Programme Document Between the Government Of Rivers State and the UNFPA
Country/Region:
Nigeria/Africa 05 04 Rivers State Population and Development Programme NIR/05/04/13
Country Programme Cycle Identification: Sub-Programme Identification: Component Project Full Title: Component Project Identification: PACC Code: Target Group Code: Duration: Starting Date: Executive Agency Code: Implementing Agency: Government Contribution: UNFPA Contribution: ___________ Five Years July 1st 2003 99
State Planning Commission, Port Harcourt, Rivers State US $707727.6 US $0
____________________________________ On behalf of Implementing Agency
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____________________________________ On behalf of Executing Agency
_____________________ Date
____________________________________ On behalf of the UNFPA i
____________________ Date
TABLE OF CONTENT Page Table of Contents List of Acronyms 1.0 RATIONALE FOR THE PROGRAMME 1.1 General Background of the State 1.2 The Context of the Programme 1.3 Past and Related Activities 1.4 Coverage 1.5 Stakeholders 1.6 Comparative Advantage of UNFPA Activities LINKAGES BETWEEN OUTPUTS AND ACTIVITIES 2.1 PDS Project 2.2 Community Reproductive Health 2.3 Population and Family Life Education 2.4 Advocacy CROSS CUTTING DIMENSIONS 3.1 IEC/BCEC 3.2 Gender 3.3 Capacity Building EXECUTION AND IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES TECHNICAL BACKSTOPPING RELATED ACTIVITIES AND OTHER SOURCES OF FUNDING GOVERNMENT FOLLOW-UP ACTION Workplans PDS Activity Workplan Matrix 2003 – 2007 Community RH Activity Workplan Matrix 2003 – 2007 POP/FLE Activity Workplan Matrix 2003 – 2007 Advocacy Activity Workplan Matrix 2003 – 2007 Description of UNFPA Inputs: Government Execution Budget Sheet Description of Government Inputs Job Descriptions 1 2 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 9 10 13 13 13 13 14 17 17 17 18 18 20 23 24 28 53 57 58
2.0
3.0
4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0
Annex 1
Annex II Annex III Annex IV Annex V
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ACRONYMS APR CST CP DCDPA DHS DPA FMOH FOS FP GCCC GHS HTP ICPD IEC IMR IPDP LAN LGA M&E MDG MICS MIS MMR NCGPD NDHS NFS NGO NPC NPP NPPP NSIS P&D PAU PDS PMP PROMEP PRSD PWG RBM RH SPWG UNDP UNFPA USAID WB RFA Annual Project Report Country Support Team Country Programme Department of Community Development and Population Activities Demographic and Health Survey Department of Population Activities Federal Ministry of Health Federal Office of Statistics Family Planning Government Counterpart Cash Contribution General Household Survey Harmful Traditional Practices International Conference on Population and Development Information, Education and Communication Infant Mortality Rate Integration of Population factors in Development Plans Local Area Network Local Government Area Monitoring and Evaluation Millennium Development Goals Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey Management Information System Maternal Mortality Rate National Consultative Group on Population and Development Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey Nigerian Fertility Survey Non-Governmental Organisation National Population Commission National Professional Project Personnel National Professional Project Personnel National Statistical Information System Population and Development Strategies Programme Advisory Unit Population and Development Strategies Programme Management Plan Programme Monitoring and evaluation Plan Programme Review and Strategy Development Population Working Group Results Base Management Reproductive Health State Population Working Group United Nations Development Programme United Nations Population Fund United States Agency for International Development World Bank Rivers Fishermen Association 2
RMWA ETA FSC RNA RDA NAPEP PRS SPPCC SPC OPA TA TOT GC
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Rivers Market Women Association Eleme Traders Association Fishing Settlement Communities Rivers Nurses Association Rivers Doctors Association National Poverty Eradication Programme Planning, Research & Statistics State Population Programme Coordinating Committee State Planning Commission Out of Pocket Allowance Transport Allowance Training of Trainers Guardian Counsellors
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1. 1.1
RATIONALE FOR THE PROGRAMME GENERAL BACKGROUND OF THE STATE
Rivers State located in the Niger Delta Basin of the country, was created in 1967. It has a landmass of 37,000 km square, with 23 Local Government Areas and Port Harcourt as its capital city. The State has a population of 4.3 million according to the 1991 census and a growth rate of 2.83 percent giving a population figure of about 5.6 million in 2002. The people of Rivers State are predominantly farmers, fishermen and retail traders. The farming, fishing and trading activities are carried out at a subsistence level, resulting in low income and poverty. The State is endowed with abundant natural resources such as oil and gas. This has resulted in high inflocks of people into the State with attendant problems such as HIV prevalence, unemployment and adolescent reproductive health hazards. 1.2 CONTEXT OF THE PROGRAMME
There is the problem of lack of data for planning. This is compounded by inadequate number of statisticians, researchers and planners with the required expertise in the various ministries, parastatals and Local Government Councils. Data collected from surveys mostly by federal agencies are often inconsistent, unorganised and haphazardly disseminated and utilised. Consequently there is a dearth of valid, reliable and up to data demographic and socio-economic data for planning. Political commitment and community support for Population and Development Strategies, Reproductive Health and gender issues and programmes are generally low, while advocacy/ IEC programmes to promote these are limited and less than effective. No deliberate effort is made at the policy level to promote the NPP and relevant international conventions and treaties and to use their frameworks in policy formulation and programme planning in the State. Another area of concern is inadequate budgetary allocation to Population and Development programmes. Rivers State has a high maternal mortality rate of 900/100,000 as against the national average of 