MP4 commended for championing the cause of women and children

Media Partnership for Women and Children (MP4), a newsletter published by the Development Communications Network Lagos and the Nigerian media practitioners have been commended for the recent rise in the frequency and quality of media reports on the need to have better maternal, newborn and child health in Nigeria.

Making this commendation at the just concluded review of the national policy on the elimination of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and plan of Action in Jos, Plateau state, Dr Sola Odujinrin RH Advisor for the World Health Organisation in Nigeria, stated that the achievement of the MDG 4 and 5 lies on the hands of the people.

“If the media would concentrate and continue to educate the people on their health and enlighten policy makers on the health realities and the need for better and workable policies, then there is hope in attaining a level of the health goals set up in the MDG.”

“The media is doing well through the MP4 and all the other activities we have noted so far but there are still other areas to be highlighted. Areas such as FGM and the issues surrounding its practice,” she intoned.

Corroborating with the WHO stand, Mrs. Stella Akinso, who represented the country director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Country Director in Nigeria, Sidiki Coulibaly, stated that the MP4 has gained readership amongst many policy makers in Nigeria and the global audience through the internet.

According to her, “We believe the media has a lot of influence and would seize every window of opportunity to collaborate with them so that there would be a re-orientation of the general mindset towards practices that are inimical to the health of people especially women and children; practices like the FGM.”

* By Nnenna Ike