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Population Report Edition I: 2005 Printer-friendly version of this page Family Planning Stories From the Field: Nigeria News From Capitol Hill Feature Story In the Spotlight Let's Get Active Resources As advocates for domestic and international family planning, the Global Population and Environment Program works to highlight family planning stories within the U.S. and abroad. It is imperative that we understand the intrinsic connections between women's health and the health of the environment so that we can better advocate for the U.S. government to support family planning and reproductive health programs around the world. Pathfinder International By providing access to quality family planning and reproductive health information and services, Pathfinder works to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS, to provide care to women suffering from the complications of unsafe abortion, and to advocate for sound reproductive health policies in the U.S. and abroad. Read more about Pathfinder International here. A Family Planning Program at Work in Nigeria (Information provided by Pathfinder International) In Northern Nigeria, a region known for its traditional Muslim conservative culture, reproductive health providers often encounter resistance to modern family planning methods regarded as "Western." Yet reproductive health services are desperately needed in areas like Northern Nigeria, which has a fertility rate of over 6 children per woman, high levels of maternal and infant mortality, and where only 2% of reproductive-age women are using contraceptives. One of the most effective ways to approach Muslim communities about family planning is to work closely with highly respected religious leaders who have significant influence over the public and even private affairs of Nigerians. Nigerian Leaders In order to ensure the acceptance and effectiveness of its project to expand access to family planning services in Northern Nigeria, Pathfinder has developed relationships with and actively involved religious leaders in every step of the project. Pathfinder created an informal network of Ulamas (Muslim religious leaders) to gain their active support for family planning through workshops and meetings. At one such meeting, several religious leaders expressed a need for better information to help them counter prevailing myths about family planning, and to demonstrate that Islam is largely supportive of family planning. Out of this emerged the idea to develop a family planning handbook written from an Islamic perspective. Nigerian kids The resulting handbook, compiled by Pathfinder, the POLICY Project and the network of Ulamas, addresses reproductive health issues ranging from safe motherhood, to sexually transmitted infections, to female circumcision. The authors included an exhaustive array of Islamic citations from the Quran that relate to and support family planning. The handbook will serve as a guide to implementing family planning programs in Muslim communities throughout Nigeria, and is expected to increase acceptance and use of reproductive health services in the region. Gaining access to, and earning the trust of, religious and traditional leaders is challenging for an organization outside of the Muslim community. But the time and effort that Pathfinder has devoted to building these relationships has resulted in culturally acceptable and effective reproductive health programs that not only meet the needs of the community, but also dispel myths about what is and is not possible within an Islamic context. Photo of Leaders courtesy of Pathfinder International Photo of Nigerian kids courtesy of Photoshare Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club