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THE latest rescue of additional 234
women and children by the Nigerian Army from the Sambisa Forest in Borno
State, indicated, yesterday, that a sizeable number of the rescued
girls were visibly pregnant, even as unofficial reports put the latest
number of pregnant girls in one of the camps in Borno as at last
Saturday at 214.
Giving this indication in Lagos,
Executive Director, UNFPA, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, also disclosed
that in the last one year, the organization had taken deliveries of over
16,000 pregnancies in the troubled North East part of the country.
Osotimehin, while giving update of the
response to the rehabilitation of the rescued women and children, said
the organization, in anticipation of the magnitude of the problem on
hand, had put in place a formidable team in collaboration with the
Federal and state governments, to first restore the dignity of the
girls, who, he said, are facing severe psychosocial trauma.
On the state of the girls, he explained
that most of them, due to the long period spent in captivity, required a
special set of services that would facilitate their integration into
society.
“What we found is that some of the women
and girls that have come back actually have much more in terms of the
stress they have faced, so the counselling has to be more intense and
working with them one-on-one.
“I’m glad the communities are not
excommunicating them and are taking them back. That is an important
therapy too. We anticipate this is going to escalate because the
military intervention is continuing, we find that more people are now
needing our services and we will continue,” he stated.
Further, he explained that the UNFPA had
earlier collaborated with the Federal and state governments to train 60
counsellors to offer psychosocial services to the affected women and
children. He noted that those trained were people from the communities,
who understand the context and sociology of the people.
“UNFPA is providing dignity for women.
In conflict and disasters, most people would only think of water and
sanitation, provision of tents and housing, and food, which are all
important. But women and girls have specific needs that nobody else
looks after; it is only UNFPA that is doing this. We are giving
psychosocial counselling.
“Beyond that, in the growing young
people, we will always have pregnant women, but nobody segregates the
needs of the pregnant women which are very important and different from
the needs of the average community. We look after them, and ensure they
get antenatal care and that they deliver properly and that they even get
Caesarean Section when necessary.
Source : Zimbabwe-Today
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