By Ijeoma Umeh
Lagos – The need for women journalists to recommit to proper reportage of issues of Women’s Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (WSRHR) formed modules of a 2-day intensive engagement of members of the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) drawn from both print and electronic media.
Addressing participants at the training which took place in Lagos on 29th to 30th May 2024, Mr Lucky Palmer, Country Director of Partners for Reproductive Justice, Ipas Nigeria Health Foundation, NHF stated that the essence of the training was to build the capacity of NAWOJ leadership on WSRHR issues, to impart in women Journalists necessary skills and knowledge to effectively counter misinformation and become strong advocates for WSRHR.
The Country Director also stated that the workshop was aimed at equipping women Journalists with the tenets of International commitments, including Nigerian Laws and policies which Ipas Nigeria is operating on and to allay their concerns around the work of Ipas to enable women journalists buy into Ipas work in Nigeria.
Mr Palmer, in his introduction to Women’s Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights stated that in Nigeria, Unsafe Abortion contributes at least 13% of the Maternal Mortality, and that of the women who survived Unsafe Abortion, many suffer acute and short term complications, including hemorrhage, sepsis, trauma, infertility, increased risk of ectopic pregnancy and spontaneous abortions, quoting a WHO Maternal Mortality Fact Sheet No. 348, May 2012.
The report further states that children lose their mothers and entire families suffer, and that children who have lost their mothers are ten times more likely to die prematurely.
The Country Director therefore implored women Journalists to stand in the gap for gender centric reports which will help stem the tide of Unsafe Abortion and give women healthier choices to live right and be able to meet their responsibilities to their families and societies.
Also making his Presentation on “Burden of Maternal Death from Unsafe Abortion”, Dr. Fehintola Akintunde, a Gynecologist, stated that a woman dies every minute globally from maternal mortality and that there is need for all hands to be on deck in bringing issues of maternal health to the front burner.
He stated that abortion services is particularly important for women and girls who are victims of sexual violence, rape and incest and that journalists should help humanity by pushing, through objective Reportage, that victims of sexual violence have access to choice.
“There is a need for a review of our restrictive abortion laws due to the Human Rights Implication of Unsafe Abortion.” Dr Fehintola stated.
He further noted the challenges which impede on access to safe abortion services to include lack of political will on the part of government to finetune and implement existing legal frameworks to allow persons freely make informed choices on their Reproductive Health rights and canvassed for removal of bottlenecks.
He tasked media executives to consider the National Policy Frameworks for the Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Nigeria and to push for safe termination of pregnancy without being biased or judgmental in their reports.
In her presentation, Ene Oshama, a Development Journalist, took participants on Access to Healthcare, Role of the Media.
She enjoined the media to challenge stigma, harmful stereotypes and to strive to disseminate only accurate information on WSRHR to the public.
She urged women Journalists to address misconceptions, cultural sensitivity and clamour for Policy Advocacy, including highlighting gaps, pushing for reforms, working in collaboration with other state actors to support survivors, sharing stories and creating support networks.
“As journalists, editors and leaders in the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists you are Advocates. And in consideration of that role, you have a task to ensure that we teamed up to bridge the gap in awareness creation by addressing peope whose every day lives are daily being watched, talking of policy makers.”
She implored participants to invest in self development, in research and accurate data gathering; and implored them to write more human angle stories, get expert opinions and use the multimedia approach, which entails certain ethical conditions for confidentiality, handling sensitive information, protecting identities, and with accuracy(verified information), and balanced reporting.
The Media Personality also highlighted the VAPP Act as one of the tools for Media Advocacy and enjoined participants to ensure they deployed it as part of media tool to drive home their advocacies.
Also taking on participants, Doris Ikpeze, Partnership Programme Manager with Ipas NHF, addressed the concerns of Nigeria’s International, Regional and National Commitments to WSRHR and gave practical tips on how women Journalists could properly deploy the VAPP Act, Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa(2003), Universal Declaration on Human Rights, various Protocols and Platforms of Action in the coverage of WSRHR issues and reports. She enjoined them to always highlight systemic issues and barriers to justice in honing their skills in WSRHR reporting.
Factors associated with abortion Mortality in developing countries were highlighted to include lack of contraception access and use, resulting in unintended pregnancies, lack of access to safe abortion services, restrictive abortion laws, shortage of trained staff and equipment, among several others.
Earlier in her address, Comrade Aisha Ibrahim, National Chairperson of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, represented by Comrade Lilian Okonkwo-Ogabu, Deputy National Chairperson, thanked the organizers of the training for building the capacity of its members and assured that the knowledge gained will be an added impetus in addressing the challenges that women are faced with in propagating the culture of procreation.
“No woman should die bringing forth life and no one should die trying to access care during pregnancy, whether wanted or unwanted. Our duty as women Journalists is to inform and diligently guide women and the girl-child to access quality Healthcare and make informed choice in so doing. The quality of tools that this training has deposited in us will help us produce quality reports. We thank your organization and look forward to enlarged training of our members across board.” The National Chairperson stated.
Zonal Chairpersons of NAWOJ and members of the national executive were beneficiaries of the just concluded IPas NHF training in Lagos.
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