We are excited to announce the launch of our 2023 Belle by Choice Challenge.
The challenge will commence from the 1st of September 2023 to commemorate the 2nd Year anniversary of our Belle by Choice and the 2023 World Contraception Day.
This year, we are setting another challenge to reach 10,000 Men and boys and get them involved to end forced, unwanted, and unplanned pregnancies among women and adolescent girls and their attendant problems such as child marriages, girls’ school dropouts, and unsafe abortion.
Nigeria is currently facing a significant challenge, with 2.5 million cases of unwanted pregnancies reported annually, contributing to a concerning maternal mortality ratio of 512 per 100,000 live births, as per the reports of the UNFPA in 2022 and the Federal Ministry of Health in 2020. Lack of men’s involvement has contributed to the slow uptake of contraception and family planning and this has played a major role in the high rate of unintended pregnancies, preventable maternal mortality, and unsafe abortion in our country. Urgent action is needed, and we strongly believe that men’s active involvement in child spacing and birth control can make a substantial difference in addressing these issues.
Through the 10k Men Give Belle By Choice Not by Force challenge we want to address the roots and underlying causes of unwanted, and unplanned pregnancies such as rape, child marriage, sexual/intimate partners violence, and stigma surrounding women and adolescent sexuality and increase the access and uptake of modern contraception among women and adolescent girls particularly those in the vulnerable and displaced settings by reaching out to and engaging men and boys, particularly the community leaders, family heads, religious/traditional leaders, youths and men including those in the hard to reach communities.
We are calling on women’s sexual rights advocates and civil society actors, development partners, media, and government to join our #BelleByChoiceMovement and together we will reduce the incidence of unwanted pregnancy and its attendant problem such as unsafe abortion, maternal mortality rate, girls’ school dropout, child marriage among others.
For more information about the #BelleByChoice Campaign or to volunteer, donate or coordinate the 10,000 Give Belle by Choice campaign in your community or State, please get in touch with Ronke Omotoyinbo, or send us an email, African Girls Empowerment Network: operations@agenetwork.org, Tel/WhatsApp +2348062762068
To learn more about the BellebyChoice Campaign, kindly click on the link below: https://youtu.be/YK2SsTlHN2s, also the recording of the street campaign and report for last year’s 10000 Women Carry Belle By Choice: https://www.youtube.
Notes to Editors
African Girls Empowerment Network (AGE Network), is a registered young female frontline civil society organization dedicated to reducing gender inequality by empowering and advancing the human rights of young women and girls, particularly those in displacement & vulnerable settings. We advance gender equality in girls’ education, promote young women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, bolster women’s role in leadership and economic inclusion, and strengthen the capacity of young women’s and girls’-led groups in Nigeria. (www.agenetwork.org, stem.agenetwork.org)