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National Context
In 2003, the population of Nigeria is estimated to be 126.1
million, with an annual growth of 2.9%. According to 2003, NDHS
report, TFR stands at 5.7, while mortality trend appears to be
rising: infant mortality rate rose from 75/1000 in 1999 to 100/1000
in 2003; maternal mortality rate estimated at 800/1000 is one of the
highest for Africa.
The
country has enjoyed relative political stability, which was
translated into a successful conduct of presidential, gubernatorial
and parliamentary elections in 2003. (This created favorable
environment for the hosting of many international events, notably
the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the 8th
All Africa Games). The renewal of policy makers in all arms of
government (Executive, Legislative and Judiciary), presents new
advocacy challenges for the FO.
The existence of Legislative committees on a) population and
development, b) health, c) HIV/AIDS, d) women and Youths demonstrate
commitment of the legislature and will ultimately create favourable
environment for the implementation of population and development and
gender programmes in Nigeria. Inadequate budgetary allocations and
release of funds in 2003 had impact on social services, including RH
services and preparatory activities for the 2005 population and
housing census.
Although
women are still disadvantaged in terms of employment, education,
land ownership, access to credit, the last elections revealed an
improvement in the number of elected positions, which has enhanced
their participation in government.
However, their status and potential are still undermined by a
number of harmful traditional practices and customs, such as the
traditional preference for male children, poor nutrition for girls,
female genital cutting, violence against women and widowhood rites.
Available indicators reveal that majority of the 66 percent
of the population living below the poverty line are women.
HIV/AIDS prevalence rates increased from 5.4% in 1999 to 5.8%
in 2001, and the result of the 2003 sero-prevalence survey is being
awaited.
1.2.
In response to increasing level of poverty, government started, in
2003, the development of a home-grown poverty eradication framework,
known as National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy
(NEEDS) which is the equivalent of the Poverty Reduction Strategy
Paper (PRSP). In addition, government has embarked on several reform
processes in all development sectors, including health, civil
service and economic sector reforms, to address some of the
inefficiencies observed over the years.
While
adequate policy instruments on population and development, including
national policies on women, HIV/AIDS, youths, RH, education exist,
the required legal and implementation frameworks are inadequate.
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Past
Cooperation and Lesson Learned
The principal strategy of the 4th
CP was capacity building at the international and operational
levels. UNFPA helped to develop training modules and curricular on
reproductive health, population and development strategies, and
advocacy. A number of these were adopted by the federal authorities,
including modules for:
(a)
Training planners and statisticians to integrate population
factors into the development planning.
(b)
In-service training of nurses and midwives
(c)
Training in adolescent health and development, clinical
protocol and service guidelines
(d)
Training policy makers and technical experts on population
and development at the National Institute for Policies and Strategic
Studies, National Centre for Economic Management and Administration,
and three media training institutions.
Training
related to the expanded lifesaving skills initiative enabled 234
doctors and 690 nurses/midwives to improve the provision of maternal
health services. Secondary school teachers and guidance counsellors
conducted training in population and family life education. This has
increased awareness of population and reproductive health issues,
including HIV/AIDS, among in-school adolescents.
A national reproductive health policy was developed and adopted. In
addition, basic reproductive health facilities were equipped or
renovated in 12 states. This increased the number of service
delivery points offering high quality reproductive health services
by 35 percent and also increased by 54 percent the number of service
delivery points providing at least three modern methods of family
planning.
Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom provided
contraceptive supplies through UNFPA, easing shortages and improving
the commodity mix in the country. Canada contributed an additional
S6.6 million over a 24-month period in support of the reproductive
health sub programme.
In
the area of population and development strategies, databases were
established in 12 States. Database management training was provided
to officers at the federal level and to planners and statisticians
in sectoral ministries. This training helped to establish a database
of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in population
sector.
A
secretariat established in the National Planning Commission laid the
groundwork for Nigeria’s membership in the intergovernmental
organisation, Partners in population and Development, by increasing
awareness of population and development issues among 30 federal and
state permanent secretaries. The national population policy was also
revised, taking into account ICPD objectives.
By analysing census data, he National Population Commission was able
to publish monographs on gender and sustainable development;
children, adolescents and youth, and the elderly. The 1999
demographic and health survey and the sentinel survey reports were
published and disseminated. Socio-cultural research conducted in 12
states formed the basis for the production of media materials geared
to increase use of reproductive health information and services.
Support was provided to the Federal Ministry of Information and
National Orientation to continue publication of Choices magazine, a
forum for discussion on population and development issues. A grant
channelled through Federal Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Youth
Development enabled the publication of Humankind, a magazine
on reproductive health and rights.
Although
advocacy initiatives resulted in the establishment of committees on
population in the Senate and House of Representatives, budgetary
constraints hampered their work. There was some success, however,
including the commitment of the Government to 2004 population and
housing census. Moreover, the skills of journalists reporting on
population and development issues in the mass media were enhanced.
In the previous country programme, advocacy projects were
limited to the federal level. The
absence of state-level advocacy projects constrained these efforts.
Major constraints in implementing the fourth country programme were:
(a) the lack of baseline data to define benchmarks to measure
results, performance and impact; (b) the shortage of personnel to be
trained for capacity building efforts in some states; (c) the high
turnover of trained staff; (d) the lack of understanding of the
importance of using databases for development planning; (e) weak
management capacity; and (f) the delayed start of implementation due
to changes in government.
Lessons learned include the realization that sustained
advocacy at all levels is key to the success of the national
population programme. There
is also a need to provide benchmark data at the start of the
programme and to develop process and impact indicators to ensure
proper monitoring and evaluation of the programme.
