The
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and partners held a drawing contest
between students to test their understanding on Family Planning and related
issues on Monday.
They
aim was to create greater understanding on family planning services and
commodities; generate demand for uptake of family planning services in
communities, register new family planning acceptors in Lower River and Upper
River Regions and Dispel myths around family planning.
As
part the campaign in URR, School children from eight schools in region six
namely: Kobakunda, St. Joseph’s and St. George’s Lower Basic schools, St.
Mulumba’s, St. George’s and Nasir Upper Basic schools and St. George’s and
Nasir Senior Secondary schools took part.
The
students drew their ideas about family caring or how they imagine their
families in the future. This related to the size of the family and
relationships between them which they drew to illustrate the message.
Winners
of Lower Basic Schools are; Lamin Bah, St. Joseph’s, 1st position. He was
awarded educational items and a brand new bicycle. Maria School, were both
awarded educational items.
Prizes
for the Upper Basic categories went to Kaddijatou Sidibeh of Nasir Upper Basic
School. She was awarded a brand new bicycle and educational items, while Juldeh
S. Bah and Alhagie Touray of St. George’s Upper Basic School each received
educational items.
For
the Senior Secondary school categories, Momodou AF Jallow took 1st and he
received educational items and a brand new bicycle. Saidou Camara from Nasir
Senior was 2nd and Doris K. Jatta from St. George’s Senior Secondary School was
3rd.
The
Family Planning Area Manager for URR applauded the UNFPA-The Gambia office for
their efforts in scaling up their family planning programming which can greatly
support the country in harnessing the demographic dividend and, ultimately,
reduce poverty.
Seedy
Jagne made this statement during an interview with reporters at the end of the
UNFPA’s three-day campaign to Scale up Family Planning Uptake in The Gambia,
URR, on the theme “Family Planning: YES to CHOICE, NO to CHANCE” which
specifically targeted young women and men both in and out of schools in the URR
and LRR.
According
to Jagne, the campaign is important, especially in their areas of operations
whereby it helps them sensitize people in order to understand what family
planning is all about.
He
said if “you talk about family planning, you talk about the health of mothers
and their children,” thus stressing that UNFPA is one of the key collaborators
with The Gambia Family Planning Association.
He
said the contraceptives the UNFPA is giving out to their volunteers in URR are
expensive, adding that “those contraceptives are not easy to buy” but with the
kind gesture from the UNFPA; their volunteers are getting them free.
Mariam
Joof, a Midwife at Basse Major Health Centre, also spoke to The Point
expressing her profound thanks to the UNFPA and SOS Mother’s Clinic from
Bakoteh for making their work in the region easy when it comes to Voluntary
Counselling Tests (VCT).
Ma-Fanta
Tambajang, a volunteer from Nyakoi Bani in Wuli West, described UNFPA’s
campaign as an important campaign.
She
called on the people of the region, especially her womenfolk, to always grab
such opportunities whenever they get to their doorstep.
