Marie Stope International (MSI) has unveiled its plan to reduce maternal deaths from complications of unplanned pregnancies in five states.
The Guardian gathered that the plan, to be implemented in Taraba, Adamawa, Katsina, Zamfara and Kebbi states, was made possible by KfW Development Bank.
KfW, which stands for ‘Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau’ (in English, Credit Institute for Reconstruction), is Germany’s main development bank.
Country Director, MSI Nigeria Reproductive Health Choices, Emmanuel Ajah, made the disclosure in Jalingo, yesterday, at the inception meeting for Reproductive Health and Pandemic Resilience Project (RHPR).
The project, which he said is aimed at improving the quality of life for women, and by extension the generality of Nigerians, will expand the availability, access, acceptability and quality of integrated reproductive health services across the five states and at the national level.
Services to be rendered during the implementation period, he said, include family planning, cervical cancer, menstrual health, sexual and gender-based violence, as well as norm change interventions designed to facilitate community support and enabling environment for services to be provided and received by women.
While MSI will be responsible for the full implementation of the project, the Federal Ministry of Health will provide leadership and supervisory oversight on the project governance and implementation at the national level, while the state’s health ministry will provide leadership and supervisory oversight at the state level.
Elated by the development, wife of the governor, Mrs. Agyin Kefas, said the state government would collaborate with MSI to ensure the success of the project.
She called on stakeholders to support the project to achieve the desired results, reiterating her personal commitment towards joining forces with the international organisation to realise the project.
