UNFPA’s planned donation of anatomical models to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria on the 9th of July.
UNFPA Nigeria Courtesy Call to WBFA Founder-President HE Mrs Toyin Saraki
Led by Dr. Babatunde Osotimehim, the United Nations Population Fund is committed to addressing the needs of the world’s women and children and has been working since 1969 to expand the possibilities for women and young people to lead healthy and productive lives. In line with its goal to promote access to safe family planning choices for women, the UNFPA has pledged to train nurses and midwives on injectable long-acting contraceptives – which can easily be administered in the arms of patients by skilled midwives and community health workers.
In July 2012, working with the White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa successfully saw to the adoption of a memorandum to the National Council on Health, which enabled community health workers to provide injectable contraceptives in Nigeria. Spearheaded by Mrs. Toyin Saraki, the adoption of this recommendation into Nigeria’s public health policy strategy implementation currently plays a major role in addressing the unmet need for family planning services in the country today.
Receiving the United Nations Population Fund country leaders in Abuja, Nigeria, Mrs. Toyin Saraki stated, “I am inspired by a quote from the ancient Latin scholar, Pliny the Elder, who once said ‘Semper aliquid novi Africam adferre’ or ‘Africa always brings [us] something new.’ As I devote my energies to raising recognition and deployment of qualified midwives around the world, I cannot but remember that home is where the heart is, as the Wellbeing Foundation Africa has long championed that innovation must be delivered from within the continent. I therefore commend UNFPA for this timely donation, trusting that generations of trained midwives will be empowered, and in turn, enhance the care of mothers and newborns.”
To effectively support the role of midwives in the health system, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa has consolidated its programs in alignment with UNFPA focus, particularly as the 2014 global co-launch of the ‘State of the World’s Midwifery’ Report illustrated that without intervention and investment in midwives, Nigeria is poised to encounter difficulties in responding to 12.8 million pregnancies per year- in light of an estimated 62% population increase by 2030. To further advocate for increased accessibility, availability, acceptability and quality of midwifery, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa Founder-President has kicked off a world tour of global midwifery associations which is expected to cover 136 member countries. Having visited Lesotho, the United States of America, with upcoming visits scheduled to Surinam and Japan, the world tour of global midwifery associations will serve to garner international investment in midwife training, and will call for the rapid inclusion of skilled midwives at the heart of government and international policy on maternal and newborn health as a matter of priority.
In a recent statement, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa Country Director, Dr. Luther King Fasehun, also disclosed that the foundation looks forward to hosting a Nigeria National Midwives Conference in the coming year, to usher in Sustainable Development Goals based skills, for nurse-midwives throughout the nation.