Delta Journalists Undergo NRHJN’S Family Planning Exercise

The exercise which was organised by NRHJN in collaboration with The Challenge Initiative (TCI) involved the administration of questionnaire on family planning for participating journalists to respond to.

The exercise was designed to access the level of awareness and knowledge of the journalists on family planning.

It commenced at about 10.15 am, and saw the full compliments of the journalists in attendance with the KAP questionnaires issued and completed between 10.30 am and 11 am at the Asaba NUJ correspondents’ chapel secretariat, 8 Okelue Street, Asaba.

In an opening remark, Mr Abayomi Awoleye, reminded participants that the exercise has become important giving the rate at which the country’s population is rising, adding that currently it has overshot 200 million.

According to Awoleye, TCI partnership with journalists is aimed at sensitising the people on the need to control their family size in the state and indeed the country to ensure a healthier living.

“TCI target is to reach the entire country as it currently operates in several states and to achieve this target, the media is strategic in information dissemination to a larger percentage of the population on family planning.

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“Hence we are on this exercise to engage the journalists to ascertain the knowledge base on family planning through the KAP questionnaire,” Awoleye said.

Earlier, the state coordinator, Mrs Helen Dunkwu, while introducing the exercise, urged the participating journalists to fill the questionnaire based on their true understanding of the subject matter.

She said TCI, a global initiative kicked-off in Nigeria September 2016.

“It is an ambitious programme to accelerate demand-driven participation and spark up a national family planning movement in Nigeria.

“The NRHJN is a group of health reporters, editors and producers with passion for reporting and working on issues related to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

“TCI is collaborating with NRHJN to take up media –based advocacy across the various states and is planning to support journalists in Bauchi, Ogun, Delta, Kano and Niger states to improve the family planning reports in the states.

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“The primary objective of this KAP assessment is to generate data that will inform subsequent engagement with journalists and media in general,” she said.

Consequently, the participating journalists were issued a questionnaire on participatory research on knowledge of family planning and its reporting by journalists.