Hope Jeremiah Offor: Sexual & Reproductive Health Advocate

Today we shall be profiling an amazing young man from the World's most populous black nation; Nigeria.

His name is Hope Jeremiah Offor. Offor is a recent graduate of one of Nigeria's most prestigious Universities; The University of Benin, where he studied Medical laboratory Science with specialty in Histopathology and Cytopathological diagnosis where he graduated with a second class upper division.

Offor at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Accra

Sexual and Reproductive Health Advocate

This committed and driven young man is passionate about the Sustainable Development Goals particularly regarding the SDG 3 target 7 and SDG 5 target 6 that talks about increasing universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, he strongly believe that prioritizing young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights is key in empowering African youths in achieving the demographic dividends.

Offor is an alumnus of the President Barrack Obama initiated/US government funded Young African Leaders Initiative training that took place at Accra, Ghana in 2017.

With fellow participants at Accra, Ghana

Out of an applicant pool of over 4,000 young Africans from 11 countries in West Africa this young leader made it among the selected few to attend the 5 weeks long leadership training for young Africans who have demonstrated leadership in their local communities. He was recently accepted into the 2018/2019 class of the Women Deliver Youth Leaders; a program of the World leading NGO fighting for Women rights, out of over 9,000 young leaders across 130 countries working to improve the lives of Women again Offor was selected among the very few into this class.

Offor identifies himself as a creative critical thinker where he is proficient at the evaluation of sources such as data, facts, observable phenomenon, and research findings and can draw reasonable conclusions from a set of information and discriminate between useful and less useful details for solving a problem or making a decision. With this skillset he has been able to create and iterate some solutions for some SDG challenges in Nigeria as regarding young people sexual and reproductive health and rights.

We wish this amazing change maker further success in his quest.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as all procedures which involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia and/or injury to the female genital organs, whether for cultural or any other non-therapeutic reasons.

The practice is found in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and within communities from countries in which FGM is common. UNICEF estimated in 2016 that 200 million women living today in 30 countries—27 African countries, Indonesia, Iraqi Kurdistan and Yemen—have undergone the procedures.
Typically carried out by a traditional circumciser using a blade, FGM is conducted from days after birth to puberty and beyond. In half the countries for which national figures are available, most girls are cut before the age of five. Procedures differ according to the country or ethnic group. They include removal of the clitoral hood and clitoral glans; removal of the inner labia; and removal of the inner and outer labia and closure of the vulva. In this last procedure, known as infibulation, a small hole is left for the passage of urine and menstrual fluid; the vagina is opened for intercourse and opened further for childbirth.
FGM is an unhealthy traditional practice inflicted on girls and women worldwide.

FGM is widely practiced in Nigeria, and with its large population, Nigeria has the highest absolute number of cases of FGM in the world, accounting for about one-quarter of the estimated 115–130 million circumcised women worldwide.

The practice is rooted in gender inequality, attempts to control women's sexuality, and ideas about purity, modesty and beauty. It is usually initiated and carried out by women, who see it as a source of honour, and who fear that failing to have their daughters and granddaughters cut will expose the girls to social exclusion.

Health effects depend on the procedure. They can includem recurrent infections, difficulty urinating and passing menstrual flow, chronic pain, the development of cysts, an inability to get pregnant, complications during childbirth, and fatal bleeding.

There have been international efforts since the 1970s to persuade practitioners to abandon FGM, and it has been outlawed or restricted in most of the countries in which it occurs, although the laws are poorly enforced. Since 2010 the United Nations has called upon healthcare providers to stop performing all forms of the procedure, including reinfibulation after childbirth and symbolic "nicking" of the clitoral hood. 

MY STAND
*FGM is a ritual cutting.
*FGM is unhealthy and it's practice is rooted in gender inequality.
*Health Talk Africa (HTA) totally condems the practice of FGM in Nigeria, Africa and in the world.
*Existing laws against the practice of FGM should be fully implemented.
*Healthcare providers should desist from carrying out the procedure.