704/100,000 life births and a high total fertility rate of 5.8. The high maternal mortality is due to direct obstetric causes notably, haemorrhage, sepsis, pregnancy induced hypertension and complications of unsafe abortion. Other causes include lack of adequate health information especially among the adolescents, harmful cultural practices and lack of access to essential, qualitative and emergency obstetric services in the rural areas due to the difficult terrain. Most women are unable to seek timely and appropriate health care or to use contraceptives. This is due to religious beliefs, cultural orientation, ignorance and lack of access to contraceptives. Adolescents who engage in risky and anti-social behaviour and practices are exposed to high incidence of STI including HIV/AIDS with a high prevalence rate of 7.8% in the State. A major contributing factor to this AIDS scourge is the presence of the multinationals in the oil and gas industry in the State. Another related problem to maternal mortality is the incident of VVF in such areas as Ahoada East and West, Gokana and Khana LGAs due to socio-cultural factors. Male involvement in Reproductive Health is less than 1% while NGO participation in Reproductive Health is weak. Harmful traditional practices and gender violence are yet another set of problems. The 4
identified problems here include genital mutilation and dehumanising treatment of widows, wife battering and neglect, gender discrimination and denial of empowerment opportunities for women. The absence of Population and Family Life Education in the school curriculum is also a problem. This has contributed to increase in teenage pregnancy, early child bearing among in- and out-of-school youths and other related problems such as high school dropouts and social deviants behaviour among youths. 1.3 PAST AND RELATED ACTIVITIES AND ASSISTANCE
In the 4th Country Programme, the capacities of the State implementing agencies (SMOH, SMOE, SPC) were strengthened through the supply of equipment, vehicles, establishment of database in SPC, staff training, renovation of health facilities and provision of drugs by UNFPA to the Rivers State Government. The Population and Family Life Education curricula was developed and approved in 2000. UNICEF and WHO provided technical assistance in six Local Government Areas and anti-retroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS to the State Ministry of Health. 1.4 COVERAGE
The Rivers State Population and Development Programme will have four component projects namely – PDS, RH, POP/FLE and Advocacy. The PDS project of this programme will cover all the 23 LGAs in the State while the RH project will be limited to 17 LGA’s i.e. the total number of LGA’s in the State minus the 6 WHO LGA’s. Fifteen of the seventeen LGA’s were covered in the RH project of the 4th CP and their inclusion in this programme will consolidate the gains of the 4th CP in the State. The POP/FLE project will also concentrate on the same schools as was covered in the 4th CP to also consolidate on the gains of that CP while the Advocacy project will cover all the 23 LGAs in the State. 1.5 STAKEHOLDERS
Primary Stakeholders are women of reproductive age, men and young people of both sexes, parents, in- and out-of-school youths and adolescents whose RH needs would be met through increased accessibility to quality RH care services and information. Also data users in the private and public sectors, universities and those in the civil society will benefit from the availability of reliable soceconomic data which will result in better planning, policy formulation, policy analysis and reviews which will in turn improve standard of living of the populace. Secondary Stakeholders are service delivery personnel and programme managers from State & LGA levels, who will benefit from the capacity building activities for improved and effective performance of their duties. Key Stakeholders are UNFPA, State and Local Government Policy makers whose resource commitments are critical to programme implementation. Bilateral and Multilateral agencies whose commitment to collaboration and support will ensure the success of the programme, religious and traditional rulers as well as opinion and community leaders are also key Stakeholders. 5
Some key stakeholders’ interests will be to ensure the success of the programme. However, some key stakeholders will have reservations and oppose certain areas such as RH/IEC activities targeted at adolescents and promotion of modern FP services. Traditional and opinion leaders may also frown at some of the activities targeting women and adolescents from traditional/moral perspectives. 1.6 COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF UNFPA
As the UN lead agency on Population, UNFPA is in the best position to support the intervention proposed in this programme. These interventions reflect the core ICPD PoA and the recommendations of ICPD+5 which are the main focus of UNFPA. The specific areas of interventions in PDS, RH including HIV/AIDS, Advocacy, and gender would also promote monitoring progress towards the attainment of the goals and objectives of the ICPD PoA, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the objectives of the Nigerian poverty reduction strategy, and the goal of the National Population Policy. As a leading player in the field of Population and Development, supporting and co-ordinating donor support in population programme of the country gives UNFPA a distinct advantage in supporting the interventions proposed in this programme. UNFPA has also earned the States’ recognition as a major donor and partner in development that has contributed significantly to the improvement of the standard of living and quality of life of the people of Rivers State. The resources available to UNFPA including a range of local and international PDS, RH and Advocacy experts, the CST in Addis Ababa and technical publications, coupled with the cordial relationship established with the Nigerian Government and other agencies working in the areas of Population and Development, give UNFPA a comparative advantage over other organizations in supporting the NPP, PDS, Advocacy, gender and RH interventions. 2. 2.1 LINKAGES BETWEEN OUTPUTS AND ACTIVITIES PDS Project