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The
goal of the proposed programme is to contribute to enhancing the
quality of life of Nigerians by securing commitment at all levels
for the implementation of the national population and development
programme. The
programme is consistent with the goals of the ICPD programme of
Action, ICPD+5, the national population policy and CCA/UNDAF, as
detailed in the attached results and resources framework.
The programme will cover 15 out of 36 states. The level and type of assistance to be provided to the 12
states assisted under the previous programme will be based on: (a)
the incidence of poor health survey report; and (b) the level of
donor assistance. Furthermore,
three disadvantaged states will be selected from the north-west.
The programme will encompass all three thematic areas:
advocacy, reproductive health, and population and development
strategies.
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The
proposed outcome of the advocacy sub-programme is to give greater
visibility to the national population and development agenda and to
enhance support for population and development programmes.
This will be accomplished through three outputs.
The
first output is to improve the capacity of stakeholders to plan and
implement advocacy activities for population and development
programmes. This will
be achieved through: (a) in-country advocacy training; (b)
action-oriented advocacy in reproductive health and population and
development strategies; (c) resource mobilization at the country and
multi-bilateral levels; (d) building coalitions and partnerships;
and (e) electronic networking.
The
second output is to improve the integration of gender equity and
equality concerns in population and development programmes at all
levies. This will
require: (a) support from coalitions; (b) support for the campaign
against gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices,
including female genital cutting; and (c) gender analysis.
The
third output is to improve understanding and application of existing
international and national policies on population.
This will be achieved by creating awareness in government
institutions of national policies and international agreements and
conventions, such as the ICPD Programme of Action, the Millennium
Development Goals, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women and the New Partnership for Africa’s
Development. Culturally
sensitive behaviour change communication and Information, Education
and Communication (IEC) materials will also be produced on.
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Reproductive
Health Sub-programme
The
expected outcome of the reproductive health sub-programme is to
increase safe sexual and reproductive health behaviour and increase
the utilization of reproductive health services.
There are three output under this sub-programme.
The first output is to increase the availability of a minimum
package of high quality reproductive health services.
This will require: (a)
capacity-building for health personnel; (b) support for a
sustainable contraceptive logistics management system; (c) behaviour
change communication efforts through multimedia initiatives
targeting vulnerable groups; (d) strengthening referral systems to
respond to sexual health and pregnancy-related problems, including
emergency obstetric care and VVF; and (e) expanding access to
reproductive health information and services.
The
second output under this sub-programme is to increase access to
HIV/AIDS preventive services, including voluntary, confidential
counselling and testing. This
will involve multimedia initiatives at service points and community
centres, especially those targeting youth as well as efforts to
build the capacity of community health personnel; and lay
counsellors. Activities
aimed at promoting the use of female and male condoms will
complement these efforts.
The third output is to increase the accessibility of sexual and
reproductive health information and services for in-school and
out-of school youth. This
will be achieved by reinforcing school sexually education and by
providing youth-focused information and services (at community
centres in partnership with the Government, NGOs and the private
sector).
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Population and
Development Strategies Sub-programme
The proposed outcome of the population and development
strategies sub-programme is to enhance the management and
implementation of population and development programmes.
The sub-programme has the three outputs.
The
second output is to improve mechanisms for the coordination,
monitoring and evaluation of population programmes at all levels. This will be achieved by: (a) putting into effect
coordination, monitoring and evaluation guidelines; (b)
capacity-building in programme management for programme
implementers; (c) developing a comprehensive monitoring and
evaluation plan; and (d) providing support for a coordination
structure.
The
third output is to increase the availability and accessibility of
development data. This
will be achieved by: (a) supporting the 2004 population census and a
demographic and health survey; (b) collecting baseline data to
develop indicators for programme monitoring and evaluation; (c)
strengthening the capacity for policy-oriented research and gender
analysis; (d)
strengthening databases; (e) establishing local and wide-area
networks; and (f)
setting up web sites.
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UNFPA works at both the Federal and State
levels (15 out of the 36 States).
The programme will use the national
execution modality. Subprogramme
and component project activities will be implemented by government
agencies such as the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal
Ministry of Information and National Orientation, the national
Planning Commission and the National Population Commission.
NGOs will also implement the programme.
Monitoring and evaluation will be
conducted in accordance with UNFPA policies, procedures and
guidelines. A programme
management planed will facilitate results-based management.
A high-level programme coordinating committee, chaired by the
National Population Commission, will be established.
The committee will convene annually to review the programme
management plan and assess programme orientation, and will also
organize a midterm review in 2006 with other United Nations
partners.
Baseline data is being collected at the
beginning of the programme to provide benchmarks for monitoring and
evaluation. Where
necessary, operational research will be conducted to refine
indicators.
During the 5CP, the CO has adopted a modified Programme Approach
that comprises one population and development programme per State,
three national projects and one programme coordination project
consisting of crosscutting items such as equipment, vehicles,
contraceptives technical assistance and capacity building. This new
approach was adopted to ensure efficiency in financial management.
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Assistance by core programme areas (in millions of
$):
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Regular Resources
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Other
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Total
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Reproductive Health
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8.4
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6.0
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14.4
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Population and Development Strategies
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7.0
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3.0
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10.0
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Advocacy
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8.4
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6.0
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14.4
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Management and Support
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1.2
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-
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1.2
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Total
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25.0
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15.0
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40.0
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5th Country Programme of Assistance to the Federal Government of Nigeria
