A
video contest was launched in May 2015 to get talented young people across the
world to submit videos on family planning and Sexual and Reproductive Health
and Rights (SRHR) ahead of selection to attend ICFP 2015 in November 2015. I
won the video contest; my video was selected as one of the top rated videos.
Please find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuKVYggLslU.
ICFP was to take place from November 8-12, 2015 but
was postponed indefinitely for a reason blamed on an untimely eruption in the
Lombok Island near Bali. Ash and dust were obstructions to the smooth landing
of aircrafts. The conference was thus perturbed.
Notwithstanding, ashes and dust did not stop ICFP.
In January 2016, ICFP took place from the 24-28th January, 2016 and was called
ICFP 2016. Held under the theme, ‘Global Commitments, Local Actions,’ it was
co-hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and
Reproductive Health—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the
National Population and Family Planning Board of Indonesia (BkkbN). I maintained
my position as youth speaker and moderator (with backing from Women Deliver)
and moderator of the session titled, ‘Ensuring Access to Quality Family
Planning Services for Youth.’
Myriads
delegates arrived Bali—a glamorous Indonesian Island on the South Eastern part
of the Indian Ocean on 23rd January, 2016. The opening of the Youth
Pre-conference took place on January 4, 2016 at the Tanjung Benoa Hall. Youth
delegates from various parts of the world met in a plenary organized by the
International Youth Alliance on Family Planning (IYAFP). It involved a briefing
about the conference, youth participation, objectives and networking
opportunities available to youth delegates. There was a breakout session
immediately after the
plenary
during which topics spanning across youth leadership within and without the
conference as concerns family planning and SRHR were discussed. The Women
Deliver (WD) team among which I was one (as a Women Deliver Young Leader from
Cameroon) was awesomely represented. The young leaders present were active and
dynamic in pre-conference work. Also featuring were the dynamic WD staff
comprising Tamara Windau-Melmer, Sara Pellegrom and Cecilia Zvocec.
On the
25th January, clad in atogho from the Grassfield region of Cameroon, I
shared my nine years leadership experiences during a breakout session at the
Tanjung Benoa Hall. I was morally aided by Women Deliver. I announced my
leadership philosophy during the talk: ‘Good leaders employ others while great
leaders deploy themselves and others.’ The remarks from the audience based on
my leadership story clearly highlighted features such as purposefulness and
ability to engage others.
Immediately
after this event, we joined other conference attendants (about 4,000 in number)
at the Nusa Dua Convention Centre where the opening ceremony took place. This
ceremony was presided over in person by H.E. Papa Jokowi Widodo, President of
the Republic of Indonesia. Jokowi Widodo called on nations to invest in family
planning. It should be noted that Indonesia has a well-organized and effective
family planning program. He hit the bell five times, setting the stage for ICFP
2016 to begin. Please view the opening ceremony here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLWahw_nQh0. Also in
attendance at this occasion were renowned family planning stakeholders like the
Director General of UNFPA, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin and the Director of the
Gates Institute who doubled as the Chair of the ICFP International Steering
Committee, Dr. Jose ‘Oying’ Rimon. I noticed that
my conspicuous ‘atogho’ set me aside as the conference’s model. Many took
photos with me and others appreciated the attire.
The 26th and 27th were dedicated to conference
sessions featuring research works, best practices of projects undertaken by
experts and stakeholders in family planning and SRHR. The concurrent sessions
held amidst rich auxiliary events and exhibitions by some organisations.
On January 27, 2016, I joined four other Women
Deliver young leaders as the only male on the panel in a morning press
conference moderated by the CEO of Women Deliver, Katja Iverson. She used her
fine skills in communication to probe into our engagements in SRHR. I
intervened on behalf of Cameroon and its youth. Please find one of my press
interventions conducted by Stella Paul after the life press conference here: http://womennewsnetwork.net/2016/02/01/men-for-womens-rights-young-srhr-leaders-show-the-way/.
Immediately after the press conference, I
co-moderated the session titled, ‘Ensuring Access to Quality Family Planning Services
for Youth.’ My session featured five panelists: Mr. Eric Munroe of Marie Stopes
International; Mr. Numfor Alenwi of Cameroon Agenda for Sustainable Development
(CASD); Dr.
Michael Murowa, a Thyolo District Medical Officer in Malawi who sat in for Mrs.
Victoria Lonje and Professor Jiafang Zhou of the Nanjing University of Posts
and Telecommunicates. Liza Pratiwi was
unavoidably absent. I co-moderated with Mrs. Judith Frye Helzner of PATH.
The closing ceremony of ICFP 2016 took place on
January 28, 2016 at the Nusa Dua Convention Center. During a lunch event to
mark the successful end of the conference, award winners were congratulated for
their philanthropy and work in accelerating family planning in their
communities. Kenya and Ethiopia were honored for putting in place sturdy and
stellar family planning policies and mechanisms. The Chair of BkkbN, Dr. Surya
Chandra Surapaty enjoined all participants to undertake local actions to
implement the global commitments that were arrived at.
Personally, I can say with all conviction that the
conference was a huge success. I took off time to monitor the organisation and
I was indeed impressed by the automatic unfold of things at ICFP 2016. The
Gates Foundation and the BkkbN were outstanding in setting the ground works for
the smooth flow of the conference. I equally appreciated the warm hospitality
and kindness of the Balinese people. Their patience and smiles throughout the
conference was appealing. All is well that ends well.
Desmond Nji Atanga,
Women Deliver Young Leader,
Executive Director, Deserve, Cameroon
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