As a young advocate for the sexual and reproductive health of young people, one of my concerns is how climate change affects individuals’ and communities’ sexual and reproductive health and rights. At the same time, I’m also concerned with how we as humans have affected this beautiful planet. If we reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases and deforestation and provide basic health services, the Earth would be a better place. Sometimes I think of the Earth as a living thing and what it would say. I guess that’s my inspiration for this poem:

I AM EARTH

The Sun sets the morning come
the rivers flow and the mountains roar
with the Greens bowing humbly to the waves
of the wind.

I AM EARTH
my fellows envy me
they wish they had you in them
with pride, I shall majestically say,
“I am wonderfully made.”

I AM EARTH
you, in who I have pride
has stolen my glory
and most of you without remorse
unable to recognize myself

I AM EARTH
no longer the envy of any
with the floods, women/children dying
with no green productivity

I AM EARTH
Oh! inhabitants what have you done?
you even put your kind in pains

I AM EARTH
you call it climate change
I call it human hate
cos something can be done and done
now

I AM EARTH
At least that’s what I remember of myself
who am I now?

Hi, I’m Blessing! I’ve been here attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP17) advocating for sexual and reproductive health and rights to be a priority in the climate change discussions. So far, this has been a great opportunity for me to learn and be heard. To a lot of people, climate change can be understood from different perspectives-- directly through floods or hurricanes, or indirectly through health, infrastructure or development. But, often times, a very important part of climate change is neglected and that is how it affects women.

Women, especially in developing countries, carry the burden of providing food and water for their families and communities, making them more vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change such as food scarcity, unsanitary water and other health hazards. For example, in Nigeria, where I am from the women of the Niger delta region are mostly farmers and overtime they can no longer boast of high food productivity and portable, clean drinking water as a result of oil spills from the refinery .

Lack of access to sexual and reproductive health information and services causes more unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections including HIV and overall puts women, especially young women’s health at risk. Women’s lack of access to tools and information that can empower them to make healthy decisions for themselves and their families can make it even more difficult for them to adapt to the negative impacts of climate change.

At this point it is important that we, as youth around the globe, emphasize that any means of climate change adaptation and mitigation, including expanding access to sexual and reproductive health information and services, should not be overlooked and that is why investing in the health of women Is a very cost effective way of empowering women to be agents of change in their communities.

Now, as I’m here attending the COP17 meeting, I feel that investing in both young men and women’s health, particularly their sexual and reproductive health can be part of the solutions that we aim to achieve to ensure the right to sustainable development. By providing access to sexual and reproductive health information and services, women will be enabled to plan when and if they want to have children and better manage their resources to sustain healthier children and families.

It was past 1pm when my friend Edie and I, walked towards the school gate to have lunch after what seemed to be an unending lecture. Feeling tired an exhausted we decided to give ourselves a treat, so we headed to the cafeteria. At the cafeteria, we took –out our frustration on the food, eating as if the world was coming to an end. Half- an hour we finally left chatting and laughing (obviously we were over feed) then Edie said ‘’look at that woman” I quickly turned thinking it was something funny but guess what… it was a frustrating sight, there she was ..a young woman probably in her mid-twenties carrying her triplets all looking dirty and un healthy.. I guess from hunger and starvation.
She was sitting across the street opposite the school gate begging for money. For some seconds I stood mute and wondered about the series of happenings that got her to that point...I blamed her parents, her friends ,her husband or whoever got her pregnant, I also blamed her for not getting informed then I figured that the GOVERNMENT also should take a huge part of the blame if not all.
Honestly I felt like crying after I and Edie gave her the change we had…GOD! What was that smell? Her kids had probably defecated on themselves and weren’t properly cleaned. I started to think… Was she aware of contraceptives? If yes, dint she know how to use them? How can you give birth to kids you can’t take care of? What role did religion play in all these? With all these questions in my head I tried to get answers but she wouldn’t say anything because she couldn’t speak English and probably because we were strangers.
Finally I tried to imagine myself in her position, I tell you it wasn’t easy trying to do that but I did my best, though I couldn’t get direct answers all I could get was the fact that she wasn’t educated and did not get any information on sexual reproductive health and rights not to talk of contraceptives. As a young woman, it really broke my heart to see her suffer along with those three lovely kids without been able to do any thing at that instance, but it made me appreciate the knowledge I have about SRHR and also gave me a reason to keep fighting for the SRHR of young people, if not for her at least for her children who posse as potential victims… Now, after all is said, what are you and I doing about this? What is the government doing about it to ensure that such people are taken from the streets and cared for? Because whether we like it or not they can be educated and made better people. Well what ever your answer might be one thing remains sure… ‘We can make a change if we want to’ how about starting by educating a friend today!