The activities of the Rivers State Population and Development Project will lead to the delivery of the following outputs, which cut across the three thematic areas to be implemented by four implementing agencies, viz: Ministries of Education, Information, Health and the State Planning Commission: Output 1of the Population and Development Strategies thematic area is to increase integration of population issues into development plans and budgets at all levels. This output will be delivered through activities to be implemented by the Rivers State Planning Commission. These activities include obtaining Rivers State-specific data from existing databanks at the National Population Commission (NPC) and the Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) as well as collecting service statistics from a number of State line ministries, such as the Ministries of Health, Education, and Agriculture that generate service statistics in the course of their work. These data will be entered into the State database and then used in developing indicators that will be disseminated to various data users in the State including Planners. They will also be used by the advocacy component of the programme to develop convincing advocacy materials for sensitisation of policy makers. Other activities that will assist in delivering the output include the participation of Programme Managers in the formulation of the Rivers State Poverty Eradication Programme to ensure the inclusion of population variables in the development of the programme. To ensure sustained system of data flow to the database, relevant 6
heads of PRS units will be required to send data generated by their agencies to the SPC on a quarterly basis. Output 2 of the Population and Development Strategies thematic area is to improve mechanisms for coordination, monitoring and evaluation of population programmes at all levels. A set of activities will also be implemented by the State Planning Commission to ensure the delivery of the fore-going output. The activities include the inauguration of the State Programme Coordination Group (SPCG) comprising all Permanent Secretaries, Project Directors and Coordinators of the implementing agencies as members and chaired by the PS of the SPC with the Adviser as the Secretary. The Group will meet quarterly to review activities executed in the previous quarter and agree on the details of the next quarter work-plan. All implementing agencies will also present progress reports at the meetings. A management committee will also be set up to comprise the same members with the exclusion of the PSs. The management committees will meet once in two months to review and preview project activities. The project implementers will adapt the national Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (PROMEP) to produce the State PROMEP, which will be the M&E framework of the State. Ten Officers (4 from SPC and 2 each from the MOE, MOH and MOI) will develop the draft State Population Action Plan (SPAP) when the Federal Government approves the revised Population Policy. The SPAP will then be presented to a group of 35 stakeholders and finalized in a 1-day workshop. Twenty Programme Managers and M&E Officers will be trained in Results Based Management (RBM) and M&E techniques to facilitate results based management of this programme. Programme Managers will undertake quarterly supervisory visits to project sites, using the state PROMEP and render reports at the SPCG meetings. The SPC will also collate the annual project reports of all the implementing agencies and compile a comprehensive annual report on the programme for the purpose of organising an annual review meeting. Output 3 of the Population and Development Strategies thematic area is increased availability and accessibility of gender-disaggregated population and development data. This output will be delivered through activities that will be implemented by the State Planning Commission. All the data generation mechanisms stated under output one will be sustained and in addition, a questionnaire developed by the national level will be used in the State to collect baseline data, which will be useful in completing the formulation of this programme and for M & E of the programme. Data collected will be promptly entered into the data bank, processed and analysed, published and disseminated to users. These will be used for making demographic projections for the eventual integration of population variables into development planning. Four Statisticians of the SPC will be trained in Gender and Poverty Analysis. Those trained will then produce a gender and poverty analysis of the available data of the State. To widen the spectrum of data and information sharing, the database will be connected to the Internet. 2.2 Community Reproductive Health Project
Output 1 of the Community Reproductive Health component project is increased availability of and accessibility to a minimum package of quality reproductive health services. This output will be delivered through coordinated implementation of a series of activities at both State and LGA levels, building on the gains of the 4th CP and implemented by the State Ministry of Health. The FMOH will define a minimum package of RH services, which will be adopted for implementation in the State. The package is expected to cover maternal health, family planning, Adolescent RH, syndromic management of STIs and counselling for HIV/AIDS. The delivery of this output will achieve through capacity building, provision of equipment, consumables and strengthening referral systems and delivery of IEC/BCC messages, which will contribute to reduce the incidence of high maternal morbidity and 7
