UNFPA, CSOs advocate more funding for family planning

The United Nations Population Fund and some civil society organisations have called on the government to ensure more funding for reproductive health and family planning activities.

They made the call in Abuja on Monday.

Joachim Chijide, a family planning specialist, said the federal government had been doing its best to fund this concept. Mr Chijide, however, said that there was room for improvement of funding by the government at all levels to achieve Nigeria’s family planning 2030 commitment of having at least 27 per cent of modern contraceptive prevalence rate.

He said that an investment of one per cent of federal and states annual budgets in FP will yield over $1.1 billion in returns. According to him, between 2024 and 2030, every dollar invested in family planning in Nigeria will yield $69.3 in returns on average.

He said the federal government had yet to release the two billion Naira in the 2024 budget for family planning commodity procurement.

Mr Chijide said that the Federal Government should also sign Annex A of the compact of commitment 2025-2028 to make Nigeria eligible to receive donated commodities from the UNFPA supplies partnership.

He listed states that have contributed to funding family planning activities, including Gombe, Ogun, Lagos, Delta, Adamawa, and Rivers, stressing that there was a need for more funding from other states.

(NAN)