 
WOW!! GREAT! FANTASTIC!!!!!!!! You might be wondering what is so interesting, well I will tell you. As a major way of improving the sexual reproductive health and right of young people in Nigeria and Africa as a whole ,very important, credible and renowned organizations like Education As A Vaccine(EVA), Action Health Initiative(AHI), Adolescent Health and information project(AHIP) , just to mention a few recently came together to form a coalition which seeks to improve SRHR of young women in Nigeria, We (YAG) were also privileged to be in attendance and one of the major step we identified is to improve access to youth friendly health services in Nigeria.
The meeting held by Amanitare, a pan-African female sexual right advocacy group also identified the challenges women face and agreed to project the rights of females on issues relating to SRH, bodily integrity, violence etc. also worthy of note is one of the major goal which is to strengthen a sexual and reproductive health movement and aid the implementation of national, regional and international policies and commitments.
Huh!! Are you thinking what I am thinking? They have similar goals or objective as we….ADVOCACY, SRHR, YOUNG PEOPLE
The most thrilling aspect of this coalition is that we are involved and it provides a large opportunity or working field for us to work whether directly or indirectly….and we will be ready, waiting like hawks to take up every chance or better still create opportunities for ourselves by which we can bring about change on a larger scale and quicker rate ….isn’t this sweet?
 

   
The international year of the youth was declared with a lot of expectation which basically is to promote good partnership /relationship with policy makers and young people. Several months have passed and it seems to me a time to take stock and see how well we have done. The year began in august 2010 and expected to end this month, it presented a lot of opportunities and also challenges.
The importance of young people’s participation in policy making and nation building is no longer a mirage as it has become a focal point to consider by all in the bid to enhance dialogue and mutual understanding. This has been made possible through advocacy, lobbying activities and consistent education and mobilization of young people. It has also showed that young people if given an opportunity can make a great difference. The abilities of the youth has been seen in several instances some of which include the anti stigma bill in which the Youth advocate group (YAG) was able to make their recommendations and encouraged other youths to sign a petition instructing their representative to support the bill. The bill was passed in the lower house, although it didn’t pass the upper house before the general elections.
Also, National consultative forum which was organised by the federal ministry of health, UNFPA and youth development, it was aimed at advancing young people’s health and development. One of the major outputs was the production of a harmonised plane of action for the implementation of the national policy on adolescent and young people (2007) as well as the national youth policy. This program had a lot of young people in attendance and our suggested were also seriously.
One other very important achievement is the passage of the national health bill which young people advocated for and has been successfully passed in both the lower and upper houses and we are keeping a tab on it till it is signed by the presidency.
I can go on and on and on listing activities and instances no matter how small through which young people and even the government have been able to foster good relationship in policy especially as it affects us and we don’t even intend to stop just yet.....
We are pushing ahead to a time where nothing happens without us..... Truly it is our year!!!!


 

 
It’s been months since the general election and the swearing in of the new dispensation and the YAG will be holding a sensitization meeting with relevant committee staff as a means of building relationship and better access to the newly elected legislators. The sensitization meeting for the various committee staffs from the senate and house of representative committees on health, education, women affairs and youth and HIV/AIDS is expected to serve as a bridge between the YAG and the legislators in all this committees when they are inaugurated.
With this brilliant idea and plan we headed to the national assembly, after beating the tight security protocol we finally entered the building and met with the secretary representing the committee on education who then took it upon himself to take us round to all the other committee staff we needed to consult with. Wow! I thought, ‘this is already a success story’. Government officials don’t usually do these things. While we were moving from one office to another I noticed that all of the clerks were interested in what we had to say and where willing to commit to attend. Work made easy I thought, now we need to prepare, hmm….
Their attitude towards us gave me a good feeling knowing that other people out there believe in what we do, It’s amazing how such things can leave a lasting impression, the sensitization meeting is scheduled to hold on the 11th of this month as part of our activity to commemorate the International Youth Day 2011 and the end of the International Year of the Youth, sure it’s our year!
Invites have been sent, responses and commitment received, we sure intend to have a great time……. Watch this space for updates………………………….
Will keep you guys updated on the success of our program……