mortality rates in the State. Master Trainers trained under the 4th CP will train additional health care providers to deliver quality RH services. A six-week integrated RH training consisting of three weeks didactic and three weeks practicum will be given to three (3) Nurses/Midwives per Health Facility at the RH training centre when it is completed. Ten (10) Health Facilities from each of the 17 UNFPA-assisted LGAs will be selected and one (1) Nurse/Midwife each from 17 referral facilities. That is, 276 service providers will be trained. After the training, the Nurses/Midwives will be able to render enhanced RH services and supervise lower cadre staff. A total of 250 CHEWS from the 17 project LGAs will be trained in Integrated RH including the syndromic management of STIs for 2-weeks in 10 batches of 25 CHEWs each. A total of 200 Midwives will be trained in the 17 project LGAs on LSS for 3 weeks. Also, a 3-week training in LSS for emergency obstetric care (EMOC) will be held for 200 Nurses and Midwives in 13 batches of 15 each during the project period. 250 CHEWs will be trained on LSS using the modified curriculum, in 10 batches by 3 State LSS trainers and 2 IPC facilitators. One secondary health facility in each of the project LGAs will be strengthened through training of 30 Doctors in ELSSI at the LSS training centre, using the revised national curriculum developed during the 4th CP. A two-way referral linkage will be strengthened between communities and the PHC facilities and the 30 General Hospitals, the Specialist Hospital and Teaching Hospital in the State. This will promote safer deliveries and contribute to the reduction of maternal and neo-natal morbidity and mortality in the State. Basic EMOC equipment and supplies will be provided to one secondary facility in each project LGA to facilitate service delivery and the newly acquired skills of the trained personnel. Priority will be given to those equipment needed for quality prenatal, delivery and post-natal delivery care. Also, delivery kits, oxytoxic drugs for the treatment of the two common STIs (Gonorrhoea and Chlamydia) will be provided. An appropriate mix of contraceptives (including condoms) will be supplied and 120 Logistic Officers of the MOH and M&E Officers will be trained in FP LMIS for effective management of stock levels while FP data will be collected, collated and transmitted on monthly basis to facilitate contraceptive security at the State levels. To enhance BCC in support of maternal health, this project will support the SMOH to launch and disseminate the messages on maternal health, harmful traditional practices (HTPs), HIV/AIDS and adolescent reproductive health (ARH) issues identified from the formative research conducted during the 4th CP. In effect, multi-media campaigns will be carried out in collaboration with the Advocacy project for 9 months. The multi-media materials developed in the 4th CP will be produced and disseminated. Due to the contribution of VVF to Maternal mortality and morbidity in some LGs, Khana, Gokana, Ahoada East and West LGS will be supported later in the project period in the implementation of prevention, treatment and social re-insertion of treated cases. This will be done by supplying equipment for VVF repair to the Specialist hospital at BMH, with strengthened referral system to the Specialist Centre identified in Uyo. Two (2) Doctors and four (4) Nurses/Mid-wives will be trained on VVF repairs and care to contribute to the reduction of VVF cases and address the harmful traditional practices that are the root causes of VVF such as early marriage and child bearing. Rehabilitation services aimed at social re-insertion of treated women into their communities will be supported in this programme. 8
For effective coordination, quarterly TAC meetings will be conducted for PHC coordinators, Heads of health institutions etc. and quarterly supervisory visits will be conducted with staff of other component projects of this programme, to enhance result-based management. Output 2 of the Community Reproductive Health component of the project is Increased availability and accessibility to HIV/AIDS preventive services including VCCT. This output will be delivered through capacity building, establishment of additional counselling sites, provision of equipment and supplies and advocacy and IEC/BCC campaigns. Four trainers selected from among those who were trained on counselling will attend a 5-day zonal TOT on HIV/AIDS counselling including VCT, using the new national guidelines and training manual. To enhance the capacity building efforts of the State to implement VCCT, HIV test kits will be provided. Linkages will be established with Antenatal care (ANC) sites and other related sites where HIV/AIDs interventions are available. Further linkages will be established with SACA and LACA. All women who are HIV positive will be referred to prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) sites. To implement the BCC campaigns for the prevention of HIV/AIDS, messages will be developed from the formative research conducted during the 4th CP, and pre-tested, produced and disseminated in a 9-month campaign. The campaign will target men, women, and young people with a view to empower them to negotiate condom use and adopt safer sex practices. The project will also support the provision of male and female condoms. World Population Day (11 July) will be celebrated annually in collaboration with the other implementing agencies of this programme. 2.3 Populations and Family Life Education Project
Output 3 of the Community Reproductive Health component is increased accessibility of youth friendly sexual reproductive health information and services to in and out of school youth. The activities leading to the delivery of this output will be jointly implemented by the State Ministry of Education (for in-school youth), ministry of information and NGOs (for out-school youth). An orientation course will be organised for 21 Master Trainers on sexuality education for 5 days. The Master Trainers will thereafter conduct a 3-day non-residential Orientation Seminar for 1,340 trained POP/FLE Classroom teachers in three centres in 38 batches of 35 participants per batch. A 2-week training in sexuality education is to be conducted for 300 teachers in 5 batches during the project period. These are to replace those that may have left the project schools since the last training of the 4 th UNFPA CP. The teachers will in addition to training their students on sexuality education, facilitate the formation of health clubs. Lesson notes will be inspected during monitoring exercises to be carried out by the project team. Teacher-Student-Project team discussions will also continue as a system of monitoring. Parents and Principals will be sensitised in support of the new sexuality curriculum. A five-day orientation will be conducted for the three existing master trainers by National trainers from the FMOH, using the national curriculum on ARH, along with others from States within the zone. A 2– week training workshop for 90 school–based Guidance Counsellors (GCs) in 3 batches will be conducted to replace those that may have been posted away since the training of the 4th UNFPA CP. This will equip the GCs with counselling skills for adolescents. The GCs will also serve as facilitators and back-stoppers for the formation of the health clubs in schools, as well as assist the Advocacy and Health Officers of NGOs in three established Youth friendly health services in the communities. Fiveday orientation training will be conducted for existing GCs, 2 each from the 95 project schools by the three State master trainers, during the project period. The training will update them on the new SRH information including HIV/AIDS. In addition, they will be introduced to the use of the operational and monitoring guideline for school based peer educators and health clubs. Following the training, these Counsellors will conduct the training of peer educators in their schools and also facilitate the 9
