The media has been recognised as a critical force in ensuring that family planning remains a priority for policymakers, healthcare providers, and the public.

The Executive Director of Development Communications Network DevComs, Akin Jimoh, gave the recognition during a one-day advocacy training for journalists in Benin City, themed: ‘Media Sensitisation for Improved Family Planning Advocacy and Ownership in Edo State.’

The sensitisation programme organised by DevComs in collaboration with the Challenge Initiative (TCI) and State Ministry of Health, enumerated media role in sustaining family planning advocacy to ensure public awareness, policy engagement, and accountability.

To ensure sustainability, Jimoh urged the media to continue to track and report on family planning budgets and policy commitments; advocate for local funding and accountability in family planning programmes; educate the public on the economic benefits of family planning beyond health and leveraging digital and community radio platforms to reach rural populations with family planning messages.

Speaking on “Family Planning in Edo State: Sustaining Progress Through Local Resources and Media Advocacy”, he noted that family planning is not just a health intervention but an investment in the well-being of the people and the economic future of the State.

According to him, when families can plan their pregnancies, maternal and child health improves, economic burdens reduce, and communities become more resilient.

To ensure that the progress made is sustained, Jimoh advised governments to move beyond donor-driven support and strengthen family planning programmes with local resources, community ownership, and innovative financing mechanisms.

Also, to sustain family planning gains, the DevComs boss called for increased state-level funding for reproductive health services to reduce dependency on external donors and sustain the integration of family planning into primary healthcare services to ensure accessibility at all levels.

He also called for the strengthening of community-based distribution of contraceptives through trained health volunteers and empowered traditional and religious leaders to champion family planning as a tool for economic and social stability. He urged the integration of family planning into primary healthcare services to ensure accessibility at all levels.

In her contribution, the Coordinator, Reproductive Health, Edo State Ministry of Health, Mrs Adja Abieyuwa, noted that the media plays a pivotal role in information dissemination and awareness creation.

She called on journalists in the state to show commitment in helping them overcome challenges by giving in-depth and accurate information about family planning to the public.

Also speaking, the State’s programme Manager, TCI, Mrs Ikodiya Kalu, revealed that the organisation has been in partnership with Edo State for five years, adding that poor funding has been a major setback in the execution of family planning programmes and called on the state government to prioritise family planning for future benefits.