Recently i have had to respond to many questions like;
     Why do you do what you do?
How can i get involved in what you do?
     Hey!! can i get a condom?
When do i get an amplify T-shirt?
What are the new development about STI's?
Questions, ideas,criticizim,ecouragement etc are what i get almost every day when in school and going about my school work.In Alfrica where people of time passed are not allowed to talk freely about issues that affect their  sexuality,it gives me great satisfaction to see that the times have changed and a large number of youths are getting excited talking to their peer about sexually related matters.Since i became an advocate ,I have come to understand that been in school is not only to study our majors (e.g  Biology) but also to teach and learn from our peers. Every day, i am been reminded that i need to make a positive impact in the life of every person i come in contact with,sometimes when putting on my 'amplify shirt' , people tend to ask questions and i end up spending alot of time explaining and telling them what am involved in and how important it is to take our sexual issues seriously by been leaders of today and not waiting for tomorrow. After all said and done ,i walk away knowing that out of every 10 persons i speak to atleast 3 are able to change for the better.
At the begining of this new phase ,i was quite shy but now am so proud of my new identity and some even call me EVA (Education as a vaccine) ,AMPLIFY, Red Card, Advocate etc. All of these indicates that after graduation, i will definately be remembered not for cultisim or violence but for been an agent change who did some thing good.

"PROUDLY AN ADVOCATE FOR YOUTH" (Change and leadership)

"i think a camp should be built for them (PLWHA)and provided with all basic needs where they can live their life away from stigmatization"......."denying them admission into institutions is a way of protecting those of us who are HIV nagative"....said the other.
These were  some of the responses of some university students during the "RED CARD" campaign. The campaign was part of our project to fight stigmatization of PLWHA in the society,in the course of this activity ,we travelled to different Universities  within Nigeria to get young people to air their view and tell their senators to support the "Antistigma Bill " and see that it is been passed into law.
This experience was an eye opener as it exposed me to alot of youths who were still ignorant of issues affecting their sexuality and rights such as HIV/AIDS etc. On the brighter side ,it gave me an oppourtunity to educate a relatively larg number of  young people in these states and i hope they were convinced as it seemed. These young people can not be crucified for saying what they think is right. Never the less, the number of youths who made substancial contributions out numbered those who were not well informed. This gave me great joy as i got to know that majority of the students were aware of STI's and other issues affecting their sexual reproductive health and only needed to be aware of their rights as young people and policies that affect them.
This experience was exciting for me and i also got to know that our work is not in vain and also that our impact no matter how little is been felt.
"I LOVE DOING WHAT I DO.............."  

Hey! What! not yet!just a little longer, these are what my heart and passion for young people keeps telling me any time I feel depressed about the day to day situations that young people like me face in Nigeria, Africa and the world as a whole go through. Some time i feel like we are fighting for a course that can never come through because just when I feel am (we) are almost there, then all of a sudden bang!!! Something happens like the resent story of a girl who was raped in my school while on her way back from class where she went to study. And I say to my self “Here we go again”. 

Recently I got to realize that this fight (advocacy) is not necessarily for us but for the generations unborn and all we are trying to do is to build a conducive, good leadership environment bearing in mind that we need healthy and well informed leaders of today and tomorrow that is why we have made the ASRH issue our priority.

I know that at some point or the other you might of letting go considering some of the compromise we have to make, but guess what? IT’S WORTH EVERY BIT OF THE STRESS.

Despite the various challenges we are yet to encounter i have decided not be to be limited in my quest for a perfect future for our generation and and the once to come that is why i am choosing to listen to the words of my heart .As an advocate for youth (change)who serves as a mouth piece for those that cannot be heard .

KEEP PUSHING,KEEP MOVING AND KEEP SPEAKING BCOS WE ARE ALMOST THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The world as a global village is made up of about 6 billion people and young people make up more than half of that population. Young people especially women are faced with a lot of challenges, such as economic, religious, academic, social and sexual problems.

Every day the sexuality of women and young girls all over the world is being threatened in various ways. Some of the problems include Early Marriage, Unsafe Abortion, Rape, Lack of Girl Child Education, Gender Inequality, Poverty, HIV/AIDS, etc and these makes them the most vulnerable because they are the most affected and infected hence posing a great component of economic crisis.

The importance of every individual in social and economic development cannot be overemphasized as it takes the collective effort of every one to change the society. This justifies the point that young people irrespective of their gender should be allowed to participate in the formulation and implementation of policies especially as it relates to their sexual reproductive health and rights.

Women are like a great spot of diamond waiting to be discovered, explored and mined, but how can these be achieved in the nearest future? It is by identifying the fact that anything that affects the woman affects the nations and by addressing those issues the world and their communities would record tremendous progress.

The theme for this year, “Every one counts” stresses the need for meaningful involvement of women and girls in global issues as it relates to their lives, sexuality and that of others.
Women are mothers, let them care for the world; as caring is one of their numerous specialties. A great scientist Albert szent-gyorgyi once said: What drives life is thus a little electric current set up by sunshine.“ Therefore, let us invest in women and Stop gender inequality because they (women) are the little electric current needed to drive the world to progress.