establishment of the school health clubs. 500 Peer-educators will be trained for the formation of the secondary school health clubs. The clubs will be provided with educational materials, games and audio-visual equipment. A three-day workshop will be held in 2003 to develop operational guidelines for the school health clubs and the peer counsellors. The guidelines would include a monitoring plan. All facilities providing information and services to youth will provide information and counselling on HIV/AIDS. The project will support the collaboration of NGOs, which seek to establish youth friendly health services. Previously produced IEC materials will be made available to the project for dissemination on State TV and to schools and health clubs by the Ministry of Information. Principals will also be sensitised on the role of Guidance Counsellors in sexuality education and in the formation of health clubs. Out-of-school youth will be reached through the selection of and training of 500 community based peer educators by the Master Trainers and SMOH Health Officer. Parents will be reached through sensitisation workshops. IEC/BCC materials will be developed, pre-tested and provided to schools and YFHS centres. Kits and guidelines will be provided and distributed through the SMOE to both inschool and out-of-school youths as required. World Population Day will serve as an opportunity to involve the youth in population activities, through the organization of art competitions, debates, and music and drama sessions. A Monthly departmental meeting will hold in the Secondary schools to acquaint members of staff of the various activities associated with this programme. SPEC will be inaugurated to act as the technical advisory body to the POP/FLE project. The SPEC, which will meet quarterly, will comprise the PS, Project Director, Adviser, Directors, Zonal Directors and Supervisory Counsellors for Education in the LGAs. With staff of other component projects of this programme, quarterly supervisory visits will be carried out to the project schools to monitor implementation of the project. Reports will be written at the end of each quarterly monitoring exercise and shared with the project management, the other implementing agencies of this programme and the UNFPA FO to enable appropriate follow-up action. School-based Guidance Counsellors will organize yearly school-based POP/FLE week to coincide with WPD celebration. 2.4 Advocacy Project
Output 1 of the Advocacy component is Improved Capacity of Stakeholders to Advocate for Population and Development Programmes in Rivers State. Towards delivery of this output, a number of initiatives, including the following, will be applied: a) An advocacy project office established and equipped in the State Ministry of Information, with focal points designated at other relevant agencies; b) The skills of programme managers will be strengthened in advocacy; c) A State advocacy implementation plan will be developed; d) Partnership will be forged with trained Trainers and a local training institution for IEC/advocacy; e) Coalitions will be built among partners; f) Project compendiums for resource mobilization will be developed. The establishment of an advocacy project office will be complemented with the designation of advocacy focal points for each of the agencies/ministries implementing the Rivers State Population and Development Programme. An assessment of the advocacy needs at the different levels of implementation (State and LGA) will be undertaken. To enable partners set specific advocacy 10
objectives, a concise framework for advocacy action will be developed and adapted to suit the needs of each implementing partner from Ministries/departments, PHC, LGA planning units and school authorities. Youth involvement activities will be undertaken. This will increase the capacity of youths to undertake advocacy activities. In view of the sensitivities about RH and PDS issues, consensus-building activities will be undertaken, among parents, educational authorities, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and others on these issues. Linked to this will be the establishment of a stakeholder forum. To redress the low level of budgetary allocation to the health and planning sectors, impetus will be given to the mobilization of GCCC from both State Government and LGs. Resource mobilization will be underscored with training in such areas as advocacy and lobbying and fundraising will be conducted for programme managers, NGO leaders, legislative committees and student/youth leaders. While some of these can influence resource allocation as pressure groups, others have this as their statutory responsibility. This training will also help in changes in laws or statutes. Resource mobilization initiatives will also include the development of compendiums for resource mobilization and profiles of donors. Partnership will be forged with the mass media, which will be supported to highlight activities through their various outlets. Advocacy materials will be produced and disseminated to stakeholders, based on their needs. Apart from building a pool of master trainers, a local institution will be supported to provide technical backstopping for the duration of programme implementation, in terms of training. The institution will be provided with educational materials and teaching aids. Their personnel will be exposed to refresher facilities. Coalitions/networks will