An NGO, the Society for Women Development and Empowerment of Nigeria (SWODEN), has trained about 250 Community Health Volunteers and Health Service Providers (CHV/HSP) in Katsina State.
SWODEN also organised a two-day training for 110 male motivators as part of the implementation of its Gender and Behaviour Change Intervention (BCI) project.
SWODEN State Programme Officer, Tajuddeen Ma'aruf, disclosed this during a training session for CHV/HSP in Katsina.
According to him, Nutrition International (NI) supported the two capacity development trainings in collaboration with the Katsina State Government.
She said the refresher training for CHV/HSP was aimed at updating their knowledge on male involvement in maternal health.
Mr. Ma'aruf added that the aim was to enable them to continue with community awareness, outreach activities, house-to-house visits and sensitization of men's support groups.
“It is also their responsibility to raise awareness among youth groups and provide advice, both at the health centre and community level, so that women have access to antenatal care (ANC) and iron and folic acid (IFA) adoption.”
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“To address some gender gaps, men are also sensitized on ways to empower women to access other healthcare services around them,” Ma'aruf said.
He also praised the volunteers' commitment during the training and the success stories they shared on the ground.
Similarly, Sani Umar, State Coordinator for Northern Ireland, thanked the volunteers and urged them to continue the good work.
According to Mr. Umar, much remains to be done to address maternal health in the state and across Nigeria, hence the need for all stakeholders to join forces.
SWODEN is a civil society organisation focused on women, girls and youth.
It designs and delivers innovative and quality services in health, education, economic development and social protection to its target groups. (NAN)