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Nigeria's Boko Haram displaced women say no to unwanted pregnancies

Nigeria

Women in the northern Nigerian state of Borno, displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency are protecting themselves against unwanted pregnancies.

Many of them according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) have embraced the contraceptive pill campaign launched by the organization in the Bakassi camp, Borno state which hosts over 21 000 internally displaced people.

SOUND 4 – Rachel Sunday Okoye, midwife (woman, English, 27 sec):

Rachel Sunday Okoye, is one of the midwives at the Bakassi camp. She says the women “need family planning to plan their lives, organize and know what steps to take”.

“Most of the time, it also helps girls who have unwanted pregnancies” she explains.

Hundreds of other young women in the camp, do these without even telling their spouse.

According to Talatu Buba, (not real names) , “My husband does not know that I come to family planning, but even if he knew he was not going to hit me, he would not send me away, he had no choice”.

More than 1,000 women have enrolled for contraceptive program since January, according to the IRC.

The beneficiaries have the choice between an oral contraceptive, an implant under the skin or a hormonal injection, the effect of which lasts up to three months.

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