be established among NGOs, development activists, research institutions and other stakeholders. The activities of the coalitions/networks will be supported through regular fora, joint activities and information sharing. Output 2 of the Advocacy component is improved understanding and increased application of conventions and statutes relating to reproductive health rights (including Gender violence and HTPs) in the State. Implementation strategies will include: a) Identification of stakeholders; b) Development of user-friendly booklets on relevant documents, including local translations; c) Regular appraisal of stakeholders’ efforts; d) Support for meetings of stakeholders; e) Support for the mass media; f) Promotion of common understanding of statutes and conventions among stakeholders; g) In-depth study of document by technocrats; and h) Development of guidelines and tools for integrating elements of documents into official policies for technocrats. Activities will relate to dissemination of advocacy packages to the public. This will increase awareness about the initiatives emanating from these global events. They will also be used at public rallies commemorating global observances, including World Population Day, International Women’s Day, World Anti-Poverty Day, and State of the World Population. They will also be used for presentation and display at exhibitions, in schools, health facilities and planning offices. The mass media will be supported to produce and publish/air programmes based on the themes of ICPD, Beijing, Mugs, CEDAW and NEPAD. Efforts to enable stakeholder get better appreciation of these issues and accept their roles in domesticating the statutes and conventions to their local situations, will include sensitisation visits to the executive, legislature, judiciary, mass media, political party executives, the 11
organized private sector (OPS), traditional rulers, religious leaders, and student/youth leaders. Coalitions/networks that have already been formed will be supported to promote application of the principles of the convention, conferences and statutes in their various programmes and policies, as NGOs, academic institutions and others. They will also be involved awareness raising activities. Selected persons from the State will be exposed to forums on statutes and conventions to increase their awareness and sharpen their commitment. Implementation of related activities will be in collaboration with private sector organizations, international NGOs, bilateral donors and other UN agencies. 3. 3.1 CROSS-CUTTING DIMENSION IEC/BCC
The major IEC interventions under this programme will include sensitisation of key policy makers and officials at the State and local government levels, Religious and Traditional Leaders on population and development interrelationships and the value of population planning in development. Public enlightenment campaigns aimed at securing public support and cooperation towards the 2003 Demographic and Health Survey and the 2004 population and housing census will be carried out. To build consensus on the population action plans that will be adopted at the State and LGA levels, senior government officials and policy makers will be sensitised on the need for the adoption of population action plans. Sectoral programme managers will be sensitised on the need to share data and information with the State and national databanks. In recognition of the important role of IEC in BCC, particular attention will be given to developing appropriate IEC materials to support the delivery of each of the outputs of this programme. These messages were developed from the formative research conducted during the 4th CP. The IEC activities to be conducted in the State will be aimed at developing IEC materials to support all activities planned for HIV/AIDS, Maternal Health, Adolescent Reproductive Health, Harmful Traditional practices and male involvement in Reproductive Health. Advocacy will ensure that the development of materials involves all stakeholders in addition to integrating the cultural and gender concerns in the State. The improved Inter Personal Communication (IPC) of project staff in all the components will bring about favourable disposition to the programme. The materials to be developed would be used to support the various groups of service providers, peer and parent educators and CBDs. The IEC activities due to their cross cutting nature will be complimented by related IEC activities in RH & PDS projects thereby optimising inputs for the delivery of the Advocacy outputs. 3.2 Gender Equality & Empowerment of Women
In the implementation of this programme, data from 2004 census and 2003 NDHS surveys that would be sex disaggregated and indicators for monitoring and evaluation of programme designed for women empowerment will be made available. Efforts will be made to ensure equal representation of men and women as trainees, seminar participants, chairpersons of meetings and management committees at all levels. Gender concepts would be incorporated into all the youth activities to ensure that they develop gender sensitive behaviours.
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The division of women affairs in the State Ministry of Women Affairs and reputable NGOs working in the area of gender will be more involved in implementing relevant areas of the State programme. RH project in collaboration with Advocacy project will promote enactment of appropriated laws aimed at promoting the reproductive rights of women and thus contribute to the empowerment of women. 3.3 National Capacity Building
Technical and Managerial capacities of the agencies implementing this programme will be enhanced through relevant in-country and regional training. Key personnel at State, LGA and NGO levels will be given programme and Finance management training. There will be in-service training for Planners, Statisticians, health workers, teachers, and Journalists. Implementing NGOs will be provided with grants to strengthen their institutional capacities. NPPPs will provide technical and managerial support for the programme while State counterparts will develop practical skills and experiences in the areas of programme implementation, management and coordination. Due to the cross cutting nature of the Advocacy project, the related IEC activities in RH will complement it.
