By Fatou I Touray
A UNFPA official has said that issues of child bearing cannot be discussed leaving out the men because this country is male dominant noting that they are starting to involve men and religious leaders to ensure a very good approach in enhancing the uptake of family planning (FP) services.
Mr Alieu Jammeh was speaking recently at the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) in Kanifing during a five-day planning meeting for the development of a costed communication strategy plan. It was organized by the Ministry of Health and UNFPA and attended by stakeholders from the health promotion and education, reproductive services unit, the media and the NGO sector.
Mr Jammeh explained that the idea is to brainstorm critically and look into the issues based on the CIP to tease out a communication strategy to be sold to the wider world. He blamed socio-cultural issues and factors and service delivery for the low contraceptive prevalence in this country.
“The document is looking in the demand creation so as to have consistent messages as well as consistent ideas. We hope the messages will increase the uptake of family planning services. By the time it started only women were consulted leaving the men out and it became an issue for women,” Jammeh explained.
Mr Saikou Omar Dibba, a lecturer at the University of The Gambia who doubles as the overall coordinator of the four-year plan, said facilitating the process was easy as participants were willing and ready to deliver to expectations. He said they are making a lot of efforts to ensure that the work is done.
He went on to say that the document is to promote certain behaviors and the involvement of men and women to make a huge change in this country. At the end of the event, he hope there will be a full plan to address different issues in promoting certain behaviors and the uptake of family planning services.
