The Ogun State Government says it will sustain the Civil Society Organisation Engagement (CSOE) Project being supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in their effort on health systems strengthening and response mechanism to improve the wellbeing of residents.

The Executive Secretary, Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr. Elijah Ogunsola stated this during a stakeholders' meeting on Impact of UNFPA funded CSOE Project in the State, organised by the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN), at the Nigerian Medical Association Hall in Abeokuta.

Ogunsola noted that the project which is currently implemented in three selected communities in Ado-Odo/Ota, Sagamu and Abeokuta South Local Government Areas, had provided capacity building for over 200 health workers on sexual reproductive health care provisions, as well as response and management of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) issues.

Represented by the State Reproductive Health Coordinator, Dr. Israel Orire, Ogunsola lauded the intervention of PPFN and UNFPA in transforming the healthcare delivery system at the grassroots, especially during the COVID-19 period.

In her address, the Regional Coordinator, South-West, PPFN, Mrs. Elizabeth Adeyoyin said the project was to impart more knowledge on healthcare providers in the identified facilities, explaining that their capacity was strengthened through technical support and information on COVID-19, GBV and Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) services.

Adeyoyin added that its objective was to ensure people have access to quality SRH services, adequate enlightenment and correct response to manage GBV in communities across the State, calling on government to replicate the intervention in other Local Government Areas.

Also speaking, the Acting Executive Director, PPFN, Dr. Okai Haruna represented by Mr. Olayinka Muili, appreciated the government and other implementing stakeholders for providing enabling environment, saying the intervention would provide avenue for GBV and SRH services to be integrated in behavioural change interventions to reduce the spread of COVID-19 virus, as it provides Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Dr. Haruna stated that the project had engaged stakeholders in the communities where they identified vulnerable women and other survivors of GBV who were supported with Dignity Kits, counselling and interventions to integrate them back into the society, adding that it also rolled out USSD mobile service called 'Text4Life' to enable people report GBV and other SRH issues.

In their respective remarks, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Ajigbotafe and Alhaji Rasheed Ogutade on behalf of other stakeholders lauded the project by UNFPA and PPFN, saying it had greatly assisted in providing the needed healthcare support and enlightenment on the COVID-19 pandemic, SRH and GBV in their various communities.