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EXECUTION AND IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES
The Government of Rivers State of Nigeria shall be the Executing Agency of this programme. His Excellency, the Executive Governor of the State or his/her designated representative shall therefore sign this State Population and Development Programme document on behalf of the Executing Agency. The Permanent Secretary of the State Planning Commission shall sign the document on behalf of the Implementing Agency. The UNFPA Representative in Nigeria shall sign the document on behalf of UNFPA and transmit the approved document together with the Letter of Understanding and the approved budget sheet to the State Government. A signed budget sheet shall constitute, to the implementing Ministries, an authority to incur expenditure under this programme. The agencies responsible for the implementation of the projects shall be those with the statutory responsibility for carrying out such activities in the State Government. Therefore, the Rivers State Planning Commission of the Office of the Executive Governor will implement the Population and Development Strategies project. The State Ministry of Health will be responsible for the implementation of the RH project through its Department of Primary Health Care and Disease Control. The SMOE will implement part of RH activities relating to POP/FLE/Sexuality Education. The SMOI will implement the Advocacy project. As appropriate, a Director in the SPC and a senior officer of the Commission shall be appointed the Project Director and Project Coordinator respectively. For the RH project, the Director of the PHC/DC will be appointed the Project Director while the head of the RH unit will be appointed the Project Coordinator. A Director and a Coordinator shall be appointed for the POP/FLE component project from the SMOE. The Permanent Secretary of the SMOI shall appoint a Director of the ministry as the Project Director and a senior officer from the same Department as the project Coordinator.
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The Project Directors will oversee project activities as well as provide overall direction and guidance while the Project Coordinators shall be responsible for the day-to-day implementation of project activities with the assistance of the Deputy Coordinators. Prior to the initiation of programme implementation, the SPC shall identify and furnish an appropriate office space for the PAU while each implementing agency will provide adequate office accommodation as their project office for the smooth implementation of the programme. The PAU will serve as the project office of the planning component project of the programme. The SPC will be responsible for the overall coordination of the programme. The Permanent Secretary of the Commission will chair the SPCG meetings. Members of the SPCG will include the Permanent Secretaries of all the implementing agencies, the Project Directors and the Programme Adviser who will be the Secretary of the SPCG. This will give this Commission the opportunity to monitor the progress and performances of all implementing ministries under the programme. The Group will meet quarterly to review programme progress reports and approve workplans for the in-coming quarter. UNFPA will support the setting up of a PAU to provide technical and management/administrative backstopping to the implementing agencies. The Programme Adviser will head the PAU and will be supported by a Programme Accountant, a Secretary and a Driver. There will be a Programme Management Team made up of the Adviser, the Project Directors and Coordinators. The Director of the Planning Project will chair the meetings of the Management Team. The team will meet once in two months to review activities already implemented and to preview oncoming activities. The Programme Management Team will also collate quarterly workplans from the projects’ annual workplans for the approval of the SPCG. The Programme Adviser will study the workplan together with the quarterly reports, disbursement report and request for advance, ensuring that they are in line with the UNFPA Programme Policies and Procedures before submitting them to the UNFPA FO with his/her comments and recommendations. The RH Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) will continue to meet quarterly. The TAC will receive and deliberate on quarterly progress reports and implementation plan for in coming quarter. The State IEC working group will also continue to meet quarterly. The SPEC will also meet quarterly. The State Advocacy Working Group with membership drawn from line Ministries, professional journalists, Radio/TV Stations, religious leaders, market women Representatives, NGOs, programme Managers will be formed. A representative of print media correspondence and the Programme Adviser will be members. The committee will meet quarterly to review and guide the direction of implementation of the Advocacy project. The Permanent Secretary of the SMOI will chair the State Advocacy Working Group. Village community PHC development committees will be encouraged to meet monthly while the meeting of development committees at other levels will be on a quarterly basis. These meetings will ensure community input into project management, engender a sense of ownership and enhance supervision at the community level. The component projects of this programme shall be monitored according to UNFPA guidelines and in accordance with the OVIs stated in the LogFrame matrices of the three sub-programmes of the 5th CP. The Project Directors will submit Annual Project Reports (APRs) to the State Government and the UNFPA. Each APR shall be a summary analysis of all technical, administrative, financial and evaluation reports as well as reports on field visits. At the end of the programme period when all activities are implemented, the Project Directors will submit to Government and the UNFPA Final 14
