Benin/ANCB FP PROJECT REVIEW WORKSHOP Two days of reflection, recommendations and advocacy for a better consideration of family planning at the local level
The various actors involved in the implementation of the Project for the Promotion of Family Planning in Benin's cities met on 22 and 23 September 2021 in Cotonou to review the activities of the said project and to launch a plea for a better consideration of sexual and reproductive health issues at the local level.
Organized by the National Association of Beninese Municipalities (ANCB) with the technical and financial support of the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF), the city of Paris, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Beninese Association for the Promotion of the Family (ABPF), the workshop was launched on Wednesday 22 September 2021 by the president of the umbrella organization of Beninese municipalities, Luc Sètondou.Beninese Association for Family Promotion (ABPF), the workshop was launched on Wednesday 22 September 2021 by the president of the umbrella organization of Beninese municipalities, the mayor of Cotonou Luc Sètondji ATROKPO.
Three discussion panels were held during the two days of reflections that allowed actors such as civil society organizations, sectoral ministries, mayors, communal executives and technical and financial partners to take stock of family planning at the local level. This review revealed the great delay that Benin still has to make up for in this area and led to recommendations. These recommendations should lead to advocacy for the State to give more resources to the communes to enable them to better take charge of family planning.
Two major points crystallized the attention during the debates. On the one hand, the need for communal authorities to show their good will by opening budget lines dedicated to sexual and reproductive health issues, including FP. The second is the mechanisms that need to be put in place to financially support the local authorities in order to enable them to carry out large-scale activities.
In turn, the various speakers stressed the importance for the Government and local actors to take these issues on board, as they are not only a societal problem but also the very basis of all development.
It should be noted that the project has made it possible to raise awareness among 108 elected officials, 100 girl mothers, 200 craftsmen, 600 men and heads of households, 610 women of households and to train 125 traditional authorities, 60 health workers and 147 young people on FP.
The meeting ended on Thursday, September 23, 2021 under the aegis of the Mayor of Kétou Lucie SÈSSINOU who, on behalf of the President of ANCB, thanked the participants for their assiduity in the debates during the two days.
Source: www.ancb.bj