Project Reports (FPRs), which shall be a record of the activities undertaken in the projects and their contributions in delivering the sub-programme outputs. The UNFPA, in consultation with the State Government, will plan annual programme review meetings upon receipt of the APRs of component projects. The Programme Monitoring Team shall consist of the Programme Adviser, the Project Directors, Coordinators and the Focal persons for M&E in each of the projects. This team will meet at least once a quarter to provide technical guidance to each project monitoring team in the implementation of M&E plan in the State, ensure follow-up action on the issues identified during monitoring visits, and facilitate the utilization of logical framework matrices and M&E results for results based management. At the end of the programme period, there will be an evaluation of the State programme to determine the extent to which the programme has delivered its outputs in the light of the OVIs and to chart the way forward. The Field Office will appoint independent evaluators to undertake the evaluation of the programme. There will be annual, mid-term and final review meetings as part of the evaluation mechanism of the 5th Country Programme. Arrangements for financial management and accountability, including preparation of “Requests for Advance” and “Disbursement Reports”, shall be as described in the UNFPA Finance Manual and reflected in a signed Letter of Understanding between the State Government and the UNFPA. There will be a single account to be called the State Population and Development Programme Account. This account will also serve as the PDS Project Account. The account will contain three sub-accounts one for each of the three other implementing ministries. The Programme Accountant will take custody of all programme financial documents including the cheque books. Advances from UNFPA will be lodged in the State Population and Development Account. Then the Permanent Secretary of the coordinating agency will transfer funds to the sub-accounts of each of the other implementing agencies according to the amounts approved every quarter for each implementing agency by the UNFPA. The Permanent Secretaries of the implementing Agencies will give approval for the release of funds. The Programme Accountant will raise vouchers, while the Programme Adviser will recommend same to the Permanent Secretaries or their designates who signs for funds to be released. In respect of the State Population and Development Account, the Permanent Secretary and the Project Director of coordinating agency will be the “A” signatories while the Chief Accountant will be the “B” signatory. The Permanent Secretaries and the Project Directors of the other implementing Ministries will be the “A” signatories of their respective sub-accounts while their Chief Accountants will be the “B” signatories of their sub-accounts. UNFPA’s audit requirements will apply to all substantive, fiduciary and custodial responsibilities assumed by Government in respect of this project. The general and specific audit requirements of this programme shall be as described in the UNFPA Finance Manual and reflected in the signed Letter of Understanding between the Government and the UNFPA. An independent auditor shall be appointed to audit the accounts of each project annually according to UNFPA guidelines and the signed letter of understanding between the State Government and the UNFPA. All project non-expendable equipment shall remain the property of the UNFPA. The Government shall have custodial responsibility over all non-expendable equipment entrusted to it, whether purchased by Government, using UNFPA advances or reimbursement or purchased directly by UNFPA on behalf of 15
Government. Such equipment provided through programme resources shall be used exclusively for programme activities. The Government will maintain a Non-expendable Property Ledger and submit an Annual Non-expendable property Report to the UNFPA Representative within 90 days from the close of each calendar year. The State Government has the primary responsibility for initiating the closure of this programme. Notification from the coordinating agency concerning the closure of this programme, which is expected promptly upon completion of all financial activities, will be transmitted in the form of a letter to the UNFPA Representative. The process of closing the project shall be as in the UNFPA Finance Manual. 5 TECHNICAL BACKSTOPPING
A Programme Adviser will be appointed to provide technical and managerial support to the four projects of the State Programme. It is assumed that all listed training will be organized using technically competent institutions or trained master trainers. Assistance of NPPPs will be sought, as and when required, through the UNFPA FO to provide technical support to the State in the implementation of the programme. Technical support will also be demanded from the CST, Addis Ababa as may be required. The Programme Monitoring teams will provide technical and supervisory support to the LGAs and the communities particularly during the quarterly visits. 6. RELATED ACTIVITIES AND OTHER SOURCE OF FUNNDING
The activities implemented under the Population and Development Programme are related to the policies and programmes being executed by the State Government for the improvement of the people’s quality of life. The State Planning Commission collects and collates socio-economic data for development planning, prepares the State’s three-year rolling plans and annual budget, undertakes regular monitoring of the State and Local Government projects and produces progress reports on such projects. The Government provides social services such as health, education and information. These programmes are well complemented by the activities supported by UNFPA through the thematic areas of PDS, RH Pop/FLE and Advocacy. UNICEF is also supporting the State in Safe motherhood, Adolescent Health and HIV/AIDS intervention. WHO is promoting “Making Pregnancy Safe Initiative” and supports six LGAs in Basic Comprehensive Essential Obstetric Care as a strategy to reducing maternal mortality and morbidity. Poverty Alleviation Programmes and other programmes on women empowerment supported by UNDP, World Bank and the Federal Government would be of immense benefit to the people of the State. 7. GOVERNMENT FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS
The Government of Rivers State has expressed its commitment to follow-up on the gains of the 5th CP. They are also committed to sustaining the programme at the expiration of UNFPA assistance. To this end, the State Government and the participating Local Government Councils are ready to pay their Government Counterpart Cash Contributions. At the Local Government levels, the skills of the personnel trained in the various projects will be retained, and regularly updated to ensure provision of quality services. The Rivers State Government will ensure that all the equipment and supplies 16
provided in the 4th CP are well maintained to ensure sustainability of the programme. The Rivers State Government will continue to encourage collaboration with the Federal Government to maximize the gains made in the 4th Country Programme. Furthermore, the State Government through the SPC will ensure the sustainability of the database and the mechanisms for data collection in the State for the smooth running of the programme. It will also sustain all coordination mechanisms like and Coordinating group after the expiry of the programme.
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